What merits the NEED for diagnosis?.

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Hi everybody.

Now, I know there's no official diagnosis for 'mild autism' but my symptoms are mild.I don't have some of the main traits that others do and that people would mostly recognize as being key factors in autism/aspergers.

I'm now 34 but was born with classic autistic symptoms which were much more severe than they are now i.e repeatedly opening and closing doors, staring at the washing machine for hours, screaming fits, not playing with other kids at school...the lot.I was diagnosed in Sweden as autistic according to my mother but we moved away when I was still little and my records are no longer available so I'm not officialy diagnosed here in the UK which is why I'm seeing a doctor about it.

Now I'm in my 30's a lot of my symptoms I seem to have grown out of.I don't have eye contact issues, I don't have problems reading faces or body language, I don't have major sensory issues except for sudden loud sounds, I don't have issues with crowds and can go to metal concerts and rave parties and also I can sometimes hold good conversation although in general I'm mostly quiet and say very little.

The thing is though that's not to say it has completely disappeared and I still have autistic undertones that have caused genuine issues at work and has even caused me to be refused employment and get fired.I constantly do 'awkward things' that infuriate co-workers and say things to people that respond badly to them and I never know why.I can be forgetful and clumsy.Also I go into a world of my own and stare into space looking at nothing (a form of visual stimming if I'm not mistaken), I talk to myself and kind of live in imagined scenarios in my head which makes me come across as in a dream world.Also I wind myself up into furious rages over seemingly nothing or things that others wouldn't seem to care about.Thankfully this mostly happens at home.

The above symptoms are fairly mild it seems and are subtle and occurrences can seem few and far between and also I seem to come across as normal to a lot of NT's.The thing is though these symptoms are still enough to effect work to the point of losing it and have arguments and misunderstandings with co-workers and be refused jobs and cause people to look at me and wonder why I'm so clumsy and stare into space etc.I have never hardly been invited to work parties and when I have turned up to some I have felt unwelcome and I often get left out of company info.I have been having issues in my job now and my co-worker thinks I'm a weirdo and a freak and flies off the handle at me for doing things 'differently'.

Because I'm not diagnosed I cant give people a valid reason why I do these things and that seems to make it worse.What concerns me though is that because my symptoms are not immediately obvious and I can talk with eye contact and read faces etc I'm worried that if and when I do get assessed they are just going to brush it off and send me packing.

I don't want to feel like I'm wasting their time but if my symptoms are still having an effect on my job and social life then surely that should still be enough to consider going for a diagnosis?.

There's not really any completely definitive test for AS, and ultimately you'll probably be the one to be able to tell the most whether you really are AS or not, since you know yourself the best. But that also isn't to say you can't get help figuring it out...

Let me ask you if you have these 3 symptoms:
1. Confusion in unstructured social situations
2. Overstimulation shutdown
3. Enhanced ability in special interests

These could manifest in various specific forms, and to varying degrees depending on the level of AS. But just try to think if you qualify as having these symptoms in general.

I like your concise little list. Is this something you have put together on your own?

With the way a "disability" can be a dual-edged sword (depending on the disability, you might get accommodation or avoidance), that your condition potentially jeopardizes your livelihood is one of the few solid reasons to seek being diagnosed...even if you are "mild."

Yes. I've asked it of others on this site before, and feel like it seems to be a fairly reliable "first test" of if someone is truly AS or not.

Overstimulation shutdown I can relate to the most but not the other two.I have special interests but not obsessive.

It doesn't have to be obsessive. Think more about if you seem to have a natural enhanced ability beyond most other people to learn about certain things that you've have a significant interest in.
And what about the other one, confusion in unstructured social situations, you don't have that one?

If you truly don't feel like you have those two symptoms, then I suspect it could possibly be something other than AS. I just re-read through your opening post, and it's really hard to tell from it whether you do have it or not. The symptoms are certainly things that can go along with AS, but I don't feel like they're definitive key symptoms of only AS. It's hard to tell though... you should probably see a professional if you want help trying to figure it out for sure.

Functioning problems are used in diagnosis and you described some.

The diagnostic procedure will delve heavily into your childhood.

It's common problem with adults who have learned to mask or cope that people think they are not on the spectrum. That is why if you can try to find a specialist knowledgeable in how autism presents in adults. My specialist asked why I think I am on the spectrum and why I think I am not. After listing reasons similar to yours to why I am not she said I am a person with Asperger's syndrome no matter how well I "cope"