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Brainiac42
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12 Apr 2022, 8:36 pm

My therapist mentioned she thinks I may have Autism on our second session, so I’d only talked to her for two hours. Well, less than since our first session was about 58 minutes, and the other around 48. I didnt mention autism to her, I just told her about my struggles. Do you all believe this was too early for her to be able to tell after only 2 sessions, or is it normal to know that quickly? My mom send me a video that therapists only get paid if they diagnose, but it was Tik Tok so I didn’t take it too seriously.



kitesandtrainsandcats
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12 Apr 2022, 8:52 pm

If she has experience with autistic people she may legitimately be able to tell almost immediately.
Some years ago a doctor I was seeing for the first time almost immediately asked if I had ever been diagnosed autistic; turned out she had an adult son about 10 years younger than me (I was late 40s at the time) and he was autistic.


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Brainiac42
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13 Apr 2022, 1:28 am

kitesandtrainsandcats wrote:
If she has experience with autistic people she may legitimately be able to tell almost immediately.
Some years ago a doctor I was seeing for the first time almost immediately asked if I had ever been diagnosed autistic; turned out she had an adult son about 10 years younger than me (I was late 40s at the time) and he was autistic.


She does specialize in Autism but also in a lot of other things. I mentioned it to my dad and he doesn’t believe it. He said people with Autism don’t have empathy, and that I don’t show any symptoms. I think I should believe the trained professional.



kitesandtrainsandcats
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13 Apr 2022, 2:18 am

Brainiac42 wrote:
I mentioned it to my dad and he doesn’t believe it. He said people with Autism don’t have empathy,


Wow, that's either misinformed, biased, bigoted, arrogant, or all of the above.

What is the probability that he would do some serious open-minded reading here, https://neuroclastic.com/?s=empathy

Starting with:

Asperger’s and Empathy: Shifting Away from Dated Misconceptions
By Terra Vance
September 11, 2018
https://neuroclastic.com/aspergers-and-empathy/

the author is definitely qualified,
Quote:
Terra Vance
I’m an industrial and organizational psychology consultant, parent, former language arts teacher, former DBT counselor, and founder and CEO of NeuroClastic.


and

Autism: Autistic Empathy is Different
By Emma
August 30, 2020
https://neuroclastic.com/autism-autisti ... different/

This author is definitely qualified,
Quote:
.I am one of the directors of Autism Wellbeing CIC and I'm researching how autism is perceived for my PhD.


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kitesandtrainsandcats
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13 Apr 2022, 2:27 am

Brainiac42 wrote:
and that I don’t show any symptoms. I think I should believe the trained professional.


Yes, believe the professionals before believing him.
Is he expecting you as a female to have symptoms which look exactly like the symptoms do in males?

Maybe he should read,

Autism—It's Different in Girls
New research suggests the disorder often looks different in females, many of whom are being misdiagnosed and missing out on the support they need
By Maia Szalavitz on March 1, 2016
https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... -in-girls/

Quote:
... Pelphrey is a leading autism researcher at Yale University's world-renowned Child Study Center. But even he did not recognize the condition in his daughter, who was finally diagnosed at about five years of age.


Quote:
... In fact, the criteria for diagnosing autism spectrum disorder (ASD)—a developmental condition that is marked by social and communication difficulties and repetitive, inflexible patterns of behavior—are based on data derived almost entirely from studies of boys. These criteria, Pelphrey and other researchers believe, may be missing many girls and adult women because their symptoms look different. Historically the disorder, now estimated to affect one out of every 68 children in the U.S., was thought to be at least four times more common in boys than in girls. Experts also believed that girls with autism were, on average, more seriously affected—with more severe symptoms, such as intellectual disability. Newer research suggests that both these ideas may be wrong.

Many girls may, like Frances, be diagnosed late because autism can have different symptoms in females. Others may go undiagnosed or be given diagnoses such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and even, some researchers believe, anorexia. As scientists study how this disorder plays out in girls, they are confronting findings that could overturn their ideas not only about autism but also about sex and how it both biologically and socially affects many aspects of development. They are also beginning to find ways to meet the unique needs of girls and women on the spectrum.


and

How Men and Women Experience Autism Differently
Five ways in which male and female autism differs.
Claire Jack Ph.D.
Posted April 28, 2021 | Reviewed by Devon Frye
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog ... ifferently

Quote:
The term “autism” was first used in 1908 by Eugen Bleuler to describe a subset of schizophrenic patients who were especially withdrawn and self-absorbed.1 However, it was not used as a diagnostic term until 1943 by the child psychiatrist, Leo Kanner.2 Kanner’s research on 11 children, who he identified as intelligent and who had a strong desire to be alone and displayed restricted interests, only included 3 girls in the sample.

The following year, Austrian physician Hans Asperger also used case studies to research autism; his sample only included boys. In fact, Asperger concluded that “the autistic personality is an extreme variant of male intelligence” and that women and girls could not have autism (although he later changed his mind).3

Historically, therefore, diagnostic criteria for autism have been based on studies predominantly or exclusively based on the male experience. Research into autism continues to focus on men and, in the case of neuroimaging research, there is an ascertainment bias (meaning that males are specifically selected in favour of females as research subjects) of up to 15:1.4


Quote:
Difference 5: Having a female brain and body

The way we think and act is partly due to our hormones. While men and women share aspects of autism in common, we need to remember they have a lot that is not in common, too. In exactly the same way that there are differences in the ways neurotypical men and women think, act, and experience life in general, there are differences in the ways in which men and women with autism interpret and experience their world.

As we begin to learn more about how women experience autism, hopefully, it will be easier for girls and women to be correctly diagnosed as we move to a more encompassing definition of what autism is.

You can find out more about women and autism here.


and

New Study Finds Sex Differences in Autistic Brains
Recent brain imaging research highlights neurological sex differences in autism.
Claire Jack Ph.D.
Posted March 16, 2022 | Reviewed by Devon Frye
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog ... tic-brains

Quote:
One of the main findings from the study is that girls with autism had a functional brain organisation that significantly differed from boys with autism. The study revealed different areas of connectivity between girls and boys in various brain centres, including the brain's motor, language, and visuospatial attention systems. This fundamental difference in brain organisation likely underpins the differing clinical symptoms that girls and boys tend to present.


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13 Apr 2022, 9:01 am

Brainiac42 wrote:
My therapist mentioned she thinks I may have Autism on our second session, so I’d only talked to her for two hours. Well, less than since our first session was about 58 minutes, and the other around 48. I didnt mention autism to her, I just told her about my struggles. Do you all believe this was too early for her to be able to tell after only 2 sessions, or is it normal to know that quickly?
She only said she thinks you may have autism -- she did not render a definitive diagnosis . . . yet.
Brainiac42 wrote:
My mom send me a video that therapists only get paid if they diagnose, but it was Tik Tok so I didn’t take it too seriously.
Your mom should not let TikTok do her thinking for her; nor should she try to get TikTok to do your thinking for you.



Brainiac42
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13 Apr 2022, 9:55 am

Fnord wrote:
Brainiac42 wrote:
My therapist mentioned she thinks I may have Autism on our second session, so I’d only talked to her for two hours. Well, less than since our first session was about 58 minutes, and the other around 48. I didnt mention autism to her, I just told her about my struggles. Do you all believe this was too early for her to be able to tell after only 2 sessions, or is it normal to know that quickly?
She only said she thinks you may have autism -- she did not render a definitive diagnosis . . . yet.
Brainiac42 wrote:
My mom send me a video that therapists only get paid if they diagnose, but it was Tik Tok so I didn’t take it too seriously.
Your mom should not let TikTok do her thinking for her; nor should she try to get TikTok to do your thinking for you.


Her exact words were actually, “Have you ever thought you may have Autism?” And response, something along the lines of “Your struggles coincide a lot with Autism.”

I told her yes, and that my parents are unsure. She said, “Do you think they may be uneducated on the topic?.”

But yes I don’t have a formal diagnosis yet. I understand what you mean, 2 sessions may be enough to suspect but not know. I’m unsure if she only suspects though.



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13 Apr 2022, 9:59 am

Brainiac42 wrote:
. . . I understand what you mean, 2 sessions may be enough to suspect but not know. . .
Might be a good idea to just go with that and disregard what your parents say.