Adult Aspergers and how they stumbled onto the truth.

[fred landis]

I was half-way through The Creation of Dr B (Bettelheim) when the light dawned. The book is basically an expose of Bruno Bettelheim and his theories of autism. The same book introduced the more credible theories of Hans Aspergers.
For about 6 months I looked for web sites by and for the Asperger community and came across this tech discussion site called Quora that just happened to have a lot of Aspergers or wanted to discuss the topic. THis may have some relation to a WIRED article on the prevalence of Aspergers in Silicon Valley and that the Quora site is based in the area.
Recently I asked a question about what practical benefit there is to an official Asperger diagnosis and got few responses. That is my current focus.

 

[Judge]

For about 6 months I looked for web sites by and for the Asperger community and came across this tech discussion site called Quora that just happened to have a lot of Aspergers or wanted to discuss the topic. This may have some relation to a WIRED article on the prevalence of Aspergers in Silicon Valley and that the Quora site is based in the area.

Welcome to AC.

I worked for a few years for a Silicon Valley computer gaming publisher doing web design in the late 90s. Many years later after coming to grips that I was on the spectrum myself, I was able to look back and realize just how many people I worked with in that job who were likely on the spectrum as well.

 

[fred landis]

A few years ago I met a kid who designed a web site for me who with 20/20 hindsight probably had Apergers. At the time he was broke. Today he hosts a very large number of web sites and grosses more than a million per month. I do not know if this is related to Aspergers but I really like well designed sites. Am not a techie myself.

 

[Thinx]

Hi Fred Landis welcome. I hope you enjoy it here, there's a lot of useful information and threads to read and respond to, you should find plenty about diagnosis. I am not diagnosed and not sure if I would be if I tried, however I am confident I am autistic level 1 as they now say. After exploring a lot around Aspergers and autism I did a lot of online tests the ARC site had plenty and got clear high scores for high autistic traits. Everyone's different, maybe there's an advantage to a diagnosis for you, there's plenty of ideas here about that and many other things.

 

[clg114]

Welcome to Aspies Central!

 

[SusanLR]

Welcome to the forum, fred landis.
The thing I learned from a late in life diagnosis was I
finally knew why I had always felt alone and lived a different sort of life to other people.
I had been given other diagnosis' early in life of anxiety
and panic disorder and depression.
Once I found I had HFA it was like understanding my life
and self.
At my age, that really didn't do anything to help me other than what I just stated.

At an earlier age, I think some change with therapy might happen if that is what the person seeks. Sometimes, maybe? I don't really know.

If working isn't possible due to certain reasons, it can get disablility assistance for you with help from your physician. Beats being told you are able to work when you can't, but, it is not economically sound like a job would be.

This is a good place to find answers, ask questions and get to know others with ASD.

 

[Southern Discomfort]

Yeah, I use Quora. It's a good website. One of few sites which aren't a cesspit.

 

[Streetwise]

 

[Nitro]

 

[fred landis]

Hi Fred Landis welcome. I hope you enjoy it here, there's a lot of useful information and threads to read and respond to, you should find plenty about diagnosis. I am not diagnosed and not sure if I would be if I tried, however I am confident I am autistic level 1 as they now say. After exploring a lot around Aspergers and autism I did a lot of online tests the ARC site had plenty and got clear high scores for high autistic traits. Everyone's different, maybe there's an advantage to a diagnosis for you, there's plenty of ideas here about that and many other things.

Thank you. Are we supposed to have a username instead of real name and how is this accomplished? What is autism level1 and how do you find out if you are? Is there a search function on this site where I can type in "autism1"? CAn you pay to have the ads go away? Frankly I have not seen an autism test that is as impressive as the original Myers Briggs. It was transparently obvious that 20 years of research was behind each question.

 

[Thinx]

I think it's up to you about the name but I suppose if u use yr real name your posts will not be confidential. I don't know how to change namesome once set up but @Nitro or @tree likely may.

The ads go away if u buy a lifetime membership which is quite cheap .

There is a search function can u see it top right on Yr screen? Autism level 1 is the new diagnosis in DSM 5 that replaces Aspergers . Getting diagnosed depends where you are, in UK you can try a GP referral or pay and go private that's quicker I believe.

Myers Briggs is great isn't it I'm INTP what do you get on that? Some of the autism tests I ve done seem reasonably useful they are only guides and some are quite skewed towards male gender norms.

 

[fred landis]

I think it's up to you about the name but I suppose if u use yr real name your posts will not be confidential. I don't know how to change namesome once set up but @Nitro or @tree likely may.

The ads go away if u buy a lifetime membership which is quite cheap .

There is a search function can u see it top right on Yr screen? Autism level 1 is the new diagnosis in DSM 5 that replaces Aspergers . Getting diagnosed depends where you are, in UK you can try a GP referral or pay and go private that's quicker I believe.

Myers Briggs is great isn't it I'm INTP what do you get on that? Some of the autism tests I ve done seem reasonably useful they are only guides and some are quite skewed towards male gender norms.

 

[fred landis]

The favorite topic of adult Aspergers is probably going to be Aspergers and if i took Psychology in college why did I not figure out at the time I had ASpergers. My case is even more ridiculous because I have a PhD in Psychology and only figured out the ASpergers thing years later. I have a 100% confidence I am INTP but less confidence in autism tests. I find Simon Baron Cohen interesting because he recently came up with a very good test for autism after years ago transparently making a bad copy of the original Myerss BRiggs. Before taking the Myers Briggs I had come across negative opinions on the web because of its connections to CArl JUng. Regardless of the theory the test itself is brilliant in separating out real diffences. THere seems to be a high correlation INTP-Asperger.

 

[Thinx]

The stereotypes of high autistic traits or Aspergers don't help one self identify. And my experience was that I justill kept persevering with working on my deficits in social relating for many years despite lack of progress. Until finally I theorised that others experience must be different from mine, also finding out more about Aspergers through working with people with Aspergers and their families around that time. But I was 50 by then. I think noting your age it will have been harder for you to recognise and there has been quite a stigmatising way of seeing people who are diagnosable with a neurological or mental health issue as patients not professionals? ie you can't have this type of brain if you are coping? I think I STJ is another personality type that can be a person with high autistic traits or Aspergers. I'm guessing SBC may be on the spectrum himself? Which may explain the tenacity with which the extreme male brain ideas been clung to.

 

[fred landis]

When I was 5 years old my mother explained by grandfather, a Swiss-German engineer, as being a person who liked objects and ideas more than people. When the movie Lawrence of Arabia came out I read a book by him THe SEven Pillars of Wisdom in which he decribes himself in exactly those terms. I had a vague idea about Aspergers since age 5 but to me it was being Swiss-German and compulsive. I knew that Bettelheim was a charlatan in the 1960s but did not see what that had to do with me. I think it runs in families and in certain geograhical areas.
I just noticed all these icons at the top of the page. Do people use them? Which do you find useful?

 

[Thinx]

Yes the recent genetic research has been saying that it's so far shown to be at least 50% genetic. But they have found over 70 potentially relevant genes I think so far so that's quite relevant to the variability. Presumably being neurotypical is genetic too though?! They vary a lot also... do you mean the tags at the top? Above them are menus those are what I use.