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elderly and awaiting diagnosis.

E

Edna Mae

New Member
I am 73 and am just now learning that I may have Asperger's. Also I just 2 days ago realized that my oldest brother must have had it. What a shock. We all assumed he was just a very brainy recluse wracking up college degrees for the fun of it. For the last 20 years I have been diagnosed with PTSD. Perhaps I have both Aspergers and PTSD. All my life I have been oblivious to this Asperger's in me and others. I also just learned that there is a good chance that Einstein was an Aspie. I feel confused and hopeful. Maybe there is a reason that I am the way I am.
thanks
Edna Mae
 
welcome I was 45 when I was diagnosed I had no idea I was autistic thought I was nervous I think my uncle is autistic as well .
I always think if I see a doctor somehow everything will be alright it rarely is.
 
With respect mate at your age if you were ever going to be formally diagnosed they'd have done it years and years ago.
 
Rich Allen said:
With respect mate at your age if you were ever going to be formally diagnosed they'd have done it years and years ago.
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That's not necessarily the case, there are many adults of all ages who have got a diagnosis later in life. People are often misdiagnosed and later realise that Asperger's is a better fit.
 
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Welcome, Edna!

A diagnosis (even a self-diagnosis, if that's what it comes to) is a great thing at any stage of life. For me, it finally told me why I've always felt like a guinea pig among hamsters. It answered the questions of what I am, who I am, and most importantly, it answered the "why" questions.

Many if not most of us have PTSD, and I've long held that nobody knows how to suffer like an Aspie quite like other Aspies. You're in good company here, and I hope to hear more from you in the future :)
 
Welcome to Aspies Central. You will like it here.

I was not diagnosed until I was 62 and it was great getting answers to all the questions that I had about myself. I think that I know myself better since my diagnosis.
 
A warm, heartfelt welcome here, Edna Mae! :) We have lots of members here over 60. You’re in excellent company!
 
Welcome to the forum Edna! :-)
As others have said it's not unusual to be diagnosed later in life, I was diagnosed in my late 40s. Whatever the age, it's great that you are here.
 
Rich Allen said:
With respect mate at your age if you were ever going to be formally diagnosed they'd have done it years and years ago.
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I was misdiagnosed with something else, mate. By the way, mate, my brother was never diagnosed at all and he would be 83 now if he had lived. I myself just figured out when I was talking to my psychiatrist that my brother Jim must have had asperberger's. It is never too late to learn about the make up of one's family members. Now I have much more compassion for Jim.
Also I am not done living. If I am an aspy, knowing this gives me more compassion for myself. As I said I am not done living. Six days from now I will be playing my fiddle for a 3 hour contra dance. Two of my students and 4 other musicians will be helping me. I am the band leader. I aint done yet. One thing this diagnosis might do is give my sons an understanding about me that they never had.
 
It kinda sucks to learn about it at a later time in your life. But as the old saying go "Better late then never". But I guess it all makes sense when you consider the fact that no one would look to see if social interaction issues would be a hardware problem or not. Having it is bad enough. Having it and no knowing you have it is even worse.
 
Edna Mae said:
I was misdiagnosed with something else, mate. By the way, mate, my brother was never diagnosed at all and he would be 83 now if he had lived. I myself just figured out when I was talking to my psychiatrist that my brother Jim must have had asperberger's. It is never too late to learn about the make up of one's family members. Now I have much more compassion for Jim.
Also I am not done living. If I am an aspy, knowing this gives me more compassion for myself. As I said I am not done living. Six days from now I will be playing my fiddle for a 3 hour contra dance. Two of my students and 4 other musicians will be helping me. I am the band leader. I aint done yet. One thing this diagnosis might do is give my sons an understanding about me that they never had.
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This diagnosis might give you an understanding about you that you never had before. That was the best thing about mine.
 
FreeDiver said:
It kinda sucks to learn about it at a later time in your life. But as the old saying go "Better late then never". But I guess it all makes sense when you consider the fact that no one would look to see if social interaction issues would be a hardware problem or not. Having it is bad enough. Having it and no knowing you have it is even worse.
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I would rather learn about it at 73 than never. Social interaction is just one part of what makes me an aspie. I just took an aspie test for females and I scored really highly in sensitivity and several other areas as well. In general I am pretty high functioning. I have a great feeling of gratitude than I found out at all. So many people never do. If you are trying to make me feel bad-- sorry but I don't feel that at all. I feel excited actually. Knowing what I do gives me some peace actually. I feel empowered. I don't feel alone. I especially feel connected to my deceased older brother Jim. Sometime in the next 15 or so years I will go see him. Life is good. There are so many other conditions that I could have been born with. This is nothing compared to people who are born without limbs, eye sight etc.
 
Edna Mae said:
If you are trying to make me feel bad-- sorry but I don't feel that at all. I feel excited actually. Knowing what I do gives me some peace actually.
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No, not trying to make you feel bad. Besides, I too feel much relief after getting diagnosed.

Edna Mae said:
There are so many other conditions that I could have been born with. This is nothing compared to people who are born without limbs, eye sight etc.
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True, I should be thankful, things could've been worse. But this condition still wreaks havoc on my life. I live off disability and have virtually no friends to speak of. It distroyed my school life. But the thing that really hurts me the most about this is the fact that this condition more than likely lead to the udder destruction of my family. My mother, gramma and uncle may have has this as well. They all became alcoholics and died from it long before anyone ever knew what Asperger's was. My dad has disowned me because of this. So as you can see, this condition has been responsible for a lot of grief in my life.
 
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