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Hello from Bill J

B

Bill J

Member
Hi all,

I self-diagnosed with Asperger's about 3 years ago. I'm 73, and there was no common knowledge of Asperger's back in 1949 when I was born, or when I was in school, and for many years after I was an adult. It was such a relief to me to find my information on Asperger's, my eyes opened and I saw myself from the time I started noticing I was different, around 12 I guess, and all the pain I had experienced and, sadly, caused others close to me. There is precious little information available on Asperger's in seniors, I spent many hours pulling out what details I could find from the Internet and books, and I still look. What drove me back to researching is the procrastination I have had for a very long time, worse lately, and I've learned there can be a link with Asperger's. I'll probably just lurk here for awhile and get a feel for the group.

Bill
 
welcome to af.png
 
Greetings Bill! There are lots of other older members here, most of them self diagnosed later in life as well. I also lurked to start with and I learned a lot just by observing, but like @VictorR said, if you have anything to say, feel free to pop in.
 
Welcome Bill. :herb:

It's eye opening when you learn about Asperger's at an older age after living
a life without even knowing the word.
I'm 65 and was prompted by a grief counselor to get diagnosed.

This is a great place to lurk, look, and feel very welcome to join in on anything
you find of interest.
 
SusanLR said:
Welcome Bill. :herb:

It's eye opening when you learn about Asperger's at an older age after living
a life without even knowing the word.
I'm 65 and was prompted by a grief counselor to get diagnosed.

This is a great place to lurk, look, and feel very welcome to join in on anything
you find of interest.
Click to expand...
Hi Susan. Lol, I can only wish I was 65 again. I talked to my counselor about getting diagnosed. She says I certainly have related symptoms but it's beyond her licensing limits to diagnose. I see her for help with my long-term depression and interpersonal relationship issues. In my mind, those are directly related to my Asperger's.
I don't see any benefit from an official diagnosis, she said the only benefit might be if I become disabled to the point I am in a nursing home, having that diagnosis might change the care I would receive. One problem, I live in a rural area and it's an hour-plus drive to where I can get that diagnosis done. Also, there is nobody alive who can give information about what I was like as a child, which I think is part of the process. I've been masking so long that I might not give answers to situational questions that would support a diagnosis.

Thanks for the welcome.
 
I was diagnosed about a year ago, at 52.

Diagnosis was made by a psychologist, then confirmed a neurosychologisy and a psychiatrist. It's not "official" enough to get me benefits, but I don't see the point in doing that - yet.
I have still my mom around, but she wasn't very involved in my upbringing. I do have school reports from prekinder to second grade and a letter from my dad to my mom (they got divorced when I was 2 and I was raised by my dad until age 8) explaining a little "how I tick". All these documents would raise several flags today. Don't know if there are documents from the time after I went to live with my mom.
I'm trying to get these documents who are stored in boxes that keeps my ex-stepdad somewhere (he's OTC and keeps everything, so at least chances are good he didn't throw them away).

I'm also studying Psychology, and I think I read about a study about Asperger's in seniors. So at least people are beginning to see that Austism ist "something kids get". If I come across some I formation, I'll be surely posting about it here.

BTW: Though I have documents, I would also have to see specialists and where I live pstients are still required to wear face masks when in health care facilities. So until this rule is off the table, I won't set a foot in such a facility.
 
Hi, Bill,
I'm also 73. In '05, my mother was dying, and my sister was still distressed at her cold behaviour, so I did another search on-line. I'd been in various recovery groups for dysfunctional family survivors for 15 years, and when I happened across a check list for Asperger's, suddenly my life as well as my mother's made complete sense. That year, I also discovered that IQ and EQ are not linked. I'd always assumed that anyone with social skills must be kidding about not being able to do math. Anyway, it's been interesting.
 
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