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Hello, hope I'm welcome here

Hi Nadador. Thanks for your post. I think you are right that I will benefit more on here than readin ing/speaking to doctors etc. I have exhausted myself reading/researching but felt like I wasn't learning anything new. Real life experiences will help so much more. Unfortunately, I do not have much faith in the mental health processes. Her Aspergers is only slight but enough to cause frustrations albeit not on a daily basis, I'm not really bothered about my daughter being diagnosed, it just explains a lot of things, afterall, it doesn't change anything, she has always had it and always will. The world needs to be educated about autism, my perception is that they can be happy individuals, it's ignorant society that upsets all that. I have to admit I think awareness is improving, it can only get better. Thanks for reading.
 
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You're welcome.

You'll find that a great number of us here are only self-diagnosed. I'm one of them. If I see the shoe fits, I figure I'm able to put it on myself. Some people want the certainty of official diagnosis, or the benefits and therapies they may have access to by having it on paper. Some want to have something from a doctor's mouth to back them up with unaccepting family, employers, etc. But what matters most is identifying and accepting AS yourself [or for your child], so that you may learn and understand.

A lot of us at AC seem to have little faith in the mental health profession and its systems. Some of us have been misdiagnosed, ignored, or suffered insults to our dignity and personhood. Not every doctor is a good one. But as you suggest, some of the problem is that clinical understanding of so many developmental disorders and mental illnesses is still very limited. In time, we will all understand more, but right now it can still be quite frustrating seeking professional help, because some of the answers and better standards for identification just aren't there. Doctors have to learn a great deal in their schooling, and may not be competent in things they haven't seen often, or that aren't their speciality. The good news is, your child is growing up in a time when there are figures like Tony Attwood shedding a great deal of light on AS, and asking a lot of right questions. Not to mention that her mom has the advantage of the Internet as a precious resource.

So you're right, awareness is improving and things are slowly looking up. It ultimately has to happen on an individual basis for a shift in societal attitudes. At least you can count yourself among the enlightened, even if you know you still have a lot to learn. Unfortunately, there are members here whose families are still very much in the dark.
 
Totally agree, it's frustrating but there are a lot of good people out there trying to turn things around.Afterall Rome wasn't built in a day!
Incidentally my daughter is fascinated by the function of the brain and wants to study Neuroscience at University next year. She has Synesthesia but I haven't quite established whether there is a connection with her enthusiasm of the brain and her AS
 
Welcome to AC, Babs.

Like your daughter, synesthesia is one of my favorite topics.
Could you tell me what kind of synesthesia she has?
 
apsie said:
Welcome to AC, Babs.

Like your daughter, synesthesia is one of my favorite topics.
Could you tell me what kind of synesthesia she has?
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Hi Aspie, nice to meet you. I thought I had just posted a reply and then it went missing!
She has grapheme synesthesia, discovered it by accident in a chemistry lesson 2 years ago. She also arranges days and months somehow, I don't quite understand that one.
I wish she would join the forum then she could tell you herself. Just a bit difficult at the moment as she doesnt accept AS. I am sure she would enjoy it and find it beneficial
 
Welcome aboard! I thought I posted a welcome already, but I didn't. Good luck :)
 
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