• Welcome to Autism Forums, a friendly forum to discuss Aspergers Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and related conditions.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Private Member only forums for more serious discussions that you may wish to not have guests or search engines access to.
    • Your very own blog. Write about anything you like on your own individual blog.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon! Please also check us out @ https://www.twitter.com/aspiescentral

Hello I'm New

LilyJo

LilyJo

Active Member
Hello. I'm LilyJo and I'm new here. I've joined after seeing a psychologist about some severe anxiety problems and him mentioning (repetitively!!) that he thinks I am on the spectrum. Having done a fair amount of reading around the subject, I do wonder if he is right. I'm not diagnosed and I'm not sure if I want to be or not at the moment. I am hoping to get some insight from you all here on what you think. So here goes!

I have severe sensory problems to light and sound, can't stand labels in my clothes which are all soft and comfy - the way they look isn't a factor for me! I find myself confused by the way people interact socially. There seem to be so many unspoken rules that I'm missing. I've spent years observing people creating an internal catalogue of facial expressions, phrases people use in certain circumstances, appropriate (and inappropriate) responses to the information etc. However, I still seem to be a bit out of sync. I do fine with communicating when there are set rules within the workplace but come unstuck when there isn't a script to follow. I have several stim type behaviours including flapping my right hand, fiddling constantly, jigging my leg up and down. I find these very soothing when overwhelmed or anxious. As a child, I didn't really have friends, and was bullied non stop for the duration of my time at school.

I hold a responsible job and live in my own home with some support from my parents. However, my job drains everything from me. I come home every night overloaded and phenomenally stressed. I guess I'm wondering what the benefits and disadvantages of an official diagnosis would be?

I look forward to hearing your insight.
Thankyou, LJ
 
I can't say whether an official diagnosis would help you or not, but being on the Spectrum can certainly increase the stress of employment! Welcome to our little corner. I hope you can learn a lot from others concerning coping mechanisms, and maybe something about yourself as well. Welcome!

wyv
 
Welcome Lily :)

Those do sound quite typical of the spectrum, though it is something you may need to investigate further. Coming here is definitely a helpful step forward in helping you to decide whether you feel confident with your doctor's suspicions.

A good place to start would be to join in on our discussions, and compare yourself to other members. Many on the spectrum find they connect well with others here; even if this is something they rarely achieve in the real world.

I recommend looking up Dr.Tony Attwood, who is a brilliant, world-reknown expert:
Home

You can also check our resources section, for books on AS:
Resources | AspiesCentral.com

I highly recommend this book for women on the spectrum, it's a great social survival guide: Aspergirls: Empowering Females With Asperger Syndrome | AspiesCentral.com

You will notice that different genders may present with differing symptoms, so that book will help show the differences, but you can also see these sites for example of those differences: Day 62: Females with Asperger’s Syndrome (Non-Official) Checklist | Everyday Asperger's

Aspienwomen: Adult Women with Asperger Syndrome. Moving towards a female profile of Asperger Syndrome | Tania Marshall

If you do decide to go for an official diagnoses too, be sure to ask your specialist if they are specialised in recognising the female traits of AS, as not all are. Getting a diagnoses can be quite expensive, so it's definitely worth checking first.
 
LilyJo said:
Hello. I'm LilyJo and I'm new here. I've joined after seeing a psychologist about some severe anxiety problems and him mentioning (repetitively!!) that he thinks I am on the spectrum. Having done a fair amount of reading around the subject, I do wonder if he is right. I'm not diagnosed and I'm not sure if I want to be or not at the moment. I am hoping to get some insight from you all here on what you think. So here goes!

I have severe sensory problems to light and sound, can't stand labels in my clothes which are all soft and comfy - the way they look isn't a factor for me! I find myself confused by the way people interact socially. There seem to be so many unspoken rules that I'm missing. I've spent years observing people creating an internal catalogue of facial expressions, phrases people use in certain circumstances, appropriate (and inappropriate) responses to the information etc. However, I still seem to be a bit out of sync. I do fine with communicating when there are set rules within the workplace but come unstuck when there isn't a script to follow. I have several stim type behaviours including flapping my right hand, fiddling constantly, jigging my leg up and down. I find these very soothing when overwhelmed or anxious. As a child, I didn't really have friends, and was bullied non stop for the duration of my time at school.

I hold a responsible job and live in my own home with some support from my parents. However, my job drains everything from me. I come home every night overloaded and phenomenally stressed. I guess I'm wondering what the benefits and disadvantages of an official diagnosis would be?

I look forward to hearing your insight.
Thankyou, LJ
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome to AspiesCentral! I'm self-diagnosed, never seen a psychologist but my immediate family is convinced i'm on the spectrum. I did some research - read: a lot of research - and i think i might be too. Apparently sensory issues are common to those on the spectrum / who have AS. I have sensory issues myself - as a kid tags bothered me a lot, but not so much anymore, although sound was and still is a big one, always has been. Apparently most people can filter or tune out background noise but i never have been able to. Even at my job as a cashier, i can hyperfocus on the customer in front of me but i cannot ever unhear everything going on around me. And boy is it a lot! Cart wheels squeaking, registers beeping, kids screaming, people talking, self checkout beeping several registers away, stuff being set down (roughly or lightly) onto the lane. God forbid something gets dropped loudly or the alarmed door goes off or a hand scanner malfunctions and shrieks. I don't know if any of my odd fiddling/fidgetting can be called stimming, but back when i wore jewelry - rings especially - i would fiddle with them repetitively whenever i was anxious. It was more of a compulsion, a need, than just fidgetting. Same goes for when i'm put on self checkout and i'm with a customer, i twirl the operator code card in my hand obsessively.

I don't know for sure what benefits would be to getting an official diagnosis, being self-diagnosed myself. But i would think it would be great to know for sure - plus if you're going for counseling anyways, with an official diagnosis perhaps your counseling would be more...better? Idk. I just think it would be important for them to know if you were on the spectrum. In general life i think you would be stigmatized diagnosed or not. I'm not sure about at work - i've heard that should you need them and you have a diagnosis, there is routes you can take to get special adjustments. There's a term I'm just brain dead from work and forgot it. Watch i'll remember it after i hit 'post reply' lol.
 
Hi Lily and welcome to AC.
I found much in common with what you said, especially about labels and light touch. It bugs the hell out of me.
Clothes are purely a practical necessity for me, I too care not for fashion.
 
See when you get diagnosed in this day and age, are services offered to you automatically? I was registered as disabled. Wasn't allowed to work til I was 18 and got state benefits. I'm 29 now and never been out of work since. Do you have to take the help from support workers? I don't need one and I'm sure other people would need them more than me. I've heard they're understaffed. An acquaintance of mine gets her label put against her for a lot of things. Her 'friends' using it as an excuse blaming everything on her Aspergers. She's very high-functioning like me, has a support worker which helps her a lot - someone to talk to and help her around the house which I think is great and she holds down a part time job and lives alone. I'm thinking of being re-diagnosed, but scared to go ahead with it as there may be other hidden disadvantages and it may effect future employment too. Are there any advantages? This may be the worst thing I could do for myself.

Any advice?
 
Last edited:
Thankyou all so much for your welcomes!

Wyverary, yes some coping mechanisms would be very useful!

Rocco that picture is wonderful, did you paint that?

Vanilla thankyou for the resources. I'm actually halfway through aspergirls right now! Yes the cost is a barrier. I'm from UK though so NHS is an option for me but I do wonder if I'm too functional to get referred...

Kari it really is baffling isn't it. I mean how do people ignore all that background noise!!

Steph I just don't understand how people can put up with scratchy fabrics and crazy high heeled shoes. Just seems a bit superficial to me!

Nurseangela I work as a veterinarian. Highly inappropriate considering my struggles but I do enjoy the work itself. Its just the social interactions with colleagues and the business politics I find maddeningly confusing.
 
Cupboardy you must have posted at the same time as I did! Yes the stigma of a label does concern me. Especially in my industry. I think I would be seen as a liability even though I believe I am good at my job. I'm just not so good at the rest of life! From the research I have done here I get the impression that there is very little help available unless you cannot live alone or work. I think I'm too high functioning.
 
Hi LilyJo, welcome! I can't really tell you about the benefits of diagnosis, as I am not yet diagnosed myself, though the reason I want a diagnosis is because I simply want to have that reassurance that I'm right in my self-diagnosis, and so I can be confident in discussing it with the disability support people at uni.

About getting referred on the NHS:

If you do choose to try to get a referral make sure you go to your GP preprepared with a list of symptoms you see in yourself. It makes it so much easier, I simply said "I think I might have AS and would like a referral for diagnosis please" and handed over my list.

It might be a good idea to specifically ask to see a young doctor, as they may be more knowledgeable and open minded about the more "invisible" people on the spectrum. I had the same worry about being "too functional", as I am very competent and successful in day to day life. I saw the youngest doctor in the surgery (only qualified last year) and he was incredibly knowledgeable about AS and commented on how AS females often went unnoticed until we self diagnose as adults. He was supportive and understanding and referred me with no issues. I have my first appointment in 3 weeks, so it is possible!

Whatever path you choose to pursue I wish you all the best :)
 
Plus I was told that after you've been referred, someone contacts your family for extra information about past issues growing up to help correctly diagnose people. My dad said he'd be happy to answer some questions over the phone, but that's only if I go ahead with this.
 
Welcome LilyJo.
As many others here I can relate to what your wrote.
The reason I finally choose to be diagnoses was to be rid of selfdoubt and a feeling of guilt.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Threads

Top Bottom