Hi from Australia - and help needed please?

[Mortiis39]

Hi there everyone,

I am new to this particular community (joined minutes ago), and have yet to be diagnosed yet on the Autism spectrum, yet I do have a lot of other diagnosis (mainly BPD, Noonan Syndrome, which I was born with, Depression, Severe Social Anxiety).

I am located in Melbourne, Australia, and am finding it incredibly difficult (damn near impossible, if I am being honest) to find someone to test me on the Spectrum. As an adult (39) , it seems that this is not generally done in Australia (at least, not under government funding).

It has been said to me (by people who know me well enough) that I DO have significant autism traits, but then again, this could also be down to the NS that I have been diagnosed with since childhood, who knows?

I would like clarification so that I may move on forward with my life, and also support in doing this...

 

[Tom]

Hi & welcome,
I would suggest taking a look at the list and description of autism symptoms, and taking a few self tests. There are many available free online. Then engage in conversation routinely with other autistics here or elsewhere. Just talking with us has a way of revealing things in a way that is hard to explain/understand. It was that step that was most convincing to me in my own self-diagnosis.

 

[Mortiis39]

Tom,

I did all the main Aspie tests, and I scored "High probability of Autism Spectrum" and it reccomended I go for further testings. But where?

My symptoms are complex, many and varied.

 

[Tom]

That I don't know. I never went for a diagnosis myself. At first it would have conflicted with my career and later it would serve no purpose for me. The things they have actual treatment for, the co-morbids, in my case anxiety, I do have a diagnosis for and get medications, etc. So for me just knowing is enough and I can still study life autism skill techniques on my own.

What purpose would a diagnosis serve for you? Would it help you get some benefits or accomodation at a workplace etc.

 

[zurb]

Welcome to AC.
There is a list of online tests somewhere on the AC site (Not so easy to find using the tapatalk app - maybe someone else will post links). It looks like you have done at least one of these already.
I highly recommend reading a copy of Tony Attwood's "Complete guide to Aspergers". Its quite fat, but good reading if you want more information.
And of course, hang around and continue asking questions. Lots of good people and info here.
I don't know about Australia, but in NZ, in our experience if you're not a child with severe social problems, the public health system doesn't want to know you. If we really want to seek diagnosis, we have to go private.

 

[Datura]

I have never heard of Noonan Syndrome before, which surprises me as apparently it is fairly prevalent. One thing I noticed in my brief reserch is that autism and PDD are listed as associate traits. Based on that, and your self reported test results, I would say it does not seem unlikely.

Unfortunately I am not from Australia and don't have any advice on procuring a proper assessment. It sounds like you may end up having to pay for one, or at least go through a lot of red tape. As Tom has suggested, you may want to ask yourself if a formal assessment is worth the trouble.

 

[Progster]

Hi, and welcome to the forum

 

[Mortiis39]

Having a diagnosis of Noonan Syndrome (as an adult) is ****ing hard. (excuse my language). There's no support or treatment for the underlying issues, day-to-day stuff etc. Although as I believe Autism does have various support networks available.

I have severely limited social skills, and do not like the majority of people most of the time (although am also always quite lonely, and would like to have friends).
My general "way of thinking" seems to be very different than most, very much black or white.
Relationships have always been very unstable and conflicting for me, emotionally.

I was brought up in a severely abusive household. My father sexually abused me from the age of three until I turned 11, on an almost nightly basis. My mother knew about this, and would often involve herself in it, or encourage the disgusting activity to continue.

I have never celebrated a birthday or a Christmas. As a child, I was denied both of these , and as an adult (and adolescent) I came to view them as extremely horrible and lonely occasions, so I never made anything of them either.

Sorry to go on a bit of a tangent here, but I thought I'd give a wee bit more historical background.

As a child, I struggled academically (although English and writing I have always been extremely good with, I am a published author!).

Bullying was a factor - both because I obviously behaved differently, and because I have very "different" interests to other children (and still do have very 'abnormal' interests, compared to most).

I was (and still am), as I mentioned, extremely isolated and very much withdrawn. I feel that there is nobody else like me, and that anyone who is different to me (everybody) does not accept me, even though I crave and long for acceptance and companionship.

So... there you have it.

 

[Datura]

I am sorry to hear about your cruel upbringing. Words do not suffice.

In addition to any other issues you may have, the abbuse alone could be the root of much of the alienation you feel. That kind of abbuse can also severly effect a child's development and may be at least partially responsible for some of your learning difficulties. That you can't find help is simply deplorable.

 

[Tom]

You might try starting up a new thread to get input (on how to get the medical diagnosis) from other Aussies specifically.

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

Hi and welcome to the forum

I'm curious, what sort of autistic type symptoms do you think might be due to Noonan syndrome? I lived with a girl with NS for 4 years through university, and met some of her friends with NS, and I didn't observe any autistic type traits amongst any of them.

 

[ancusmitis]

Welcome to the forums!

 

[Mortiis39]

NothingToSeeHere

I have treatment at the moment for my BPD (Borderline Personality), so it is my therapist there who is questioning referring me for Autism spectrum testing, as she believes the autistic traits that I do have (which she agrees I have some of) are all attributed to NS, and that being tested for Autism would not do anything for me.

I have explained to her that it would definitely put things in perspective for me, would give me some clear answers, and may help me locate others through groups etc who are living with Autism also.

The thing that really gets me is - this therapist is actually fully qualified to perform the testing herself - she used to do this for a living before moving into this type of therapy.
My thoughts on this:

I believe that she just does not want to lose me as a client - hell, she gets $300+ an hour for me every week, and having a diagnosis of Autism/Aspergers will require me to possibly not be treated by her any more.
Realistically, I wouldn't wanna lose that money, she's only human too, right?

(The types of autistic symptoms that she thinks could be attributed to NS are the social ones mainly, and also the thinking pattern ones. I have severe social anxiety, and also am unable to properly get my bearings really when out alone - for instance, I need to go to new places DOZENS of times before I remember actually how to get there and back).

There's a multitude of other such cognition-based problems that I have too (quite a lot of them, to be honest), and I've only recently come out about them, because I've felt ashamed all these years to open up about problems that I may be having.

Below are the results for some tests I did (which I believe are the same tests that I would be given if I had testing done here by a professional).

The Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale Revised (RAADS-R):
http://aspietests.org/raads/questions.php?show=f5a376f062582&locale=en_GB

The Friendship Quotient:
http://aspietests.org/fq/questions.php?show=6fa0066362582&locale=en_GB

The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ):
http://aspietests.org/aq/questions.php?show=a317699862582&locale=en_GB

The Empathy Quotient (EQ):
http://aspietests.org/eq/questions.php?show=1ecaeb2b62582&locale=en_GB

The Systemising Quotient (SQ):
http://aspietests.org/sq/questions.php?show=52f24eb162582&locale=en_GB

Reading the Mind in FIlms:
http://aspietests.org/films/questions.php?show=e76cb03162582&locale=en_GB

Two-Factor Imagination Scale (TFIS):
http://aspietests.org/tfis/questions.php?show=34f5f28d62582&locale=en_GB

I also completed two "faces" tasks where I was meant to recognize the emotion that
people were showing, and failed miserably at those, scoring incredibly low, but I cannot
find the results for those anywhere, sorry.

x

 

[Rocco]

Welcome aboard