How old?

[Chris]

How old were you when you were diagnosed?

 

[TV-STAR]

i were 14 when i got diagnosed with autism. well i had speech delay, learning disability when i were 4 years old and dyspraxia at age 9. But i were in an area that didnt accept there were anything further wrong with me i were seen as attention seeking. but when i were 12 they were going through diagnosis of ADD, fragile X, Aspergers to finally autism.

 

[Willow]

I was 16 when I got diagnosed with Asperger's and dyspraxia.

 

[Chris]

i were 14 when i got diagnosed with autism. well i had speech delay, learning disability when i were 4 years old and dyspraxia at age 9. But i were in an area that didnt accept there were anything further wrong with me i were seen as attention seeking. but when i were 12 they were going through diagnosis of ADD, fragile X, Aspergers to finally autism.

It sucks that you had a tough time with people accusing you of being an attention seeker.

 

[x.AutisticSarah.x]

I was 6/7 when I was diagnosed but I have many complex problems

 

[Richard_Aspergic]

I was 23 years old when I was diagnosed.

 

[Carl Carter]

29, but had various problems since I can remember, usually diagnosed as depression/social anxiety, etc. Have a good doctor at the moment though, she really knows her stuff

 

[AdzPearson]

I was diagnosed with autism at around about 3 years old. It wasn't until I was 13 that it was narrowed down to Aspergers. I also have dyspraxia.

 

[Chris]

A question for all the aspie's that were diagnosed at some point after they left school: Did you find school difficult? Would it have helped you if you'd been diagnosed earlier? It must be somewhat of a shock finding out you have AS after thinking you were neurotypical to some extent for so long?

 

[raiimonarch10]

I was diagnosed at 22, but that was the offical one. I had a basic diagnosis for 2 years before that. I was also diagnosed with ADHD when I was seven, so people always knew I had something going on when I was in school. I think if I had been diagnosed earlier, i would be better off now. I wouldn't have blamed myself so much when I said something that offended someone or generally screwed up. I would have known where to draw the line, and not blame myself entirely.

 

[Emor]

I was diagnosed when I was 11, I think, and my Mum decided to tell me when I was 12.
She only told me because I thought she was complaining to the Psychologist about me(that's what it felt like, LOL) and I got pretty upset, so she explained to me.
I'm pretty sure there's other diagnoses she's not told me. I was browsing through some paperwork left on the table(like you do, LOL) and I came across this SEN report about me, and apparently I also have Semantic Pragmatic Learning Disability too(which explains the 6 years or so of unexplained speech therapy, LOL). I've not actually asked her if I do because I'm not really that bothered anyway. I'm thinking I probably got diagnosed with that when I was 7 because that was when the speech therapy started, and my teacher got my Mum in to talk to her about some concerns or whatever, and she expressed a lot of interest in how the speech therapy was going, so yeah.
I also think I'm probably diagnosed with Dyspraxia seeing as I've been on several 6 week courses of physiotherapy provided by the NHS(which would require a diagnosis of some sort) to improve my co-ordination, despite having no injuries or whatever.
I don't know if I'm diagnosed with anything else. I'm not really bothered to be honest though, I don't think knowing about any other disorders will help(knowing I probably have dyspraxia and pretty much definitely have SPLD hasn't really changed anything xD) me.
EMZ=]

 

[Willow]

I wouldn't have blamed myself so much when I said something that offended someone or generally screwed up. I would have known where to draw the line, and not blame myself entirely.

I know what you mean about the blaming yourself thing. I messed up so many friendships by saying the wrong thing and I thought I was just not a nice person, because everyone else managed to say the right things, even if they weren't true. Now I know that there is a reason I feel better because it's explainable, both to me and the person I offend.

 

[Chris]

I know what you mean about the blaming yourself thing. I messed up so many friendships by saying the wrong thing and I thought I was just not a nice person, because everyone else managed to say the right things, even if they weren't true. Now I know that there is a reason I feel better because it's explainable, both to me and the person I offend.

It's not explainable at first though right? I mean, you can't assume when you argue or fall out with someone that it's down to something you said due to lack of understanding from aspergers. Not every fallout will be your fault.

 

[raiimonarch10]

Well part of the problem was that I used to think it was my ADHD that caused me to have problems. That I knew what I was supposed to say, but wasn't paying attention to what I said, said things impulsively. I realized that wasn't the case, I realized that I honestly didn't know what I said was wrong. I'm not so hung up on that anymore, it was something that happened more during aruguements.

 

[Willow]

It's not explainable at first though right? I mean, you can't assume when you argue or fall out with someone that it's down to something you said due to lack of understanding from aspergers. Not every fallout will be your fault.

I think when I was younger they were my fault. I was so confused about myself because I knew I was different to other girls my age; other girls used to annoy me something because I couldn't understand why they were being so...immature. I think because of that it made it difficult for me to stay in a friendship with them and obviously I must have said the wrong things, or being interested in the wrong things (at the time they were into music, makeup and boys; I was into reading and education).

And, raiimonarch10: I still have that problem with arguments. I honestly don't know that I've said something wrong, and so can't understand why it's made things worse. I say things all wrong in arguments and in normal conversation anyway. I'm usually the reason an argument starts. I offend people far too much with what I say or how I say it. The problem is, if I've meant it in a different way to how they take it, I can't see why they're hurt because the way they react wasn't how I intended and I can't control it so I don't think it's my fault. =(

 

[AdzPearson]

I can relate to having arguments and feeling it's all my fault. That's happened a lot between me and one of my best friends recently. It can just come out of thin air sometimes. One minute, we're happily talking. Next minute, she's upset with me. It hasn't been a great experience. I'm really scared I might go too far one day and she'll never talk to me again. I'd really hate that to happen.

That said, we're fine at the moment. =)

 

[Emor]

Hehe, I don't even notice when I'm in an argument until it's too late. I mistake arguments for debates or minor disagreements all the time, but then the other person says a personal insult and I'm like, 'Oh no, I've done it again' LOL.
EMZ=]

 

[Chris]

Lol, i used to be really argumentitive when i was early teens. I think that's just down to me just being a bit of a jerk sometimes though. I try to be more tolerant in conversation if i can, when talking about things with Willow. It doesnt always work though.

 

[142857]

A question for all the aspie's that were diagnosed at some point after they left school:
(1)Did you find school difficult?
(2)Would it have helped you if you'd been diagnosed earlier?
(3)It must be somewhat of a shock finding out you have AS after thinking you were neurotypical to some extent for so long?

Hi Chris,

I've decided to give your site a go. See if I can be the first member to get banned.

Some good questions there:

(1) School was often difficult. The school work itself was actually too easy, I tended to get very good marks without ever studying or doing my homework. Unfortunately this did not set me up with the study skills needed to go on to further education.

(2) Of course. I can't believe that I never got diagnosed with anything when I was starting school. Must be due to the era (I was born in 1965) I had all the symptoms - lack of physical coordination. Late development of speech and need for speech therapy until I was about 9 years old. Attention span all over the place. Limited social development. Obsessions (dinosaurs from as early as I can remember).

(3) This would make a good topic for discussion all by itself. The reality is that I can't think of a single Aspie who would consider themselves "like everyone else", or who would consider themselves a well adjusted individual. The realization that I most likely have AS has made one thing after another kind of fall into place.

 

[Chris]

I've decided to give your site a go. See if I can be the first member to get banned.

Lmao, I wouldn't worry about that, you seem friendly enough to me.

Thanks for the structured answers, speech therapy until you were 9? That's a lot of speech therapy now.

Another question for you if you have the time:

After requiring so much speech therapy, do you still have any vocal difficulties or have you overcome it after so long? (Not that 1965 was that long ago. )