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Increase in autistic behaviours after diagnosis?

Nemo

Open mind, guarded heart
Hey,
I noticed that after my diagnosis, I started stimming more and displaying more behaviours. Not sure why.
Placebo effect? Letting loose? Other idea? I want to hear it. Just curious
 
How did you react to your diagnosis? I'm thinking if it had any kind of impact on you, it would probably cause some stress, and call for more reactions and behaviors than usual, until it settles back down.
I'm not sure, I haven't experienced this. However, I have noticed that in the very rare instances where I had to disclose my Asperger's, and something was at stake, each time I had a few days where everything was exacerbated, and whatever coping mechanisms I had in place temporarily seemed both harder to action and less efficient. Lasted a couple of weeks, and then back to my good ol' normal self.
 
How did I react to my diagnosis? Hmmm. Well, in memory (since I didn't videotape this, it could be unreliable), I had read some stuff on it because I have a weird news feed and therefore was just kinda like, huh. That fits. Then my anxiety had me focus more on the fact that my room was untidy and that was going to lead to me achieving nothing in life and I kinda accepted the diagnosis through avoidance.
 
Just a theory, but maybe you're done avoiding it, and now your diagnosis is "meeting" you, like realizing it's for real, and not just a hypothesis anymore.
I don't know. I'm not sure I'm making much sense, I should go to bed and think about it again after getting some rest.
 
I am not offically diagnosed (yet), but I found that when I understood aspergers more and more and recognised more traits, that suddenly it all made sense. Before, I hid stimming, because I felt like I was mad and did not wish to be seen as that, but knowing that it is a trait, I find that I stim pretty openly and only become aware during stimming.

Not so long ago, was in a food shop with my husband and for once, we happened to be teasing each other and the next minute he said: what are you doing and I looked down and I was wringing my hands together, but in pleasure and I said: is that the first time and he goes: actually I think I have seen you do it before, but only now just come to fully notice.

So, stimming is the only trait that I am doing a lot more of. And I think it is a sort of giving oneself permission, whilst appreciating that it is ok.

The brain is amazing!
 
I don't think I displayed more typical autistic behaviour after my diagnosis, but I think I was paying more attention to it. After my diagnosis I scrutinized my own behaviour and felt like I was behaving differently, but my boyfriend and friends didn't notice a lot of difference (other than me talking about whether or not my behaviour was caused by my ASD or just a personality trait)
 
Just throwing out another idea, but is it possible you're just noticing them more since becoming aware of them?
 
With self-awareness I like to believe that I'm just more selective about masking my traits and behaviors than before when I just seemed to do so as if I was on some kind of "neurological auto-pilot". And always mystified why I was so exhausted after enduring social occasions whether I liked them or not.

It's no longer a mystery to me and subsequently I'm a little more mindful of how to use my own resources.
 
I love all your theories! I do have a habit of over-scrutinizing, so I can definitely believe that I'm just noticing it now.
 
I still fail to grasp the concept of not over-scrutinizing. How? And who does that?

Oh wait... Most NTs, right? ;)
 
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I noticed that I recognized my attempts at self-calming (which is what 'stimming' really is; distracts the prefrontal cortex), I recognized my triggers for anxiety better, and I was able to match 'aspie' behaviors to their source. I also was able to match up events in the past with AS and let go of a lot of anxiety and self-recrimination and guilt...it took about two months to settle in to AS being part of who I am.
 
I still fail to grasp the concept of not over-scrutinizing. How? And who does that?
I still fail to grasp the concept of over-scrutinizing. Is there even such a thing as a point at which further investigation is not warranted?

More on topic - I sometimes find myself analyzing my behaviours through the lense of aspie-vs-alistic-behaviour. Like, I will be watching TV and start paying attention to where I am looking on the screen. Am I spending more time looking at people's eyes or their mouths, or elsewhere entirely? Then I wonder about weather my own awareness of this phenomena is somehow effecting my behavior and if that completely invalidates the line of inquiry.

Having a diagnosis (or suspecting one, in my case) causes one to view their own behavior in a new light. It might also change your attitude about your impulses and lead you to express them differently. For example, when I am relaxing with my girlfriend I think nothing about rocking in my seat, whereas I would likely have suppressed this behavior if I had not come to identify with Asperger's or thought she would be react poorly.
 
I think I've allowed myself more leeway, now understanding certain traits and how expressing them could decrease my tension, that suppressing them could increase tension. But also, I think it was when my stress and inability to cope with it was so high that I couldn't deny it and had to confront what issues I have that I finally realized I was an Aspie - so there was way more reason for the increase in symptoms right there.
 
I just had a similar thought and found this thread already existed!

I think feeling like I'm more ASD after diagnosis is just me being more self aware now. Focusing on mindfulness and anxiety, etc. has allowed me to become aware of my thoughts, reactions, triggers, etc. that I previously ignored.

Has anyone else bought new items (like stim toys or therapy related things) after diagnosis (or self-diagnosis) that are advertised for ASD?
Before I knew about ASD and SPD I had non-ASD specific items that I used but did not know why.

After self-diagnosis I purchased a few things that self-soothed and were stim-happy but not specifically ASD related. I think I gave myself permission to go with the need to stim, etc and also now knowing why I needed them I decided to give myself what I needed so I would feel less anxious, etc.

After official diagnosis I then looked at ASD and SPD specific items to see if they alleviated stress better than ordinary items that I was using. Thought process being that they were designed for what I needed to address.

Some worked, some didn't. I still like really soft plush toys that are not ASD marketed but some of the stim toys feel good.

Anyone else follow this rambling train wreck of thought?

Basically, what did you use before becoming aware of ASD/SPD and what do you use after?
 
I just had a similar thought and found this thread already existed!

I think feeling like I'm more ASD after diagnosis is just me being more self aware now. Focusing on mindfulness and anxiety, etc. has allowed me to become aware of my thoughts, reactions, triggers, etc. that I previously ignored.

Has anyone else bought new items (like stim toys or therapy related things) after diagnosis (or self-diagnosis) that are advertised for ASD?
Before I knew about ASD and SPD I had non-ASD specific items that I used but did not know why.

After self-diagnosis I purchased a few things that self-soothed and were stim-happy but not specifically ASD related. I think I gave myself permission to go with the need to stim, etc and also now knowing why I needed them I decided to give myself what I needed so I would feel less anxious, etc.

After official diagnosis I then looked at ASD and SPD specific items to see if they alleviated stress better than ordinary items that I was using. Thought process being that they were designed for what I needed to address.

Some worked, some didn't. I still like really soft plush toys that are not ASD marketed but some of the stim toys feel good.

Anyone else follow this rambling train wreck of thought?

Basically, what did you use before becoming aware of ASD/SPD and what do you use after?
Think I'm still the same so if you have severe anxiety it over rides things I learn slowly so I'm still in the period where I don't fully understand it's autism and maybe ADHD I seem to stim by moving my legs,I don't know if it's relevant but maybe I'm just on the cusp of the generation that created things themselves .
 
This is very interesting... I vividly remember shaking my hands with excitement in public once and my mother told me to "stop that people will think you are crazy." So from then on I have only allowed myself to do that in private. In public lately I have been cracking my knuckles all day which I also do when alone. The hand shaking for me is usually about video games because they really can make me excited. I also tend to hold my hands to my head and tap my skull when I'm extra anxious. I never connected these to ASD symptoms until now (A psychiatric professional saw signs of it during the initial screening and we will be exploring that in the future). It feels relieving to not be ashamed about stimming behavior because I always have received negative feedback about my constant fidgeting and now I am attempting to unravel the roots of my insecurities and build my self esteem, ultimately learning to be proud of myself and confident enough to do the social activities I actually want to.
 
When i got my diagnosis i started to think more about how i behave and noticed a lot more things i do after that. Some increased just because i accepted myself and didn't try to be like NTs. Like now i don't care where i look when i talk to people but before i tried to look in the eyes and it was exhausting. I also try to figure out where i look when i watch tv or movies.
 
Hey,
I noticed that after my diagnosis, I started stimming more and displaying more behaviours. Not sure why.
Placebo effect? Letting loose? Other idea? I want to hear it. Just curious
I started to act like a "rain man" while reading about Aspeger's and other autism on wikipedia.
Guess has to do with putting that clechai on myself trying to see if it fits letting myself little loose to experience perhaps its a good thing to twitch uncontrollably since i am autistic, was not really my thing.

Maybe before you were bound by pretending to be normal, and after your diagnosis you free to be more chill about your condition and you just being more yourself.
 

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