aspergers diagnosis

[jenk1]

a while back i posted a thread saying i had self-referred myself as i thought i had aspergers syndrome and my gp was really unsympathetic.
Well this morning i had an appointment with a psychiatrist who agrees with me, he took a detailed history,medical record etc and my dh wrote him a letter and he said i definately have aspergers-but that it is not apparent to the untrained eye.
Well i feel utter relief,excitement all sorts of emotions i feel strangely happy because i can now get on with the rest of my life knowing that its not my fault that i cant make friends or hold a conversation properly im just sorry that i waited all this time
sorry its a long thread im just excited!!!!

[coppertop]

I'm so pleased for you - IYKWIM! I know how relieved my dh was when he finally found out why he'd always felt so different to everyone else.

[jenk1]

does your dh get any help-i only ask cos the psych said theres not much help around for aspergers

[coppertop]

No he doesn't get any official help. His boss is quite understanding though. He works in an open-plan office and gets distracted by all the different conversations going on as his hearing is hypersensitive. His boss lets him listen to music with his earphones in to make it bearable. He also doesn't have to take part in the pointless desk-moving that goes on (apparently a team-building exercise to get the staff sitting next to a variety of people! ).

[RnB]

Message withdrawn

[jenk1]

i dont work anymore,cant cope with it but i used to work in an office and couldnt concentrate with all the talking-bitching going on , i was always getting told off for leaving my desk and talking to the other members of staff, i also suffered from a lot of headaches due to the bright lights, im a SAHM now.
You hit the nail on the head when u said your DH understands why he felt differnt to everyone else cos thats how i have always felt and kids and even grownups used to tell me i WAS different words like geek,weirdo,nutter etc, but now i dont care cos now i know what i am and im going to be ok....

[saadia]

Really pleased for you jenk1, it must be such a relief.

[coppertop]

Dh finds the social side of work very difficult too. He often gets in trouble for being "less than diplomatic" and basically saying what he thinks. The lights are too bright and flicker too much. They also apparently make a buzzing noise that is very distracting.

I think dh has always been thought of as being somehow different. He was so relieved to find out why.

[jenk1]

rnb-the only thing that has stopped me from getting assesed all these years is that i always thought that psychs ask personal questions which i could never talk about to anyone but they dont. My pscyh took a detailed history from childhood,adolescent up with a letter from DH and some input from my mum on how i was when i was a child etc, he then asked me questions about depression etc -nothing personal and at the end of it i said what happens now do i have to see you again for another appointment for a diagnosis and he said i have just diagnosed you-i didnt understand what he had been saying -it was really easy and painless wish i,d done it years ago

[jenkins88]

I'm really pleased for you Jenk1. I hope it makes a positive difference to how you feel about yourself.

[spidermama]

Congrats Jenk. Lots of things must be falling into place for you.

I'm inspired to tell my BIL about you. He's nearly 40 and it's generally believed (by him too) that he's an Asie but isn't dx. Perhaps it'd be worth his trying for a dx just so he can make better sense of his life.

I wish you all the best.

[jenk1]

thanks spidermama, tell your bil it can only do him good especially if he thinks he,s an aspie. My psych explained a lot about AS and where he thinks i fit on the spectrum, all about how they believe people have it etc, its very interesting and relieving to know all about it

[beccaboo]

I'm pleased you've got an answer at last Jenk1, hope it helps

[jayzmummy]

Really pleased for you.

My sister was dx with Aspergers at the age of 24....she said it was like the mist rising from her life and now she understands why she struggled so hard as a child to "fit in".

[jayzmummy]

This may be of some interest to you

[jenk1]

thanks jayzmummy ive looked at the link

[Davros]

Good news really isn't it? I'm interested as many of you know I have an un-dx Aspie sister. I think getting a dx can only do good and there's LOTS of groups etc for people who want to take it further than just understanding themselves a bit better.

[Jimjams]

oh jenk. Are you going to seek out any other Aspies? A group have just had Autscape- think it was a gathering for Aspies and (presumably) hfa only- no NT's. Heard it was a great success....

[jenk1]

havent really thought about it. the psych said unfortunately that he doesnt think that there is much help for adults with asperger syndrome so dont really know what i can do really

[jenk1]

davros-further to your thread i would be intertested in getting further help, Think that the psychiatrist meant no further help from my local health authority. DH said he thinks that this is classed as being a disability, i dont know anything about that though

[notsobrave]

jenk, i have changed my name as i dont feel brave enough to admit that i have aspergers, but i was diagnosed as a teen after being referred for depression. i was a loner as a child and did exceptionally well at school, was perfectly behaved out of the home but terribly destructive, i set fire to the front room ceiling at 8 because of ny fire fascination and as a 4 year old, would
empty breakfast cereal all over the kitchen(because i liked the way it came out of the packet!!)
pour water down the back of the tv
throw peoples belongings in the dustbin on purpose
the list goes on, i had to have speech therapy and i believe dm sought advice on my destructive behaviour but was dismissed as i was highly intelligent(iq is in the top 3 percent)
i have always struggled to keep friendships, have problems with eye contact and although i have no probs expressing emotion to others, i often say in appropriate things or struggle to say something appropriate.
im a regular poster.

[notsobrave]

btw, im not destructive anymore in fact i am obsessively tidy and despite having kids become very distressed if i cant keep the house tidy as i feel completely in chaos.i find it hard to concentrate but managed to pass my gcses and obtain a-levels.

[jenk1]

notsobrave-thankyou for your frank and honest account,its not easy being aspergers i have struggled for months thinking that this is what i was and plucking up the courage to get help, i was ridiculed by both family and freinds and accused of atttention-seeking and many other things,it is nothing to be ashamed of though as i have come to realise through my ds who also has it, thankyou for your post
BIG HUGS

[notsobrave]

thankyou jenk, ive always felt different, i also suffer from ocd, which started at a very early age, when i was preg, the ocd really spiralled out of control and took over, am glad you have a diagnosis.

[MrsEffervescent]

I am v.!!!

jenk- i am very pleased for you...i 'dream' that one day i will see 'the right' psychiatrist and they will see the 'real me'...instead of treating me for depression...anxiety ...ocd etc....AS is commonly misdiagnosed in adults...

[jenk1]

mrs effervescent have you referred yourself for AS cos thats what i did, i listed all the things that i thought were "aspie", my DH wrote a letter saying what he thought was "aspie" tendencies about me,feedback from my mum re my childhood-she disagreed that i was AS and didnt want anything to do with me referring myself so i had to ask her sneaky questions re my childhood, the National Autistic Society has a page on self referral and how to go about it and i followed its advice and it has worked.
I too suffer from depression,anxiety and OCD and the psychiatrist has referred me for anxiety counselling