Asperger's/Autism chat thread (for those who have autism or Asperger's)

[NootNoop]

Hey !
So I noticed a lot of old threads about people having partners with autism or Asperger's, but didn't see any for people with autism or Asperger's themselves, so I made this one.

To my fellow Aspie/autistic MNers; what is your special interest? When did you realise/were told that you were autistic/aspie? Also happy to chat here about whatever else comes up

Waves
I have a collection of special interests that I flit between.
Genealogy
Social history
History of my local area
British history
History of pre Christian England

I think there's a theme there 🧐.....

I'm married with 3 children. Stay at home mum because I really struggle with burn out in the workplace.

Hi. Thanks for starting this thread, OP

Diagnosed last year at the age of 50. I always knew I was different and began to suspect a few years ago that that was why, but a couple of friends whose kids had ASD also asked me if I had considered it.

I have various passions - mainly involving tech. But I get obsessed with, say, iPad, then end up spending a lot of money and then flip to something else related. But I tend to obsess about things but not want to start them (eg a robot kit - I buy it but don’t want to open it in case it ‘spoils’ it

I work full time and have been single for many years

Diagnosed as a 40 something here, married and have DCs.

I don't work and haven't for a few years because I find it completely exhausting on top of everything else.

Special interests involve transport and musicians.

I completely obsess over an artist to the point where I know all I can find out about them snd listen to their music non stop. I buy memorabilia, then the inevitable happens and I lose interest and move on!

I'm aspergers. My special interests are cats, nature, animals, trees and insects. I also love science, history, current affairs and nutrition. I do crochet and painting to relax and I like to read.

I also have adhd and I get depressed on a regular basis. I had to quit my career following burnout and severe depression.

Diagnosed when I was 28 or 29 after years of wondering how to form friendships, and that there must be some sort of mathematical code for it!

My special interests are:

The paranormal, I’ve been on ghost hunts and everything!

Genealogy on and off during the years!

I’m now onto model kits, currently doing a VW T1 Samba.

True Crime - currently studying for a degree in Criminology.

I currently work full time, but I experience burn out and I get very anxious. I’m also a carer to my husband and I’m feeling very burnt out. On the housing register to move back to my home town to get more support.

Hello, and thanks for starting this thread OP. I was diagnosed last year in my late 40s and have autistic kids (probably dh as well). I realised when investigating autism to help my kids and stumbled across a page talking about autism in women and girls. The penny dropped big time!

My interests include Harry Potter, birds, trees, various tv shows, and fashion designers, musicians, actors, etc. Oh and I like cosplay. Bizarrely when I was younger autism used to be one of my special interests. I read lots of books on it and found it fascinating, with absolutely zero awareness that it could apply to me.

Hi OP, I was diagnosed a couple of years ago in my early forties. Suspect I have ADHD as well but not bothered pursuing, diagnosis was ASD but they said would previously have been Aspergers.

My special interests can reflect my short attention span, currently it's the series Gomorrah which has been the last few months or so. I can get obsessive about tv series, previous ones have been Star Trek TNG, Buffy and The Wire so I'm gutted about Michael K. Williams today.
Probably my longest lasting obsession has been horror films, that's been since I was twelve.

I also get really obsessive about news/political subjects to the point of arguing about them on here, twitter etc to the point of absolute exhaustion.

I've suspected asd but I don't seem to have many special interests any more. I was obsessed with calligraphy and ancient Egypt as a child but as I've got older I seem not to develop such interests much anymore. I do have a dx of adhd too though which I suspect muddies the waters a bit.

Diagnosed as a child, used to have lots of special interests, ranging from different countries politics to videos games, Harry Potter, animals etc but don't really pursue any at the moment, fairly burnt out and depressed by just life lol, its exhausting.

@Fluffypastelslippers Yup - that’s me as well

It's so awesome to hear from you all . I find it really interesting how varied everyone's interests are, and the various different ages at which people got diagnosed. How did you all feel about getting diagnosed?

It was okay getting diagnosed, but I had to go private because my area has no autism provision and there was no post diagnosis support so my life has gone to pieces since it happened. I just can't process the feelings and incorporate them into my mind to enable me to function in society, so I'm virtually a hermit now. I just can't engage with others. I then was diagnosed with adhd as well, so I'm constantly miserable and depressed. No access to medication or support. Nothing. It sucks.

I was diagnosed a few years back in my late 30s. It explained a lot! Mainly my difficulties forming and keeping friendships. It's weird, since my diagnosis, I almost find that my traits have lessened - perhaps as I have more self-acceptance and am not so harsh on myself or constantly stressed. I definitely had the special interest focus as a child/teen - would get obsessed with TV series, read widely and deeply about my historical interests and threw myself into my history degree with a passion I suspect I would struggle to recapture now! I think I was so focussed precisely because I didn't have the social aspect of uni to deal with - I just couldn't cope with the lack of structure at all, I was so used to the formal setting of school and found it really hard to adapt. I've kept few friends from school, none from uni, have not been able to connect in the workplace either. In my 30s I developed a passion for a particular musician and followed him on tour around the world - I had great experiences and actually made a brilliant friend, one of my closest, through initially online chats. It still is a somewhat lonely way of life, but I have a loving DH, a few good friends and I try to accept myself as I am now, and don't beat myself up for not being a social butterfly. I would actually love a new passion to discover as I miss that aspect, but lockdown has been a bummer.

Hi! My special interest is Antisepticeye, a demon character created by Jacksepticeye, the YouTuber. I was diagnosed 3 years ago when I was 51.

I felt a huge sense of relief at being diagnosed, but my family still treat me exactly the same expecting me to fit in, change behaviours that they trigger.

I suspect I may have asd. I seem to be like Teflon with friendships, even though people are friendly, nobody really sticks or gets deeper than a surface relationship. I struggle to read social cues and am always putting my foot in it!
I have all consuming hobbies of gardening, knitting, crocheting, aromatherapy and cooking.
How did you get the diagnosis started? Did your GP make the diagnosis or were you referred, and how have things changed since the diagnosis? (Is it worth spending the time waiting for appts to BE diagnosed?) And is there much in the way of support once you are diagnosed?
Nearly 30 here.

@TheLovelinessOfDemons

My dh's family are the same. His sister even told him the other day that she thought she might be on the spectrum because she finds company a wee bit tiring. She no longer speaks to me because I'm deemed to be not making enough effort to be normal. This is a woman who works, travels all over the world, goes to a busy church, does church related work, has an open house for guests from all over, holds parties and get togethers She's married to a very extrovert NT dh and is totally fine with her life.

I was diagnosed with ADHD earlier this year age 43 and the psychiatrist report indicated undiagnosed autism which makes a lot of sense. I thought I'd see what difference taking medication for the adhd made before looking into an official asd dx - so far quite positive.

I've always felt like an outsider, often on the periphery of a group. I've been depressed and anxious since I was a teenager and never quite seemed to grow up in the way my peers did. It wasn't until my mid-30s that I realised I probably had some sort of actual diagnosable 'thing' but I didn't seem to fit very neatly with anything I could find online. Like a pp when I found some research into autism and adhd in women the penny dropped!

I flit between interests and tend to get obsessed by things until I suddenly don't. I find it very hard to make friends and even harder to keep them, people seem take against me and I can never work out why. But I feel almost at peace with that now. I have a lovely partner, no pets or kids, I'd like a cat but I love the wildlife in my garden too much for that!

@HotButteredRumPaPumPum I was diagnosed privately and found the aftercare lacking. I'm spending so much money on medication etc that I can't really justify paying privately for therapy too, but I'm sure I would benefit greatly from it. Because my diagnosis is ADHD there is a route to medication, whereas afaik there is no medication for autism so therapy would be more important I think.

Wonderful idea for a thread, OP.

I'm 31. I started to get the impression that I had what was then known as Asperger Syndrome at the age of 19. I was looking up one of my favourite historical figures and it was hypothesised that he had Asperger Syndrome. "What's Asperger Syndrome?" I asked myself. Googling it, well: there it was. The formula for why I had always felt that I was set apart from everyone else. Still a human being, but different in some way: like an Apple product is different from a Windows product.

I was diagnosed with Autism at the age of 26. My DH is also autistic and he was diagnosed at the age of 19 by his neurologist (though he was mainly under her therapy for his epilepsy). Everyone says we're a great match. A couple made for each other!

Our special interests seem to be music (especially dark, Gothic stuff) - both playing and listening, environmentalism, making/upcycling anything and in my case; writing. Though we don't really call them special interests: to us, they're just hobbies.

As an aside: When I was a moody, angst ridden, undiagnosed, baby bat teenage girl: whilst other teens listened to Blue and the endless stream of male bands from the early 00s, I would tirelessly play Gary Numan in my bedroom. I'd listen to the lyrics, knowing that he understood. Feeling halfway between being a human and a malfunctioning machine and the sadness that brings. Of course he understood. He's an Aspie too.

Suspected, about to turn 50 and terrified of the diagnosis process, hence still only suspected. Properly fixated on TV shows, characters and actors and have been since I was a small child. My interests completely take over my life although I am married with children and a job. I find I'm getting worse as I get older, like it's too tiring to keep up the pretence. And I have less interest in real life and more need to do my own thing and pursue my interests.

How did you all feel about getting diagnosed?

Enormous relief. I'd spent years feeling like there was something wrong with me that I had to hide from the world.
I feel like much less of a social failure now and have much more self-acceptance.

Rockbird I'm finding at the moment that stress is sending me in that direction. I can waste hours a day on my interests, I seem to be completely trying to avoid the real world.
When I'm more relaxed and happy and busy it seems to ease off.

For those that were diagnosed as an adult, can you tell me more about the process? I've suspected for a long time that I'm autistic but have never pursued a diagnosis because the thought of going through the diagnostic process makes me so anxious!

I think we're going to have to go through it anyway soon with DD, 5, she is so similar to the way I was as a child. Very high functioning but anxious, has sensory issues around clothes, noise, smells. Very restricted diet. Social issues, although she wants to make friends, prefers the company of adults but has a tendency to talk at people in a monologue without taking in any cues from others...

I'm not sure whether we should pursue a diagnosis in parallel, or what to expect at all!

Diagnosed at 43, as with many late diagnosis, it was because ds was being diagnosed.
Retired now but worked in academia for years and then as part of a diagnostic team.
Also have adhd special interests are variable, the only two that are consistent are crochet and reading.

Diagnoses. Apologies.

I have a kiddo with adhd/dyslexia and a kiddo with asd/dyspraxia. I have strong traits of asd/adhd/dyspraxia so the kids obviously get it from me, but I've never been tested. I'm almost 50.

My big thing is the video game Destiny 2. If I'm not playing it, I'm watching videos about it or filling in notebooks with things I need to do, or rolls I need to search for. Luckily I'm in a Destiny clan so I can talk and message people about it.