To wonder if it's worth actually getting an Asperger's diagnosis as an adult?

[ShutUpShouty]

Bit of a strange thread I admit, but I've had an inkling for years that I might have Aspergers syndrome. It's only been within the last year or so when I started to research more into it and found out how women on the spectrum present very differently to men that made me pretty sure that I do have it. Every article I've read about women with it pretty much fits me perfectly but I've never been sure whether to actually get an official diagnosis or not.

Would a diagnosis make much of a difference? It wouldn't change anything about me, I would still find the same things hard as I do now. I've heard you should only get a diagnosis if you're really struggling but if you're content then it's not worth it. Sometimes I'm okay, but then often I struggle...but again would a diagnosis change that? Then again with an official diagnosis it would hopefully make certain people who give me a hard time for my quirks and criticize me for them (these are close family members btw, including my parents), especially my difficulty in social situations back off a bit. I would be able to say "hey, it's not my fault, but I am trying"

Anyone who has had a diagnosis as an adult felt it made any difference at all? And how hard was it to get diagnosed as a female?

I don't know whether to make the first step or not.

[PleaseJustShootMeNow]

I got my diagnosis in my late 30s and I'm so glad I did. It gave me a peace within myself that I'd never known before. All my life I struggled to be like everyone else and the diagnosis was like permission to just be who I am. Finally everything slotted into place and made sense.

[StarlightMcKenzie]

'This is anyway just semantics, we all have autistic traits,'

No. We don't. What on earth have you been reading?

[ShutUpShouty]

OK, in a nutshell:

*Social situations - I've always struggled big time with social situations. It may seem odd but I don't 'get' social niceties that other people seem to have no problem with. I don't always know when it's my turn to speak or what is appropriate to say and I will often just blurt out the first thing that comes into my head and go on about it for ages without actually realising that other people are getting fed up of me.

*I've been told that I'm emotionally cold before. I find it hard to express emotions, for instance when talking about a serious issue such as death I can never express how I feel and I've been told I come across as emotionally cold and uncaring because of this.

*I like routine and I have a basic routine which I stick to all the time and if it gets interrupted or has to change for some reason I get upset and teary. I've even had panic attacks before when my routine has been disturbed.

*Obsessions - I've always went through phases where I will become fixated on a particular topic for a long period of time. These can be anything from TV shows to characters to lists. When I become fixated on that topic it is literally all I think about and I will want to research whatever the topic is and gather every piece of information I can about it. I will also want to talk about it constantly and want to read/watch whatever it is I'm fixated on at the time over and over again. Right now I'm obsessed with the X Files and am constantly thinking about it, scouring the web for information, interviews, fan fiction, etc on it and am also watching episodes non stop on repeat. Again if I can't do this then I get upset.

*Sensory issues - I hate being touched, hate hugs and yes I hate sex and other intimate things like that such as kissing. I just can't stand having someone that physically close to me, it makes me cringe. Of course I do these things because I feel I have to but I hate every second of it. I'm also very sensitive to noise, loud noises especially seem to grate right through me. As a kid I hated things like parties and the like because all the noise would be too much for me and I'm still like that today - I hate nightclubs because of the noise and the lights, it's just too much for me. I'm also very sensitive to food and have a very limited diet because of this. You could say I'm a very fussy eater but it's because certain foods feel horrible in my mouth and I can't stand them being there.

*This is embarrassing but I've always had the annoying habit of having to clap or flap my hands repeatably . I do this when stressed or very happy but I always go somewhere private to do it. Again I always feel like I 'need' to do this to get it out of my system.

Okay that was actually very long, sorry and defiantly not summed up in a nutshell and I could expand further on the points mentioned above if need be. There are also other things that make me thing I have it but those are just the main ones that spring to mind when asked.

Again if I wrote down every little point and expanded on every fine detail of why I think I'm on the spectrum it would be a very longwinded essay.

[StarlightMcKenzie]

'Supposedly the opposite of autistic is schizophrenic, and most of us are somewhere in between.'

Blimmin 'eck!

OP, please disregard this drivel.

[ShutUpShouty]

It's about 40 questions and it gives you a score at the end which indicates if you could be or not.

I think I've actually done that one a couple of times before and each time scored as a good chance of being on the spectrum. Is that reliable though?

[TequilaMockingbirdy]

There is actually a theory that it they are two sides of the same coin, direct opposites.

The poster did say 'supposedly'.

[dawndonnaagain]

Supposedly the opposite of autistic is schizophrenic, and most of us are somewhere in between.
Bloody nonsense.

I had a dx at 45. I found it very helpful.

[StarlightMcKenzie]

'if we have none, we are considered to have a completely different disorder'

ROFL. I have none. I'd like to see someone try and diagnose me as schizophrenic.

[TequilaMockingbirdy]

Crespi B, 2009. Comparative Genomics of Autism and Schizophrenia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science

[ALifeOfPie]

[[
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[TequilaMockingbirdy]

polter

The source of the theory is a evolutionary biologist at a university and had his work published so I wouldn't automatically discredit it. I don't know much on the subject but I'm going to have a read now.

[StarlightMcKenzie]

Yes OP There is enough there from my experience of those who have been where you are and gone onto get a diagnosis, to suggest it might be worth pursuing if you feel it will be of benefit.

[TequilaMockingbirdy]

I don't think what the theory is saying is that they're opposite as in like happy is the opposite of sad.. but that's my limited understanding.

If it's genome based it goes a bit deeper than just an outside understanding of autism

[dawndonnaagain]

Crespi has been peddling this theory for a while. Not many are buying it and a fair few have discredited it. He likes to be provocative.

[StarlightMcKenzie]

But to make such a ridiculous claim you need to make an assumption that the spectrum has all people somewhere on it, and that is NOT the meaning and definition of ASD.

I read something that I liked to explain it (it's trite but not bloody Holland)

People on the spectrum are like a rainbow in the grey-blue sky. Colourful and beautiful and a whole range of shades that change with the context. In order to be fully appreciated, the environment needs to be right for them. The rest of us are just the grey-blue sky, no surprises, uniform and often fairly dull by comparison.

[TequilaMockingbirdy]

There seems to be quite a few theories as to why they're 'diametrically opposite'

That's me up all night reading, I'm a bugger for things like this.

[TequilaMockingbirdy]

The Authors contend that autism and schizophrenia are on a continuum where cognition is concerned with Autistics leaning towards mechanistic cognition, while schizophrenics leaning towards mentalistic cognition. This should be a familiar story to readers of this blog

Things like this seem to awfully simplify something so complex.

[ShutUpShouty]

Bloody hell, I've really started something off here haven't I?

[StarlightMcKenzie]

I wouldn't bother Teq. The premise that is based on is faulty. There are better things to research.

How about simplex autism, or multiplex autism. It's been suggested they have different causes or at least different emphasises on the genetic-environmental triggering.

[NinjaLeprechaun]

Supposedly the opposite of autistic is schizophrenic, and most of us are somewhere in between.
My step-brother has schizophrenia and he exhibits a lot of the characteristics you'd expect to see in somebody who's autistic. Not that that is proof of anything, but if it's the opposite then I wouldn't expect that would be the case.

[lougle]

ShutUpShouty no, you haven't, it's just that everyone likes to think they know about ASD because they can put the word 'spectrum' into a grammatically correct sentence.

There is significant evidence to suggest that girls (and by extension women) are hugely under diagnosed. You have listed some very personal details which must have been hard to do, all of which are significant difficulties to you and make you feel different. They also all happen to be features of ASD.

No one here can diagnose you but you have enough there to go to the GP and ask for referral.

If you have ASD, you have it and not getting a diagnosis isn't going to change that. It's interesting how nobody would suggest you didn't get a broken leg diagnosed and just rested until it was healed, isn't it?

[ocelot41]

Dear Shutup, I had a DX of a different condition when I was 28. It took me a while to integrate it into my sense of who I am - initially I found it very upsetting. But learning more about it and trying different coping strategies eventually helped me avoid the recurrent depression and physical symptoms I had experienced until then because of the stress of trying to 'get by' all the time. I often didn't tell other people, I just quietly went about doing the things which I knew would help me.

My DF got a DX of ASD very late in life - unfortunately he wasn't willing to accept it or to experiment with different coping strategies. It has however helped other family members understand him better, has helped them structure family gatherings in a way he finds much more manageable, and has pretty much saved the relationships with two of my siblings who were just about ready to 'divorce' him because of his repeatedly hurtful behaviour. (He has a tendency to blurt whatever he is thinking too and because he has often been stressed and uncomfortable at family gatherings, these blurts have historically been aggressive and/or insulting).

So overall I am pretty in favour of getting a diagnosis, but it can feel daunting and it is entirely understandable to have a mixture of different feelings and thoughts about how it might affect your sense of self and others' perceptions of you.