I think I might have asperger's

[Lambskin]

Feeling a bit weird about this and this has come as a gradual shock - if that makes any sense, so please bear with me.

I'm 40 and am currently going through the assessment for a dx of AS for my 6 yr old ds. This has meant I have been doing a lot of research into the subject. It all seems to be slotting into place and making complete sense for ME as well as for him. I had never encountered AS before my ds.

I have always found social situations ... how can I explain? Paralysing, mortifying, I feel physically sick. I can't give eye contact, well I try because I know other people do, but I just can't hold it. I hated school, was bullied, just wanted to be myself and read (still do).

I can't hold down a job; I have a degree and a teaching qualification but the interacting with other members of staff and observations made me ill. I now stay at home (I'm married and my husband works) and the thought of working again fills me with dread.

I don't know what I'm asking or saying, but has anyone else been in this position? I've talked to my dh about it a bit and he thinks it's highly probable I've got AS too. It answers so many questions about my shit life; depression etc but I don't know what to do next. I don't want the next 40 years to be as hard as the last.

Sorry it's so long and rambling and thank you for reading if you've got this far.

Actually I think she does know, but she doesn't know that I know, which is the way I prefer it :o.

We've had conversations in the past about "where it comes from", as one of her "enlightened" friends thinks its made up and "we never had these conditions in the past", and I was able to educate my mum on that! I think it was first recognised as a condition in the 1940s! But certainly, when I was growing up, I don't remember anyone ever being diagnosed with it.

As for a permanent Asperger thread - why not? :) For a while there was a 'permanent' married to someone with Aspergers thread, which I contributed to, but that seems to have gone quiet.

I've got to give a talk on Aspergers on 7 May! Eek!

yup, a permanent autism spectrum thread would be good. Though they're removing 'Asperger syndrome' as a diagnosis and calling it all Autism Spectrum soon.

amber I'll have to get used to the name change. As a newbie to this world I'm only just getting used to the old terminology never mind adjusting!

Mary good luck for 7th May . Have you done this before? Please panic here if you need to!

Lambskin, just the once before, but that event was more managed and controlled and Aspie friendly (because Amberlight organised it!)

Think it's a pity the term Aspergers is going.

I found this among my researches, suggesting that Aspergers manifests somewhat differently in girls than boys - and quite a lot of it seems to fit me. Click to see the relevant table.

www.help4aspergers.com/pb/wp_a58d4f6a/wp_a58d4f6a.html

Feeling a bit under the weather today - cannot get motivated - but glad you think a Thread is a good idea, and will return to explain in tedious detail how I match with the table when I am better.

Wow. Thanks for the link midnight.

I've felt for a while that us women have been poorly served. Did you listen to the R4 programme with the 2 men with Aspergers? I did feel then it would have been a more balanced account if they had interviewed at least one woman too.

I actually got a bit tearful reading those tables, so much was a description of me! We'll have to compare notes.

Hope you feel better soon.

Hi all, feeling better :)

I started another thread if anyone wants to join in. Fairly new here and not sure of the etiquette.