I've been going to a psychotherapist for a while, hoping to treat issues with social inability and past experiences. A few weeks ago he suggested that I had Asperger's. While I had heard of it previously, this was only on a superficial level and I hadn't really considered it before. After reading about it in more detail, it would seem that it would explain a lot, though of course not everything.
In this week's session I mention the issue, and this time he tells me that I am 'definitely' an 'Aspie'. I'm not sure what to do now. I don't really know how an official diagnosis is and where to get one. Living in a small island-country means that there aren't any groups of like-minded people for support.
I don't really know what to say. It's not easy for me to barge in like this, even in (or perhaps because of) a forum of complete strangers who can't see me. How do I introduce myself? Maybe I can say hello, and hope I manage to speak to you again.
Well, congratulations and welcome.
Hopefully you'll find this forum as full of information as I have.
Good Luck
Hi Eoin!
Not sure what they call them where you are but a clinical psychologist evaluated me here in USA.
Glad to see you 'barging in' and at least asking questions! /grin
Thanks for the welcome. I'll see how to go around getting an official checkup.
My next hurdle seems to be dealing with my immediate family, all of which are NT. At 24 I still live with them, though in my defence in a small densely-packed island in a Mediterranean that's not unusual.
I doubt they believe me that much. I suspect they think I find this condition a convenient excuse to explain away my personality. What has happened, in trying to explain, is me trying to explain how I feel, followed by them angered at me not expressing how I feel very well, and for not keeping eye contact, etc.
As for dealing with the condition, well, the diagnosis isn't official yet, though my therapist suggested it without any prodding on my part. Being an Aspie would surely explain a lot. It's a relief to be able to figure out why certain things are the way they are.
Would I want to be cured out of it? I guess not, for this is who I am. I do find myself at odds with the NT world though, which I guess is something I'd like to adapt to.
Sorry for the muddled writing. It's not particularly characteristic of me, I guess I'm still getting used to this.
hey, welcome to AFF and a world of adventure
I've been going to a psychotherapist for a while, hoping to treat issues with social inability and past experiences. A few weeks ago he suggested that I had Asperger's. While I had heard of it previously, this was only on a superficial level and I hadn't really considered it before. After reading about it in more detail, it would seem that it would explain a lot, though of course not everything.
In this week's session I mention the issue, and this time he tells me that I am 'definitely' an 'Aspie'. I'm not sure what to do now. I don't really know how an official diagnosis is and where to get one. Living in a small island-country means that there aren't any groups of like-minded people for support.
I don't really know what to say. It's not easy for me to barge in like this, even in (or perhaps because of) a forum of complete strangers who can't see me. How do I introduce myself? Maybe I can say hello, and hope I manage to speak to you again.
Your psychotherapist should be a diagnostician and should be able to give you the "official" paper. Just ask him.
PS- An autism assessment isn't necessary for a diagnosis. It just depends on the professional you see and what they want to do. Sometimes they do testing, sometimes just an interview, and for yourself, with a therapist you've been seeing for awhile, your sessions have kind of been that "interview". Just ask him to write up a diagnosis for your records and then you can use it as you may need it, if ever.
I can relate to the part about relatives being upset about eye contact.
When I was young there were so many times that my father would say "look at me when I'm talking to you", usually he was already upset because either I didn't do something right, or had been a bad boy lol.
And being 24 and still at home isn't too unusual. My relatively normal friends across town still have their son living with them, and he is about 22 now. While I'm rambling just a bit I have to admit that I lived on and off at my folks house until I was 35 /hehe.
Good luck to you and your plans!
Thanks for the feedback people.
I'll see about the diagnosis part next session I guess, though in a way I don't just want an official stamp just to get the family to believe me. I'll be attempting to talk to them on a one-to-one basis, since talking to them collectively ends up in a me-versus-them scenario.
A 24 year old living with his parents is actually normal in my country, where everything is close, housing is terribly expensive and the mentality is still largely to move out when you wed (or getting there). There's no stigma attached with being 'the guy who still lives with his parents' or something, though I have this nagging fear that I wouldn't necessarily be good at living on my own. I've thought about the idea, but my family's discouraging certainly doesn't help.
The funny part is that I am studying for a degree which seems to be at odds with the Aspie world: Communications. I'm going well, about to start my final year despite never really having learnt to study (and that is but one reason why despite all I love my brain), though I wonder what I've actually learnt. My hope is to make it in journalism in the end, and though my grades in that area have always been high, I do wonder if I have it in me.
Welcome!
When you mentioned journalism I thought of Sean Barron (possibly misspelled). He has recently co-authored a book with Temple Grandin called [/u]The Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships. He is an Aspie journalist.
I wanted to be a journalist, but (stupidly, without a fight) caved in to the social pressure from the NT girls in charge who didn't want me around, and then I never tried again.
I think journalism/communications can be a great career for an Aspie. We do pretty well with the written word, don't you think? It's just that interviewing part that can present a challenge.
Arghh. No edit button.
I meant for only the book title to be underlined.
The funny part is that I am studying for a degree which seems to be at odds with the Aspie world: Communications. I'm going well, about to start my final year despite never really having learnt to study (and that is but one reason why despite all I love my brain), though I wonder what I've actually learnt. My hope is to make it in journalism in the end, and though my grades in that area have always been high, I do wonder if I have it in me.
You're a brutal show-off.
You're a brutal show-off.
I'm sorry if this is the impression that I've given you, and reading it myself it seems to be an understandable one. My mind seems to have a funny way with memory, as in I forget many appointments, but remember what was said in a lecture way before, and it seems to be that, also given that the course isn't too difficult (its impression in the country is that it is the course people take if they barely qualify for university in the first place), it seems that reading up on notes a few days before seems to be enough for the tests.
In the end, though, I do feel you've taken a wrong impression of me. You're seeing me as a cocky show-off, when what I'm seeing is someone who, as he is typing this, is still unsure of whether or not the 'Post Reply' button is going to be clicked even though typing this post has already taken 15 minutes of his time, someone who's trying to fit in but never good at it.
Well, I'm failing in progressing in my final year dissertation, if that's any consolation. I can't bring myself to go to the university library and ask for help, or to tell the supervising tutors that I'm facing particular shortcomings all of my own. So I might be brought down a notch or two in time, as if I'm not low enough.
It is the wrong impression of course, and that was a foolish comment from me anyway.
Well, my problem is jealousy, just so you know.
Yay for you Eion. I understand why you make the comment about journalism. It does seem an unusual job for an aspie - but if this is where your interest is - having AS will give you the ability to hyperfocus and be successful in this career.
Yeah - I think people with AS have the ability to excel in areas of interest - this helps compensate for difficulties in other areas.
But overcoming the things that hold you back can impede you from making the most of your gifts. I guess taking things really slowly in small steps is the answer.
I appreciate your response Eion.