Aspies For Freedom

Hi guys,
I'm kitkatsavvy and this is my FIRST EVER post!  Anyway, I have always wanted to be involved in a mental health study and its always been a dream of mine to be probed and put into mri machines and tested for my mental capabilites.  Anyway, just now I emailed the university here where I live in Townsville, Australia.  The uni is James Cook University and they have a medical school here.

I emailed the school ( medicine@jcu . edu . au) and here it is:

Hi,
My name is Kathryn O'Neill and I used to be a former (mech).
engineering student at JCU (2001-2002).  However, during and after
that period, I have been diagnosed with three mental illness disorders
- panic disorder (don't have this now), schizophreniform disorder and
atypical autism.  I was just wondering if JCU will ever conduct any
studies on mental illnesses, and in particular as to how people think.
If you would like more information about what I have suffered, please
visit my site at http://www.psychopanic.com .

My wish is that the current mental health system stops to base itself
on admitting people into a psychiatric ward for a very short time, and
then discharge them without really helping them at all due to
financial constraints and the number of people that need these
services.  I really wish I could be involved in a studies or studies
physically recording how people think or how to treat mental illnesses
better.  If your medical school or psychology faculty or whoever is
ever interested in conducting studies into mental illness, I will be a
willing patient.

Please consider this email and reply ASAP.
Thank you
Kathryn O'Neill
http://www.psychopanic.com

I hope they reply, and I am waiting for any other studies I could be involved in.  I am in Townsville, Australia tho.

thanks   :lol:  :oops:  :shock: :lol:  :lol:

I hope they reply to you, post it if they do.

Agree totally- have similar experiences. Wondering about differences in Health care systems btween our countries?. i do know funding makes huge difference and access to health care is variable over all NZ. i am just learning this. dont give up.

do not ever tell employer or people who dont think critically and cannot be bothered to think laterally, about your history tho, ok? Information can be used against you, at a later date. Keep records and have access to your medical records. Keep a simple journal , noting what happened, who was there and the date etc. get support system ( not people who patronise you).
hang in there
becca

ya, i have been worrying for ages whats gonna happen when i finally finish my tafe course at the end of 2006 and go for a job. i know the first question they will ask me is why didnt i complete the entire engineering course for? (only did it for 2 yrs). ive asked my social worker how to reply to this question, but being the aspie i am, i will probably forgot to say 'oh i wanted something else to do in life' and just say that i suffered from panic disorder and then i got psychosis six months later and then was put on the disability support pension"... eek i know i will be brutally honest and if they decide to discriminate against me there and then - i will have to start yellingat the interviewer that if you even START to discriminate against me, i will go to the anti-discrimination board etc etc!! the same thing happened only last december when i was trying to find a flat to live in..... i was rejected FOUR times in 2 wks - im not on the renting blacklist - have never done anything wrong never behind in rent etc.. but even at ONE place - i was the ONLY person applying for a flat - and i DIDNT even get it! so dad and i were going to go to hte antidiscrimination board until i got the place im at now!!

phew. thanks for being interested as well in my first post   :roll:  :razz:

it is amazing how words can get twisted around. I think i say something, but i find out later that i said something different. Not only is that confusing but it does affect my sense of self and so my mental health.

sounds like your dad is on your side. It is tricky with family. They love you and want the best. My relationship with my mum is interesting and very healthy now that we each accept the others differences and have nearly stopped trying to diagnose each other :lol:  mum is becoming more helpful now that i ask her to help me in practical ways, like explaining why and how i should go about social communication and why i am misunderstood. I can explain why i don't understand things too. And learning happens in a supportive environment.
Finding social supporters is important. Ask your social worker for help in this area.

my own discoveries have been:
1.  If people get emotional (either us or the other person) then it is more likely that wrong assumptions are made. It isn't someones fault, so i forgive them and myself and move on.
2. Preparing for interviews with someone else, who plays devils advocate, (throwing you those hard questions) is helpful.
3. Essential to have words on paper. Noone has a perfect aural memory. (although you may have, the interviewer may be disabled in this way. :roll:
Paper evidence is power. It is also the closest thing we have to a common language.  Most people (unlike many AS) are easily swayed by charm. (goes over my head :smile: ) Look at the power of the media. A notorious person can live or die according to how words are spun out.

How do you know your potential employer is going to want to know why you didn't complete your course? For your own peace of mind you need to sort out why you didn't. Don't feel guilty. Don't make excuses. Don't yell. Write it down. Between this time and the end of your TAfe course, lots of personal growth is gonna happen. Look forward to it. The bad stuff teaches us and contributes to our personality. But an employer hasn't got the time to learn about it. And they have no idea what psychosis really means. They just freak out. Use a different word ? ( some people i know think of it as sleep disorder or epilepsy or creative streak- Its what you make it.If you cannot lie verbally-tricky ay? Get the words on paper to do it. everyone does it. ) You have lots of positive attributes. Focus on those.

I just resigned my job at a library. It was my first ever job. I got it 8+1/2 years ago, when i was 22. I am sooo  different now, but even more myself. I am very sad about going and i know it is going to be very difficult to find a job for me. But i do have heaps of experience and i am determined to work in an area that supports my health and personal growth.  I am looking ahead. It is very important to make changes.

How old are you?
becca

i just said WHY i didnt complete the course - at the end of the second year i got panic disorder - was admitted into the ward for 12 days, then deferred, then the start of the next yr i tried the music degree for 6wks then got admitted AGAIN for psychosis.. this is the reason why i didnt complete the eng. uni degree! i got sick 2x - i have proved that my mind cannot cope with uni-level information overload learning.. i dont have to make up an excuse for why i didnt complete it - I got sick!! Twice! simple.

i am 22 yrs old and am turning 23 this yr.. (me wants bday presents now lol)

True- it is simple. You got  sick. Me too.
Then seven years later i tried tech and crashed again at age 28. But i got some modules. Tried uni the next year and hit the deck again. Got one paper. Along the way tried different meds. None helped and one (citalopram SSRI) triggered panic attacks and suicidal thinking. Horrible. I am not psychotic but a part of my brain wants to kill me sometimes.

I tried again the next year and got two papers and had to be admitted.
Currently i am looking forward to the next semester paper Memory and Cognition.  :roll:  The shit is gonna hit the fan again. BUt i am going to get a degree.

I realised i could cope with uni level information and so can you. But I couldn't cope with getting lost, being in pain and feeling like i was stupid cos of the negative aspects of AS.  I wasn't getting the help i needed cos i couldnt yet communicate my problems.

I am not stupid. Please keep trying. You are not stupid either. Sometimes you cannot cope with information overload.  There are differences between AS and mental illness. Don't let the mental illness aspect get confused with AS. For me it is different, but each affects the other.
If i am depressed or frightened or way anxious, i may be mentally ill for a short time- it is NOT ME. And it will pass.
If i am socially confused, naive, avoidant, sensory problems, obsessed with patterns, i am AS and i am ME. And i have always been like that.

i got 31 this year. but i feel 12.
becca

ya well i mean i could cope with relearning uni type level stuff, but i mean if i can manage to have two nervous breakdowns in the space of six months, i just dont see what purpose it would have to get a degree and a job out of it. i dont want to go back because i have set my priorities for happiness not money money money, stress stress stress!

anywyas since teh damn uni didnt reply back YET, i just resent the same letter to them so I hope they will return - otherwise i will just keep resending it using different email addresses until tehy get it LOL
thats me for now :twisted:  :roll:    :lol:

ok i got a reply from teh med school:

Thank you Kathryn,
I forwarded your email on to an area that deals with this area.
Hopefully they will respond.

Regards

Gennesse Beadman
Faculty Student Officer
Faculty Medicine, Health & Molecular Sciences
Ph:  0747 814409
Fax:0747 814655
CRICOS Provider No 00117J

im still waiting mr.. medical school dude!!
:roll:  :evil:  :evil:  :cry:

Some people don't finish out their uni course because they change their mind about what they want to do (one of my brothers changed his major about 3 times and ended up doing a teaching diploma at the end of it) or just need a break so it shouldn't be thought of as a disgrace not to finish.

I suppose if a prospective employer asked, that would be the best thing to say "I needed a break". The only thing is if they said "when do you intend to go back?", it could be tricky but one possible answer is to say "I'm looking for practical experience in the workforce at present".

I know of a lady in the School of Social Work and Community Welfare who is currently doing an honours project re: "Coping strategies of adults who do things differently from the accepted norm - Adaptations to the social construction of cognitive disability". She is also in the local autism support group and happy to talk about her study.

One thing that has become very obvious is the severe lack of resources here in Townsville to deal with mental illness, much less autism. We also have a severe GP shortage here.

grr geez tenacious, we ARE going to start a group up! im going to your house tomorrow infact! lol... and no, im not disappointed anymore that i only did half the degree... :shock:  :shock:  :shock: