Aspies For Freedom

I'd recommend contacting local support groups, even for parents, and asking around whether they can recommend someone. (You can do this by Email too no need to ring even)

For me... I had a battery of tests over a number of sessions, conducted by a Neurologist. This was back in around 2000 or 2001. She may or may not have had experience with Aspergers or autism (I don't really know, my mother arranged it all and has a much better memory for such things then I do). Her diagnosis was a Specific Learning Difficulty over laid with a Sequencing and Organisational disorder and some Frontal lobe stuff. (Again, I'm unclear on the specifics but she wrote a very detailed report, something like 20 or 30 A4 pages)

More recently, my mother did some research after a conversation with a friend.

I also did some research, but it was for a completely unrelated reason (I was researching for a Role playing character),  as I read I found myself thinking; 'hey, wait a minute... I remember doing that.. and that.. and I do that and that..' I didn't discuss this with my mother at the time, partly because I'm not the type to believe a self diagnosis. After that I didn't think about it much.

Meanwhile, my mother was talking with her friends and eventually arranged a consultation with a Psychologist (I think) who had some experience with Aspergers and Autism though she mostly worked with children. Mum sent her all the information she had - my mother's particularly good at keeping hold of important medical documentation, school reports, most stuff of that nature about myself and my brother - ahead of the scheduled consult. I understand the Psych made an initial assessment based off the provided materials (including the Neurologist report) and her experience.
During the consultation she spoke with both myself and my mother and asked a few probative questions. She then confirmed that in her opinion I clearly had a number of Aspergic traits but had probably grown past others - apparently something that can happen.

So, there you go. I'm not actually sure if we have a 'rubber stamped' piece of paper, but if we do, mum has it. We were more just looking for confirmation (or I know I was) anyway.

As far as i can remember i met this nice bloke and he asked some questions this was at 13 or something and i maybe had to do some sheets or something but the result from him was very sharp kid some problems but not what the school was thinking. So i passed one and i do not remember doing anything else rather not what you describe in a offical dx and then i get suddenly get told i am AS a year later so you can see why i am very skeptical.

What do you mean by "something happened"? AS isn't something that happens to you, you're born with it!

You're right.  "Something happened" was a poor choice of words.  I should have said something like "I had always been different from the other kids."  I think y'all know exactly what I mean.

Now, what about that record security?

I was so young and don't really remember it very well. I answered questions and looked at pictures. Those who diagnosed me talked to my mom a lot more than they did to me.

TrishC7:

I suppose it can wait until after I've found a company I like, worked there a while, and know I'll survive there.  At that point my background won't be as much of an open book as when I'm applying.  Most likely I'm not going to bother, but my reasoning is this...

Suppose instead of growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, I were growing up now.  I no doubt would have been diagnosed and then put in some program, but would it have been a good thing or a bad thing?

I do know this much:  I've been told that when I was a baby in the early to mid 1970s, I did have a pediatrician who thought I was going to be autistic (I assume he meant LFA), because I wasn't responding just right.  At some point I started talking and really freaked 'em out.  Since then, I can recall chewing on shirtsleeves (that nasty 1970s polyester crap, no big loss) and doing things that could be described as stimming.  I've had obsessive hobbies, lagged socially, and gotten into states of deep thought that an observer might have mistaken for stupor.  At some of the schools I went to (we moved alot), there were staff who gave my parents crap because they couldn't quite figure me out.  I'd get bullied at school and then bottle up the aggression, letting it rip loose when I'd get home.  Alot of the characteristics fit.

I feel extremely lucky because there were so many points along the way where I could have been majorly screwed over, but I still got through.  Now I feel a very strong moral obligation to give back to socially awkward people like the kid I once was.  I've felt that obligation in the back of my mind since long before I even heard of Asperger's.  I figure Asperger's is the case for a good portion of these socially awkward people, so saying I've got it is like saying "I am one of you and I know exactly what it's like."  An official dx may or may not be a useful tool, depending on exactly how I choose to "give back".  (Probably involving martial arts, spending a few years training up to instructor status, and then teaching.  I'll explain some other time in another thread.)

And Mick... yes it would be great to "rub in some noses" with it.

I used to do this too (with jumpers/pullovers), I hated the feeling on my teeth but I still did it.

Noetic:  As I recall, it was the taste of the dye that was so interesting.

Hey, thanks everyone.  After reading the replies to this thread and thinking about it, I've decided I don't need it.  I know some of you cannot avoid dealing with psych professionals, but for me at this time, it would just be a big waste of time, money, and trouble.  So, self-diagnosis it is.

A few times, I've looked at the DSM entry that's in its own locked thread.  If I understand it right, the only step remaining is to go through the other conditions that have to be ruled out.  Next time I'm in a bookstore and have some time to waste, I'll look at a copy of the DSM and go through those.  However that goes, I don't intend to make a big deal out of it.  It's just for my own knowledge.  I'm actually tired of thinking about it and need to focus on other stuff.

You can easily find these descriptions online (DSM excerpts) no need to buy the whole DSM.

Yes, I used to do a lot of chewing: the cuffs and neckbands of my jumpers, the paint on my cot and bed, rubbers, and pens and pencils. I still chew on my knuckles sometimes. It just seems to feel good. I also used to eat dirt and grass.

Mmmmmm!  Grass!  

Be sure to see my new thread in the Time Out forum, where I propose an alternative to official dx for those concerned with the consequences.  (The thread is named "hazing ritual, as alternative to official dx".)

With neckbands and cuffs it was more a sucking thing for me, pushing spit into it and sucking it out because it tasted nice and salty. But mmmmh wood and lacquer/varnish... My beloved wooden horse always had a bit in its mane that was scratched free from the varnish because I used to run my teeth up and down that bit

Some people have told me I am obssessive about bodily function jokes because I laugh when somebody burps loudly.

Wasn't Howard Hughes obssessive about cleanliness?