 
Support Wrong Planet Awareness!
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
MissConstrue
~Age of Aquarius~
Joined: Feb 05, 2008
Age: 26
Posts: 11891
Location: Anywhere but HERE!
|
 Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 4:32 am Post subject: Those Who Were Diagnosed as an Adult with ASD.... |
 |
|
-How did you know about it?
-What was your reaction after getting this diagnosis?
-Did this knowledge affect you in some ways?
-Do you feel you would've done better in some areas in life had you been diagnosed early or not?
In my case, the only way I found out was from my mom who had watched a TV show about it. Prior to this, I had been put through so MANY doctors and psychologists. The only diagnosis I got out of them was Major Depressive Disorder. Yet there was so much more than just depression going on. The only people that really recognized this was my whole family. Most doctors I went to thought my lack of friendships, activities, relationships, and behavior was due to something that had traumatized me from childhood. All I could tell them was no to each question they went over and over with.
Never did I hear the word Autism or Aspergers or PDD-NOS mentioned. This still puzzles me because I'm 26 and my mom was the one who brought this questionable issue up from a show and the internet. I was diagnosed only 3 years ago.
My reaction after learning I had aspergers was first confusion since I had never heard of it before. Then after finding out it was under autism I went through a lot of denial and depression but yet there was some relief after all those years.
I think I presumed autism to be something related to retardation. I just wasn't sure what that retardation was in terms of how I had seen it in the media. I know after educating myelf about it that this diagnosis explains a lot of why I struggled through loneliness, sensativity, odd behaviors (and I was aware of them such as interaction), clumsiness and so forth. This led to many stresses throughout middle school yet I was able by an inch to graduate.
I for one, wish I had been diagnosed earlier in life so that I could've been more aware about it or had gotten some help in school. My dad assumed I was lazy whenever it came to anything such as deadlines, academic grades, friendships...I kid you not! I learned never to ask help from him nor my mom because whenever I had a problem with something, they'd tell me to ask someone in class or sometimes when they did help I still had trouble understanding the information.
Also, I wish I had been more aware of how I presented myself to people and why I handled some of my relationships like I did. Out of frustration, I had left some of my friendships unresolved due to my embarassing outbursts and hospitalizations. I never even thought to apologize or explain to them. It wasn't until I got into some cognitive behavioral therapy including anger management that I recogized how to deal with some of this behavior and the reasons behind them.
Anyway, this website is the only support I have for ASD. Not many people around my area even know what aspergers is or how it affects people.
I could add other factors that don't sound too happy but I won't since this is long ENOUGH!
_________________
Oh you can't help that. We're all mad here.
__Cheshire
6thSin:Envy |
|
| Back to top |
|
pizzaman31195
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Sep 05, 2006
Age: 37
Posts: 67
Location: Pembroke, ON
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 6:50 am Post subject: |
|
|
i got diagnosed at 35, and it changed my life completely
i wont go tru the details, if you want to know more let me know, but here is basicaly the two main things that came out of it
first, personnaly, it was the best thing that ever happened, i had become about the lowest form of life, with the years i had become some kind of monster i guess, gollum and me got a lot in common...lol i had to drink on a regular basis and i was in pain all the time, by learning of the ASD and being diagnosed i was able to become a human again, i went from barely making enough money to now having a very good full time job, a house and a car. when i got diagnosed it was like if i got released from jail... anyway it saved my life ... and now i am learning to be happy wich is great
and second, it also did something i never expected, it got me in so much trouble with doctors it is incredible, because i self diagnosed, then i went to the canadian experts in kingston and after something like 15 hours of testing questionning and stuff like that, i got officially diagnosed, what i was told is that there was no way i was not asperger, i had everything and it was easy to see with me. but after that i had to fight with the medical people, and i still do, they dont believe in the syndrome, so instead of listening to me, they treat me like if i was lying ...best exemple is when i broke my arm, i went to the hospital and they gave me motrin and said it was a muscle (with the years i developed an extremely high resistance to pain, that low level pain that comes with the syndrome, i developed so much that now i can block it out completely) even if i could feel the broken bone, and a couple of years later the doc asked me about that broken arm after seeing a x-ray (so i didnt dream it up) but anyway everytime i have a problem, i basically go tru a lot of stuff that could be crossed off, if they believed in the syndrome. like for example the headhache i get, i got MRIed, CAT scanned, stuffed with pills, etc ..., when all they are is a poor emotional process, and when i feel ¨too much¨ i get that great pain on the right side of my head, now it is much better, i met a psychologist that taught me some technique to fix that no meds needed, and it works great
here i babled again, but there is much more ....
all in all it was the best thing that could ever happen, but i have to figure out everything for myself, i use this board, and there is also a lot on the internet, so it is quite easy
also if you want to try, Carnosine, and Taurine, they are natural proteine, and they help some (taurine is in found in energy drinks, and carnosine is found in natural product stores. taurine is some kind of natural anti-depresant, as for carnosine is considered to be good for the heart, but for asperger it kind of makes you more aware, i dont know how to explain, you have to try or look it up)
hope this helps ... just dont give up...everything that happens, happens for a reason
have a good day |
|
| Back to top |
|
TurboGirl
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: Oct 28, 2008
Age: 43
Posts: 46
Location: Middle Englandshire
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:03 am Post subject: |
|
|
I'm just going through the diagnosis path... I wanna know why things happened as they did for me, where my problems are so I can avoid them & maybe break the cycle a little for my kids so they can grow up to their full potential without a parent screwing them up the way I was (albeit inadvertantly). Maybe I'm not AS & simply act as I do and suffered anxiety & depressions throught my childhood because of being brought up by an aspie- but I need to know.
Your thread is a big help to me now, thank you.... I found out about AS when my 5yr old was spotted by his teacher & through finding out about it, have realised that it is what has made our family tree full of mad genius back to 1450 on the male side. We're often brilliant engineers specialising in metalwork and have a propensity to drink, depressions & telling people to bollocks if they think differently to us! Letters exist from way back and it seems we always ran into the wind rather than with the flock, eloping, designing, developing & I'm proud & wanna tap that for my lads.
_________________
I can remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty.... |
|
| Back to top |
|
TurboGirl
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: Oct 28, 2008
Age: 43
Posts: 46
Location: Middle Englandshire
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
| pizzaman31195 wrote: | i met a psychologist that taught me some technique to fix that no meds needed, and it works great
also if you want to try, Carnosine, and Taurine,...is some kind of natural anti-depresant, as for carnosine is considered to be good for the heart, but for asperger it kind of makes you more aware,...
|
Great tips! They wiki up if anyone wants to suss them out- the carnosine was linked to imporving behaviours in autictic kids back in 02 but unfortunately neither occour naturally so they're not an option for fussy me! The taurine is used by body builders so I guess some folk would have to be careful, some of the preps with it in could hide other stuff which could be BAAAD for some of us...
What was the technique for the head pain?
_________________
I can remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty....
Last edited by TurboGirl on Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:26 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
anna-banana
and yet it moves!
Joined: Aug 31, 2008
Age: 25
Posts: 1728
Location: Europe
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:19 am Post subject: |
|
|
I got diagnosed with ADHD about a year ago, at the same time the doctor told me she is almost 100% sure I also have mild AS but I couldn't afford the professional diagnosis.
anyways, I wish I got diagnosed with ADHD earlier as I really struggled through my education... apart from that I guess it just explained a lot...
I also heard throughout my life that all my mental problems must be an effect of some sort of "trauma" (one psych even suggested sexual abuse, which was ridiculous but apparently it was his answer for absolutely everything) my mother would always tell me that I am an "angry" child and that other kids are "nice" and that's how people are divided...
I got told a lot that I'm lazy. personally I knew I wasn't but when you hear something constantly you kind of start believing it...
my friends thought that I'm an attention seeker because of the quirks that I exhibit... they just thought "how many can one person have?" and assumed I was making them up...
reading posts on WP for the first time was like a revelation. I thought I was the only one on this planet lol
so now I got over the fact that I'm not exactly normal and try to make the best out of my streanghts and work on my weaknesses... with a little help from meds 
_________________
I got some bad ideas in my head. (Taxi Driver) |
|
| Back to top |
|
anna-banana
and yet it moves!
Joined: Aug 31, 2008
Age: 25
Posts: 1728
Location: Europe
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:25 am Post subject: |
|
|
| TurboGirl wrote: | | that it is what has made our family tree full of mad genius back to 1450 on the male side. We're often brilliant engineers specialising in metalwork and have a propensity to drink, depressions & telling people to bollocks if they think differently to us! Letters exist from way back and it seems we always ran into the wind rather than with the flock, eloping, designing, developing & I'm proud & wanna tap that for my lads. |
lol that sounds so familiar... when I heard I might have AS and that it might be genetic I suddenly remembered all the family stories... most males on my dad's side were engineers, my grandfather and his 2 brothers were engineers who designed trains (trains were supposed to be a big aspie obsession in pre-internet times)...
I also remembered the stories about how my grandfather studied german and german law in POW camp out of boredom... he also had a weird system that for some reason strikes me as an aspie thing- whenever he received a food package he would eat a half of each thing straight away, then half of what was left the next day, and so on... some familiar symmetry there lol
_________________
I got some bad ideas in my head. (Taxi Driver) |
|
| Back to top |
|
jkennedy293
Snowy Owl
Joined: Oct 25, 2008
Age: 33
Posts: 174
Location: Holly Springs, NC
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:29 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I kind of discovered I had Asperger's almost by accident. My wife was relating stories to me about how autistic children react when they go to Disney World. We go there at least once a year, and her stories seemed to match up with some of my feelings when we are there. I always thought I just had depression, after having several brief conversations with my wife, who got her BA in Health and Human Services, we decided to do a little research into autism. I'm hoping to get an official diagnosis by the end of next year. Just knowing I might be on the spectrum has made me feel so much better. I know longer wonder why I can't be "normal." I am now happy being an Aspie. |
|
| Back to top |
|
TurboGirl
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: Oct 28, 2008
Age: 43
Posts: 46
Location: Middle Englandshire
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:36 am Post subject: |
|
|
| anna-banana wrote: | | I also remembered the stories about how my grandfather studied german and german law in POW camp out of boredom... he also had a weird system that for some reason strikes me as an aspie thing- whenever he received a food package he would eat a half of each thing straight away, then half of what was left the next day, and so on... |
Seems to be an aspie trait that we think outsida the box & will find the best & most direct, logical path through our ordeals... he sounds like a fabulous man, my sons special interest is WW2, w e'd love to have met him!!
_________________
I can remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty.... |
|
| Back to top |
|
anna-banana
and yet it moves!
Joined: Aug 31, 2008
Age: 25
Posts: 1728
Location: Europe
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 9:59 am Post subject: |
|
|
| TurboGirl wrote: | | anna-banana wrote: | | I also remembered the stories about how my grandfather studied german and german law in POW camp out of boredom... he also had a weird system that for some reason strikes me as an aspie thing- whenever he received a food package he would eat a half of each thing straight away, then half of what was left the next day, and so on... |
Seems to be an aspie trait that we think outsida the box & will find the best & most direct, logical path through our ordeals... he sounds like a fabulous man, my sons special interest is WW2, w e'd love to have met him!! |
yeah unfortunately I never met him myself (I am a late child of late children) but all the stories I heard about him made me think that he was the one person in my close family that had a similar mind to mine.
_________________
I got some bad ideas in my head. (Taxi Driver) |
|
| Back to top |
|
TurboGirl
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: Oct 28, 2008
Age: 43
Posts: 46
Location: Middle Englandshire
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 10:24 am Post subject: |
|
|
| jkennedy293 wrote: | | I know longer wonder why I can't be "normal." I am now happy being an Aspie. |
I agree with you...
Happiness is found within, but the road to it is via Understanding! We all seem to be on a pretty good continent of the WrongPlanet with at least a partially correct diagnosis we can work around... I'm worried that the path to it for me will make my man ask questions about himself- if I was looking for a man just like my father I couldn't have done better!- but what might lead me to understanding is likely to open a can of worms with him, he had a pretty bleak childhood which he locks away from EVERYONE, specially himself... Diagnosis seems to be something that's gotta be partially from within too..
_________________
I can remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty.... |
|
| Back to top |
|
zghost
Phoenix
Joined: Oct 29, 2007
Posts: 767
Location: Southeast Texas
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 11:11 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: | | -How did you know about it? |
I didn't. I reconized that I had some austic traits, but knew I wasn't autistic, so I did a lot of internet searching.
| Quote: | | -What was your reaction after getting this diagnosis? |
Denial at first, then acceptance.
| Quote: | | -Did this knowledge affect you in some ways? |
It was a bit of a relief actually, that all my social problems back in school, there was a reason, it wasn't just that everyone hated me. Now I knew why.
| Quote: | | -Do you feel you would've done better in some areas in life had you been diagnosed early or not? |
I don't know. My parents would have probably been more understanding, other than that, probably not. |
|
| Back to top |
|
Sedaka
Searching For My Catcher in the Rye
Joined: Jul 17, 2006
Age: 26
Posts: 5213
Location: In the recesses of my mind
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 12:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
i diagnosed myself @ 24 upon discovering AS. my prior knowledge of autism at that point was rainman.
two yrs later... I am getting an official dx by participating in an adult ASD fMRI study.
aside from changing my career from marine biology to neuroscience (i now do molecular research for autism!)... it's really simply just given me a bit more stamina (and rationalization) to deal with my bumps in the road.
_________________
got free science papers?
www.pubmed.gov
www.sciencedirect.com
http://highwire.stanford.edu/lists/freeart.dtl |
|
| Back to top |
|
Space
Phoenix
Joined: Apr 03, 2006
Age: 25
Posts: 1680
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 1:41 pm Post subject: Re: Those Who Were Diagnosed as an Adult with ASD.... |
|
|
| MissConstrue wrote: | -How did you know about it?
-What was your reaction after getting this diagnosis?
-Did this knowledge affect you in some ways?
-Do you feel you would've done better in some areas in life had you been diagnosed early or not?
|
I first hear about it because my brother has autism (low functioning). I got dx'd @ age 19.
Anger.
I felt very ashamed.
Hmmm... maybe. Hard to say because I can't go back in time. I think it would've helped... potentially a lot. |
|
| Back to top |
|
gbollard
cosmic hobo
Joined: Oct 06, 2007
Age: 39
Posts: 3269
Location: Sydney, Australia
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 3:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| MissConstrue wrote: | | How did you know about it? |
I had to start researching it after my son was diagnosed. I discovered that the symptoms were displayed far more strongly in me than in him.
| MissConstrue wrote: | | What was your reaction after getting this diagnosis? |
To be honest, I found it funny - and a relief. By the time I was dx-ed I was already well aware that I was an aspie. Hearing a doctor say it didn't really mean anything else to me.
It explained so much of my life and I think my brain went spend about 3 months solid going through the worst of my memories and re-evaluating situations in the light of aspergers. It was a bit overwhelming to find that I'd been acting as a result of a condition I knew nothing about.
| MissConstrue wrote: | | Did this knowledge affect you in some ways? |
I felt happier because now I can say (about my depression), that's aspergers, I'm not really depressed.
| MissConstrue wrote: | | Do you feel you would've done better in some areas in life had you been diagnosed early or not? |
I doubt whether early diagnosis would have improved things. I was always a hard-headed child who didn't notice negative comments and did not allow conditions to affect me. My deafness already meant that I got school support - so I guess I wouldn't have needed any extra.
_________________
Gavin.
http://life-with-aspergers.blogspot.com/ |
|
| Back to top |
|
Letum
Pileated woodpecker
Joined: Jan 21, 2007
Age: 21
Posts: 190
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 4:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: | -How did you know about it?
-What was your reaction after getting this diagnosis?
-Did this knowledge affect you in some ways?
-Do you feel you would've done better in some areas in life had you been diagnosed early or not?
|
I got chucked around the Mental health services until it was recognized. I knew nothing about autism until then.
I was surprised that there was a diagnosis that described me so well.
Knowing ones self is important. Learning about AS made me more at ease with my self.
If I had known it earlier I think I might not have ended up in mental institutions and may have got the support I needed at college. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
|
