How did being diagnosed when you did affect you???

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Because I was thinking about how when humans get diagnosed when AS later in life, they tend to have better social skills because they expect themselves to just get along in the world with no complications. People who were diagnosed with Asperger's tend to let their brain chemistry complicate everything and anything. Is that true of you guys???

When I got diagnosed with it, I didn't even know what it was and I wanted to be normal so hearing I had it was the last thing I needed to hear. I did start using it as an excuse when I was older because I thought that's the way it had to be and I used to blame everything on it and that is basically using it as an excuse. I still got better because I quit using it as an excuse. I realized having it does not mean be Asperger's. You're supposed to get better, not get worse or stay the same.

I was diagnosed as a child in the early/mid 90's, with High Functioning Autism according to one doc, and Aspergers according to others. For -just almost- as long as I can remember, I knew about my diagnosis. My social facade is actually quite good - albeit VERY tiring.

When I was growing up, and where I was growing up (Alaska) there was not very good support for Autism in schools - methods were also poor. i.e. They tried forcing me not to stim, not to do my compulsive movements and such, I always was yelled at by teachers, punished for my actions just as hard as an NT would be doing the same things. There was little to no understanding about my social difficulties, and such. I was told that I would grow out of my Autism.

What "help" I got was totally inappropriate for my Autism - I was treated like an idiot and grouped with the people with learning difficulties, other mental disabilities, etc. Things like, as a 4th grader who was reading Lord of the Rings, going into my special ed classroom for the part of the day I spent there, there was a new person there, and they had me read those types of books where the pages are thick cardboard, entirely picture, with one very simple sentence on each page in big font. She made me read several to her aloud - I clearly knew that she was not really paying attention at all, or caring. Just wasting time, not noticing that these books were lightyears below my level.

In middle school I was forced to waste an elective on a -really- stupid "study skills" class. Everyone else in there had strong learning disabilities. I was held back from honors classes because of my autism, both in middle school and high school, and even placed into lower difficulty english classes and such.

This is why, for my entire college career, I essentially kept my diagnosis secret.

So to answer your question: I was diagnosed very early, but I have a good social facade - I still hate social interaction and find it a pain to maintain friendships, and find most social interaction exhausting. I think that the horrible "help" I got made me have to develop my social facade on my own. I still get sensory overload easily, and easily have meltdowns, usually involving me punching walls, doors, hard objects, and afterward being pissed at myself for punching things and having the meltdown feed off itself, like meltdown feedback. Almost all of the social interaction I -can- tolerate has to do with my special interests.

An addition to my last post:

My social facade is quite exhausting because I've simply learned to show little -external- signs when I'm experiencing overload. I've learned to avoid situations that cause sensory overloads, activities that cause meltdowns (playing games), etc. When experiencing overload I'll still not be able to really communicate, but I don't freak out and draw attention to myself either.

I also have to be almost constantly moving or playing with my hands in order to not do very visible stims.

One other thing: for much of my life I didn't really spend a lot of time thinking about my Autism. It's like I always knew about it but it never sunk in.

Now though, I'm directing my life in a way that causes fewer difficulties from my Autism. Things like teaching bass and guitar lessons, being in multiple bands that do lots of live shows. It allows me to have a social life, social interaction, a job, independence, without making me deal with all the extra pain, exhaustion, hatred, that, for me, comes with other jobs, and other types of social interaction.

I would rather make myself feel good, than have a social life at the cost of feeling dreadful all the time.

I was just diagnosed this year and am in my mid-30s. I grew up in abusive environments, eventually leading to me becoming a "ward of the state" at age 9 then remaining that way until adoption at age 16.

All they knew back then (mid- late 80s) was about my traumatic past and the resultant emotional difficulties I had that were inconsolable and unresponsive to medications.

So I guess if anything I'm in the "late-dx" camp. I led a life of turmoil, never knowing why things went badly for me-- just blamed it on my rough past. Now I have an incredible amount of self-awareness yet no real self-esteem to enforce anything I may notice.

Also, learning that all of my problems were due to misunderstanding my autism was both a blessing and a curse; a blessing because behavior had a root cause that may be identified and a curse because I can't take it all back, any of it.

Thanks for asking this question, I'm curious what others will reply.

At first I felt bitter that nobody had noticed or cared enough before then. I felt upset that I left school with a set of certificates and nothing else; no friends, no practical skills, no hope. I wished my teachers had known and I'd had support in place.
Then I felt grateful I'd got a diagnosis at all because it's so difficult for an adult to be diagnosed on the NHS.

My ability to communicate is horrible and I can't even do therapy, but hopefully I'll get better soon.

being dianosed with low-functioning classic autism at 18 i never got the help i needed. i went through NORMAL classes when i should have been in speical education. i suffered alot (and im shure everybody else did from my tourettes. imagine a loud squeak every 3 seconds. but strange that nobody seemed to notice... nobody said anything to me)

i know that classic autism is ususally dianosed before age 3, but i come from a family of attention-hogging older siblings. so not even my family noticed.

only a few things stuck with me like basic english/grammar, basic math, and how to type

If I was diagnosed as a child, maybe I would have gotten useful help. Instead I got useless crap like how to avoid bullying. (Only violence seemed to work in the end. )

When i got diagnosed i didn't particularly know much about it but once i got older i started to realise that i was different from others.

My reaction has been mixed.

A lot of anger! All the difficulties and bullying, I have endured, could have possibly been reduced or even avoided if my AS was found in my childhood. When AS became well known in the mid 1990s, I was nearly done high school. Family and teachers noticed my struggles but no one really knew about AS then. They just thought I was eccentric.

There has been tremendous relief in knowing my struggles and feelings now have a real explanation.

As for social skills, mine are not all that great. I try. Navigating the world has always been difficult for me. I never worked or had any intimate relationship, and I am in my mid 30s. I hope this changes soon.