Looks like autism, but isn't?

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Having ASD is not about fitting in. Its about getting a diagnoses to get the help you need and require.

But yea, a lot of things spcan seem like autism to the untrained eye.

Yes, having a proper diagnosis will help you identify things about yourself that you may never have though of.

For instance, a lot of us are cross dominant. It may be worth trying different tasks with your other hand to see which really works better.

Many of us also have social anxiety issues--this can make it hard for professionals to make accurate assessments of our skills. Which means that we may be better off doing it ourselves.

One might assume learning disability issues--which means that uncovering what skills we really do have may take some time. Just because you do something really badly at first--with a little time you may discover you can actually do it quite well--or maybe with a different approach to learning.

No, it's just a label to me; a very bad one. I already understood myself before the psychologist decided I was autistic. If anything it makes things worse, because anyone who finds out I'm autistic will just dismiss anything I say and do "don't mind him, he's autistic". I already struggled enough with people without giving them an excuse to see me as sub-human. Really I've only felt worse about things since the psychologist decided I was autistic.



Honestly I've forgotten what her grounds for diagnosing me were. They were based on my behavior and some questions she asked, but the specifics escape me. The original reason I went to see her was because I'm suffering from depression, but she just became fixated on autism. I've stopped seeing her because she's proven to be totally unhelpful and just irritating.



I actually like those lonely people, since I feel like I'm among equals. The people with fulfilling relationships are alien to me, and their advice often feels extremely condescending. I always feel like some kind of scumbag in the presence of successfully social people.

Actually it makes perfect sense.
It's the idea that all autistic people would fit into some "autistic community" which dosn't.
The autistic population is very diverse, far more than the NT population.

Especially if you have nothing else in common...

A lot of people, even those who fully believe their diagnosis is correct, choose not to divulge it, because of the risk of falling foul of a stigma. And a diagnosis is normally confidential, so people aren't likely to find out unless you decide to tell them.



That makes me suspicious of the validity of the diagnosis. A competent health professional who has integrity doesn't become fixated on any particular condition until the collected facts force them to a conclusion. It also sounds like you weren't even given a detailed, written diagnostic report, if you're having to rely on memory to know the grounds for her decision. A diagnosis for ASD normally takes a few hours of careful work. I'm not saying you don't have ASD, just that if the diagnostic process was as quick and simple as you imply, it would be inappropriate to take it too seriously.

Why not?

I mean, they may not share interests or whatever, but if the one person starts having an OCD moment, the other person will be more likely to recognize what's happening and be sympathetic because they've felt that way themselves.

There is certainly a commonality of experience between people who have the same condition, regardless of their other traits. That won't guarantee they get along, but it would certainly help.

because the nature of autism itself makes it harder to respond properly, even if you can recognize what's going on, just like the nature of ocd makes it harder to tolerate "violations" of your obsessed patterns, no matter who's involved. the awareness of situations where you know you should be responding positively (but are failing to) will often be a source of stress instead of relief. the commonality may be a positive thing, but it will be outweighed by the impairment itself if it there are no other commonalities

I doubted my diagnosis for > 1 year. I wrote about this (<click>) immediately after being diagnosed.

While there were some people on WP who seemed more similar to me (than not), there are countless others who seemed so much different. Nowadays, I attribute this to environment. As I do believe that has had significant impact on who I am today.

By the way, what exactly is this "autistic community"? Am I automatically part of it because I post on WP?


What do you mean by "connection"? I like reading certain people's post (particularly, those who I consider to be intelligent). But, I am not certain I feel a "connection" with them. I suppose it would be different if I met them in person. Then again, after meeting them, I may decide that they are not what I had envisioned.

Yeah, I would be looking for another professional to speak with. It sounds to me as though this psychologist was not willing to listen to you at all... you go for one thing and they get caught up in something else entirely. That comes across as really unprofessional to me. Further, without some level of comfort and trust, how could you be expected to engage this person in open and honest communication... which is, of course, of the utmost importance when it comes to getting an accurate assessment of what is or is not going on with you.

It also seems careless and unprofessional to me how quickly it came about and how unclear it all seems. I know my own diagnosis process was not exactly typical, but I did speak with two psychologists, two psychiatrists, and ultimately some people at UofM... even though the first two psychologists did immediately believe aspergers was what I had going on. They wanted to be thorough and make sure they were not missing anything before handing out an autism type dx on me. Granted, they were correct, but it was still responsible of them to seek opinions outside of their own heads.

Your words set off some metaphorical bells and whistles in my mind. If I were you I would have a hard time accepting my dx based on those types of things... fitting in here or not would be irrelevant to me. I would want to seek out competent people willing to both hear me and explain things to me. You more than deserve that. I know you will do what you will do, but really, I would go find someone else to speak with. They could provide you with answers that you should have. Maybe it will be autism, maybe it will not, but I have to think that it could be beneficial for you to know one way or the other so you could figure out how you want to proceed from there.

Not yet. Your posting here has alerted us to your presence. In due time, you will be greeted by two masked individuals. Do not resist. They will take you to an undisclosed location where you will be issued your Autistic badge, earplugs, and commemorative tee-shirt. You will be taught the secret hand signal. Do not forget the hand signal. It is your pass into any and all further autistic community activities. Good luck and may the god or god-like non-deity of your choice be with you.

ROTFLMAO

I have a relationship, but I still have sympathy for lonely people. I haven't taken off.

I don't think the way we live today is natural to our psychology. It is very myopic and ego-driven. Plenty of people are able to thrive in this modern society, but a minority suffer from it.

Autism isn't the end all be all of a person's character. There's a lot more to it, and and ASD diagnosis is often not enough to create cohesion between people.

Yes it is possible to look like you have autism when you don't. There are other conditions that have symptoms that overlap with autism so if you have other conditions instead, all of them together can make it look like you have autism. I think even have a f****d up childhood and medical history can make it look like autism which is why doctors ask all these questions like if there was any abuse or any neglect and asking about family life and if the kid was ever bullied and if there were any drugs involved with the mother or any drinking.

I concur...