Anyone still trying to get a diagnosis or got one <15?

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Aria
Tufted Titmouse
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28 Nov 2013, 5:49 pm

I am currently seeking a diagnosis and I was wondering if anyone here is having or has had the same experience. Any tips?

My family is not in favor of me seeking a diagnosis, but as I said in another post, I feel I need one if I ever want to be at peace with who I am and move on in life. Here are a few of my "problems" (not all by far):

- I have done very well academically (started college at 14 and have a 3.92 GPA), but I made no friends in all that time and usually only socialize with the professors (in fact, the one I get along with best is autistic).
- I am the most clueless person I know at face-to-face socialization. I am OK with instant messaging (I can't text - too much fine/gross motor skill coordination involved), but put me in a party and I usually end up hyperventilating in the bathroom or at the very least wringing my hands until my fingers are red and raw or biting my upper lip until it is bloody. I am able to hide many of my struggles from my family - they really have no idea how hard it is for me to be around people and act "normal."
- I have great difficulty interpreting body language. I always have. Even when I think I have interpreted someone's body language correctly my interpretation is invariably wrong.
- I am a very awkward conversationalist. I would not like to carry on a conversation with me.
- As you can see by the scores in my signature, I have problems with understanding people. Sometimes I just feel like "other" and I often find myself referring to everyone else as "humans."
- The only people I feel comfortable around are members of my family, and even then I never talk to them about my problems. Our relationship is one of mutual avoidance of problems.
- I read very fluently and quickly. However, nothing comes out right when I try to talk. I have to make up scripts of what I am going to say and the expected reaction/reply before replying to or initiating questions, or else whatever witty thing I thought of to say becomes a garbled, stuttered mess.
- I am very bad at understanding metaphors, and rarely find them amusing except in their very unintelligible-ness. I can use sarcasm myself, but I cannot recognize other people’s sarcasm and I have been told that my sarcasm is not understandable. I do not use or recognize “turns of phrase,” and even that term confuses me. How can a phrase turn?
- I am obsessed with routine: I do the same thing every day in the same way. I get up at the same time, get ready in the same order, dress in the same kinds of things, and eat approximately the same things each day at each meal. I eat in the same place, organize my belongings in the same way, and I hate weekends because my schedule gets off and I have to begin all over again the next week. Point made.

Despite all this, my family does not think there is anything wrong. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to go about getting a diagnosis without freaking my whole family out?


_________________
AS: 161
NT: 45
AQ: 44
EQ: 14 SQ: 83
"You [humans] find it easier to understand the death of one than the death of a million. You speak about the objective hardness of the Vulcan heart, but how little room there seems to be in yours." - Spock


Willard
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28 Nov 2013, 6:13 pm

I was essentially homeless and appealed to the state for subsidized assistance with other issues, primarily depression, then began discussions with a therapist about an AS diagnosis once I was in the system.

My understanding is that if you walk into a Mental Health Clinic and tell someone that you're having thoughts of suicide, they are required by law to let you see a therapist immediately, however, that could also result in your being involuntarily committed to a psyche ward for a week for evaluation and force fed meds.

Beyond that, I would guess you'd have to have Health Insurance that would cover it.



Aria
Tufted Titmouse
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Joined: 26 Nov 2013
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28 Nov 2013, 6:17 pm

Willard wrote:
I was essentially homeless and appealed to the state for subsidized assistance with other issues, primarily depression, then began discussions with a therapist about an AS diagnosis once I was in the system.

My understanding is that if you walk into a Mental Health Clinic and tell someone that you're having thoughts of suicide, they are required by law to let you see a therapist immediately, however, that could also result in your being involuntarily committed to a psyche ward for a week for evaluation and force fed meds.

Beyond that, I would guess you'd have to have Health Insurance that would cover it.


I think those first few suggestions might just qualify for "freaking my family out," but thanks. :wink: I might try to see my school counselor and ask what she can do...



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