i had a feeling i was differnt.

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hi everyone, my name is dennis. im twenty years old. For the past few months ive been thinking why i was...differnt. it wasnt until 2 days ago when i came home and looked up austistic. Years of answers came scrolling down my window has i read it all, and very much related to me. Since then aspergers is all ive been reading about, and without a proper evaluation im certain that i have it.
If your wondering why my parents never brought me in to get diagnosed its another story that i partly blame them for not doing. But thats not what im really concerned about, i feel like my whole life just got turned upside down and i dont know where to start. im overwhelmed but happy at the same time that i finally know why i am the way i am. my rather bigger concerns that aspergers brought me is my inablilty to sleep, focusing(i was never a good student) and perhaps depression and anixity. what do i do?

can anyone talk to me? i feel like ive missed the first 20 years of my life

Don't blame your parents, sometimes it's hard for them to see problems like that and come to terms with it. I suggest you look for a local group that you can visit to talk face to face with others that have AS.

I hope you can access the information here in Discussion and in the Articles. Welcome.

Wow, 20 years old and you've already discovered AS. If only I had been so lucky. Here I am, 36 and having just discovered AS six months ago. Maybe we can help each other figure out what to do.

Yea It took me forever to figure out what was wrong with me, besides everybody elses opinion thinking I was mentally ret*d and I wasn't diagnosed until I was 19, now I'll be turning 23 in a couple months.. I hope you find the answers your looking for on, here, this is a good site for it!

You could start with one of the online tests for AS and see how you score. After that it's up to you, you might want to try and find a psychiatrist or therapist who can deal with AS or you can hit the books and read as much as you can about the subject. Your call.

One thing that might help. I have found that the secret to a long and happy life is to be aware of your own limitations. Most of us will not be the bubbly, lively soul of the party that everyone likes but we will be the hard working brainy types who keep the world running.

Ed Almos

Welcome. You're lucky you found out about Asperger's at such a young age. I'm 30 and just figured this stuff out when we were seeking hep for my 9 y/o daughter's metdowns. I discovered AS, absorbed all I could about it, then worked for a year to get a diagnosis for my daughter. Teachers didn't believe us because she's such a good student and doesn't cause problems at school, there were no therapists covered under my insurance that could do an evaluation, etc. We finally signed her up for a research study and they had to evaluate her to make sure she qualified. She is indeed autistic and I know exactly where she gets it from. The more I read about what I thought was "wrong" with my daughter, the more I talked to my mother about my own behavior as a child, the clearer it became.

Don't blame your folks. Most people don't know about AS and when autism comes to mind, all they think of is Rain-Man and seriously disabled people. Even if your folks thought something was amiss with you, they may have not been able to handle it or accept that you weren't "normal."

i agree you are lucky, i discovered at 26. Rethink your life, the guilt trip will go away in the days to come.

I read about Asperger's for the first time in 1997, when I was 33 years old. So many of the traits fit me.

Welcome to WrongPlanet

Wise words Ed, wise words indeed.

It does help to know one's limits, and for me the most significant thing about learning about AS is not so much that it explains my limits (although considering the compulsion to systemise and understand things logically, this certainly is not unimportant to me), but that in giving a rational 'mechanistic' explanation, it allows me to find other ways to do the things that otherwise would be beyond my limits (if I persisted in attempting to achieve things the 'NT' way). Knowing that I learn/function/perform very differently allows me to approach limitations from an 'alternate solution' point of view rather than a 'if not the way everyone else achieves, then no way at all' perspective. And if there is something I simply cannot do, that virtually every other person can do rather easily, I can direct how I feel about it in accordance with the knowledge that I have strengths very few people have, instead of from a 'why cant I if they all can' mind set of dis-empowerment.

27 here and just found out about aspergers too, yeah try to restructure your life, cause alot of us it's to late to change now cause alot of us really didnt have any help in school or life, cause aspergers has only been known for 10 yrs or so

That's one thing I would advise against. The primary skill of psychiatrists is perscribing pharmaceuticals. They are not required to learn any psychology. Instead, I would suggest seeing a psychologist. They're the ones who are more likely to be experienced in properly treating aspies. Even still, only some are properly qualified to treat AS. Somewhere on the www, there is a list of ones in the USA that are properly qualified.

Youngsters, all of you...

I'm 50 and just found out last year.

Think about the bloody years that passed me by....

"Then one day you find ten years have got behind you, no one told when to run, you missed the starting gun....."

You are one lucky 20 year old! I'm 39 and only figured it out after my son was diagnosed with HFA/Asperger's last year...You are way ahead of at least "our game"...

Welcome! Just reading through this site will bring you peace...I know it has brought me much peace to know I'm not alone.