Looking for advice

Post Reply New Topic

Hello,
I have come to believe that I have Asperger's Sydrome, but this has not been confirmed. I know that something happened when I was a child that had to do with me possibly having autism, but whenever it comes up, my parents respond with "It all worked itself out," or something equally ambiguous, and change the subject, so I have come to suspect that I may have been diagnosed when I was younger but was never told because I was functioning without too many problems and adapted to life at school fairly easily. How should I ask them if this is the case? I have also been working with a therapist on some anxiety, OCD, and depression issues. Should I ask her about it first? Thanks.

I would ask the therapist, but don't be too surprised if he or she isn't too familiar with Asperger's. The first psychiatrist I went to said I suffer from moderate-to-chronic depression and put me on Zoloft. I had to get an opinion from someone who specializes with dealing with Asperger's.

Don't address it directly. Ask your parents what they know about Autism or Asperger's. Keep it impersonal at first. Once they start talking, you can slowly introduce some examples of how you feel it has impacted your life. Gradually make a case for your present state of mind.

Yes. Get her opinion. At the very least, she should have some helpful background information. At most, she will provide you with expert guidance towards understanding whether or not you may be experiencing an ASD. A professional opinion would also be of obvious value when talking to your family about it.

Hello, welcome, and good luck!

Welcome to WrongPlanet

lol everytime i see you say that i can imagine your avatar saying it

Thanks for the advice! We'll see how this goes.

Do your parents know that you're seeing a therapist for those other issues?

If they know you see a therapist, you could talk about co-morbids, and how you read something about Asperger's and some of the things struck a chord, and you're concerned that maybe having lots of therapy for OCD and depression and so on, if there's another X factor that isn't dealt with, maybe it's Asperger's, maybe they called it autism or autistic psychopathy or some other label* then maybe the therapy won't work unless it address all your issues and you work through them all?

*Are you male or female? If you were assessed as a child, and they gave you a diagnosis that wasn't Asperger's, then male Aspies have most commonly been misdiagnosed as having schizotypal disorders, and female Aspies have most commonly been misdiagnosed as having borderline personality disorder, and if you're male and were functioning relatively well, then your parents may not have wanted to mention any 'schizo' labels. Be aware though, I'm just guessing here, I've no idea what your symptoms were, or what you might have been diagnosed with, if anything, I just have some general knowledge of psychology and psychiatry as it relates to Asperger's Syndrome, and those kinds of misdiagnoses were relatively common for Aspies, and of course, if your parents (who obviously knew you better, as a whole, than those making a diagnosis) disagreed with a diagnosis and that it was rubbish nonsense then that might have been another reason not to tell you.

They might be scared to tell you whatever label was used, in case it distresses or angers or confuses you, so maybe you also need to reassure them that you just want to get to the bottom of it, not to accuse anyone of making mistakes or to look to lay any blame on anyone over what happened when you were younger, because the past can't be changed, but you still feel as though something is a bit different about you, and you're trying to figure things out and improve your situation and your life for the present and the future, and while you don't want to rake over the past, you're wondering if there might be any clues in your past that might help solve the problems you're experiencing in the present. Or something like that.