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Self-diagnosed and incorrect

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elizabethangeles
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23 Mar 2014, 6:55 pm

It's called the Aspire Center for Learning. They say on their website that they specialize in adult women with ASD. This is one of the only places I've found that does. I think I found one in Michigan and one in Colorado, but NY is easiest for me.

http://www.aspirecenterforlearning.com/


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smscat
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23 Mar 2014, 7:17 pm

I definitely have some features that match the spectrum, but I did not think I would qualify for a diagnosis because I am hyperperceptive to social behavior, not insensitive to it. I do notice that some self-diagnosed people seem to go into great detail that involves self-awareness and behavioral analysis that would seem to exclude an Asperger's diagnosis. I do not mean that people with Asperger's cannot be incredibly bright and improve their social understanding, but I thought a defining feature of it was not being able to be so incredibly self-aware and expressive. That's where I think the depression/low self-esteem diagnosis comes in. I'd gotten diagnosed with atypical ADD, but testing revealved I had more of it than ASD traits but not much.

I recently underwent testing, they said no ASD even though I had features, but gave me the moderate anxiety/depression combined with high intelligence leading to low self esteem/negative thought patterns diagnosis. I was not surprised. I think I have very low interest and social anxiety that has always been a part of my life/personality such that I don't know anything different, so I don't feel overcome by anxiety/depression. As a result, and because I analyze things so much, I couldn't relate to most people and developed weird behaviors to calm myself down, which resemble ASD traits. I really don't know what to do next though. My biggest thing was the stimming I did as a child, which I mentioned in another thread when I found someone who described stimming very similar to mine. I have never seen similar behavior in anyone else, so I was amazed to find the thread. My mom found it extremely embarrassing at the time and has never gotten over it, and has always viewed me as having a mental dysfunction. I haven't told her about the results yet because I know she will argue. The stimming always led me to believe I was on the spectrum, but all the professionals I've seen have dismissed it, not really asked me to show them what I did, and have said it could have been anxiety.

ETA: And all of this is a spectrum with imprecise labels, anyway. People don't give enough acknowledgement to neurodiversity and the fact that who is "normal" changes with the culture and social structure.



linatet
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23 Mar 2014, 7:33 pm

elizabethangeles wrote:
It's called the Aspire Center for Learning. They say on their website that they specialize in adult women with ASD. This is one of the only places I've found that does. I think I found one in Michigan and one in Colorado, but NY is easiest for me.

http://www.aspirecenterforlearning.com/

Aaah right. Actually other users had already suggested me the Aspire Center. Sounds a really good place for an evaluation, also as you said is not nearly as expensive as other places.
What are the other places in Michigan and Colorado too? My sister is living in Michigan so maybe I could spend a few days in her dorm and be evaluated there.
Hmm I am getting in touch with lots of specialists and centers but I still don't know where I will be evaluated.



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23 Mar 2014, 7:47 pm

smscat wrote:
I definitely have some features that match the spectrum, but I did not think I would qualify for a diagnosis because I am hyperperceptive to social behavior, not insensitive to it. I do notice that some self-diagnosed people seem to go into great detail that involves self-awareness and behavioral analysis that would seem to exclude an Asperger's diagnosis. I do not mean that people with Asperger's cannot be incredibly bright and improve their social understanding, but I thought a defining feature of it was not being able to be so incredibly self-aware and expressive. That's where I think the depression/low self-esteem diagnosis comes in. I'd gotten diagnosed with atypical ADD, but testing revealved I had more of it than ASD traits but not much.

I recently underwent testing, they said no ASD even though I had features, but gave me the moderate anxiety/depression combined with high intelligence leading to low self esteem/negative thought patterns diagnosis. I was not surprised. I think I have very low interest and social anxiety that has always been a part of my life/personality such that I don't know anything different, so I don't feel overcome by anxiety/depression. As a result, and because I analyze things so much, I couldn't relate to most people and developed weird behaviors to calm myself down, which resemble ASD traits. I really don't know what to do next though. My biggest thing was the stimming I did as a child, which I mentioned in another thread when I found someone who described stimming very similar to mine. I have never seen similar behavior in anyone else, so I was amazed to find the thread. My mom found it extremely embarrassing at the time and has never gotten over it, and has always viewed me as having a mental dysfunction. I haven't told her about the results yet because I know she will argue. The stimming always led me to believe I was on the spectrum, but all the professionals I've seen have dismissed it, not really asked me to show them what I did, and have said it could have been anxiety.

ETA: And all of this is a spectrum with imprecise labels, anyway. People don't give enough acknowledgement to neurodiversity and the fact that who is "normal" changes with the culture and social structure.

yeaah as you said lots of conditions(?) have symptoms that resemble each other, just some examples, anxiety, giftedness, adhd, social anxiety, highly-sensitivity can all resemble aspergers. it's very hard sometimes to tell one thing from another. Even because they may co-occur.
what do you mean by hypersensitive to social behavior?



smscat
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23 Mar 2014, 8:34 pm

linatet wrote:
smscat wrote:
I definitely have some features that match the spectrum, but I did not think I would qualify for a diagnosis because I am hyperperceptive to social behavior, not insensitive to it. I do notice that some self-diagnosed people seem to go into great detail that involves self-awareness and behavioral analysis that would seem to exclude an Asperger's diagnosis. I do not mean that people with Asperger's cannot be incredibly bright and improve their social understanding, but I thought a defining feature of it was not being able to be so incredibly self-aware and expressive. That's where I think the depression/low self-esteem diagnosis comes in. I'd gotten diagnosed with atypical ADD, but testing revealved I had more of it than ASD traits but not much.

I recently underwent testing, they said no ASD even though I had features, but gave me the moderate anxiety/depression combined with high intelligence leading to low self esteem/negative thought patterns diagnosis. I was not surprised. I think I have very low interest and social anxiety that has always been a part of my life/personality such that I don't know anything different, so I don't feel overcome by anxiety/depression. As a result, and because I analyze things so much, I couldn't relate to most people and developed weird behaviors to calm myself down, which resemble ASD traits. I really don't know what to do next though. My biggest thing was the stimming I did as a child, which I mentioned in another thread when I found someone who described stimming very similar to mine. I have never seen similar behavior in anyone else, so I was amazed to find the thread. My mom found it extremely embarrassing at the time and has never gotten over it, and has always viewed me as having a mental dysfunction. I haven't told her about the results yet because I know she will argue. The stimming always led me to believe I was on the spectrum, but all the professionals I've seen have dismissed it, not really asked me to show them what I did, and have said it could have been anxiety.

ETA: And all of this is a spectrum with imprecise labels, anyway. People don't give enough acknowledgement to neurodiversity and the fact that who is "normal" changes with the culture and social structure.

yeaah as you said lots of conditions(?) have symptoms that resemble each other, just some examples, anxiety, giftedness, adhd, social anxiety, highly-sensitivity can all resemble aspergers. it's very hard sometimes to tell one thing from another. Even because they may co-occur.
what do you mean by hypersensitive to social behavior?


I imagine what everyone around me might be thinking about everything I do and become incredibly anxious. I think they notice all sorts of things about me that they don't necessarily notice, and that they think I'm really weird or I've offended them. My mom really focused on my odd behaviors and how they looked to others, and she is very perceptive, so I kind of assume everyone is like that. I notice any sort of deviation from someone's normal behavior or tone and get very aggravated when someone adopts "different" personalities for different situations (as most people do). I always tend to read more into situations than is actually there, but I am very good at detecting people who are manipulative.



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23 Mar 2014, 8:41 pm

That sounds like social anxiety rather than social perception.



smscat
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23 Mar 2014, 9:02 pm

Verdandi wrote:
That sounds like social anxiety rather than social perception.


I agree. That's why I said I didn't fit the diagnosis, and did not get it. I'm saying a lot of self-diagnosed people talk about social anxiety as though its lack of perception, when it's really more like hyperperception. I think another issue is that awkwardness drives social anxiety- and sometimes awkward behavior matches ASD. I've always been very weird and have not
related well to other people, but it's not so much lack of awareness as simply not liking the same things as most people.

ETA: However, I experience very little affection for others, and no romantic attachments. I don't know whether or not that is related to social anxiety, but even when I don't have anxiety I have no romantic interest in others.



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23 Mar 2014, 9:36 pm

It's not really hyperperception, though. It's more like hypersensitivity to those things. It sounds like fears that people might think those things.

I don't have social anxiety, but social anxiety is at least somewhat common among particular subgroups of autistic people, so it doesn't really negate the possibility of autism.

I'm not trying to argue that you're autistic (or that you're not autistic) just commenting on what you described.

Also, that last might just be that you're aromantic.

http://www.asexuality.org/wiki/index.ph ... =Aromantic