Are you self diagnosed or diagnosed by a mental health profe

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I was dx'd by a medical prof in middle age. I've been married for almost 30 years and have four grown kids. My marriage is normal and it came about in a normal way, so I don't know why people say that we don't have normal marriages or that it happens normally. I'm a housewife by choice but I've worked before and it was fine. Went to college twice, two different majors, and quit both times - once to get married and once when I was pregnant with my first.

I've had a fairly normal adult life, as in doing all the normal things in the normal way, although I've done a lot of stuff most people don't get or want to do. I think I have and have had a pretty good life except for my childhood and my mother.

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I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
My forum is still there and everyone is welcome to come join as well. There is a private women only subforum there if anyone is interested. Also, there is no CAPTCHA.

The link to the forum is http://www.rightplanet.proboards.com

If the right conditions and stimuli are there - things can work out allright

I was evaluated when I was seven or eight because my dad's at-the-time-girlfriend worked with children that had autism and noticed that I was acting like one of them so she recommended getting me evaluated. The psychiatrist, however, said that because I could speak well, I didn't have autism.

I've since spoken to my mom about it and she said on that day I was having a "good" day and wasn't acting like I normally did with "professionals". I wish she would have gotten a second opinion but instead I was diagnosed with psychological disorders and everyone focused on that instead.

I started being evaluated when I was a baby and was professionally diagnosed shortly before I turned three years old.

Both. I was self diagnosed for a long time and then finally got an official diagnosis.

I was professionally diagnosed after a period of self diagnosis.

From my own research I am certain I have traits but probably fit a similar disorder,NVLD, better.
Over the years,on several occasions, I have heard the A word used by psychiatric staff, but there has never been any move to arrange for a formal assessment.

The last time the A word was raised I was told "Not that there was anything much we can do". Perhaps this relates to my age(59) or perhaps it's because they are more focussed on what they see as primary psychiatric symptoms. I do wonder whether a more holistic approach to psychiatry would have looked beyond those so called primary symptoms.

My biggest problem is social interaction difficulties. These stretch back as far as I can remember. The rules of social engagement seem like a foreign language to me.
I have only had one serious adult friend. It was a woman nearly 22 years older than me that I met in psych hospital.
We were together for 22 years before she died.

Since then I haven't come near to another friendship. With the closing of local mental health drop ins I spent 98-99% of my time on my own. The other 1-2% is periodic visits from family.

As well as the Aspergic traits/possible NVLD I would say that I also may have dyspraxia , what I have heard referred to as directional/geographical/spatial dyslexia and aphantasia(though that is not considered by many with it as having a disabling effect).

With this although reckoned to be of above average/high intelligence I do have some cognitive difficulties for which the term "learning difficulties" could probably be used. I score very well on verbal tests but poorly on (visuo) spatial tests/tests of diagrammatic reasoning. I also have difficulties with executive functioning(NB organising and planning)
and slow processing speed.

I come from a generation where unless you were seen as being autistic in childhood your problems in that area were not picked up on. This was long before Aspergers came into existence as a diagnosis.

This late in life I don't see an official diagnosis of those things, whatever you may call them,leading to a massive improvement in my life . I think too much water has gone under the bridge for that.
However it would be good to get some official recognition of those things if only to provide a better picture of the difficulties I face and give a better,more accurate assessment of me as a person.

I was diagnosed by a professional at the age of 5.

Diagnosed by a professional at 28. The reason I wasn't diagnosed sooner is that autism wasn't known as a spectrum when I was growing up, and I was too high functioning at the time for a diagnosis as a child.

I self diagnosed after joining this forum...and since then, I found out from my dad that a psychiatrist I saw when I was 12 thought I was autistic.

Professionally diagnosed and three professionals are in agreement about it. I had been misdiagnosed in the past with other things that just didn't fit. My boyfriend who was also diagnosed noticed things that lead me to question my doctor. It is frustrating being female bodied with ASD and from a time period when most doctors didn't even know about the diagnosis. It is good to have access to the right doctors now, although I am not quite sure if the diagnosis will be of much help at such a late time in my life.

I self-diagnosed at first but kept quiet about it. I was an 11-year-old kid, so I wasn't sure if anyone'd take me seriously. Then three years later, I got a professional diagnosis.