Diagnosis brought relief; seeking more understanding

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Hello, Friends,

At age 28, last fall, I received a diagnosis of autism, Level 1. The diagnosis mainly brought me relief: especially in recent years, I had felt misunderstood by healthcare providers and mental health professionals alike. I was (and still am) experiencing social difficulties as well as health problems with no physical cause (for example, chronic pain and a functional voice disorder). Initially, my doctor believed I might be on the spectrum; then, my therapist pointed out that many of my presenting complaints—like voice abnormalities, attachment issues, and tendency to fixate on a single problem—are common in autism.

So, at my therapist’s recommendation, I was evaluated by a psychologist for autism. Contrary to my expectation, the psychologist did not diagnose me with autism, but with social anxiety and a personality disorder! Feeling misunderstood and frustrated, I began researching autism in girls/women, and discovered that autistic girls/women often go undiagnosed because they internalize/mask their traits more, and because current diagnostic assessment tools and criteria are based mainly on studies of autistic males (McKibbin, 2016).

With my new knowledge, I requested an evaluation from a female autism specialist who recognizes the different traits among different genders in autism. Finally, she gave me an autism diagnosis! Finally, I started to feel understood.

Now, I am exploring how autism affects my life, and how neuroscience explains the traits of autism (in other words, how do differences in autistic people’s nervous systems cause us to act differently from neurotypical people?).

Please share scientific articles about the neuroscience/psychology of autism, if you have found any. And please include links to the articles.
Thank you!

Book Reference:
McKibbin, K. (2016). Life on the autism spectrum: A guide for girls and women.
Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Great to hear you finally received a diagnosis!

When I was working I'd constantly research stuff and find useful links but now I'm retired and spend my time golfing and gardening.

Welcome to WP!

https://researchautism.org/healthcaretoolkit

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Congradulations on your Diagnosis...Welcome to Wrong Planet . Hope you find lots of great info , if you get a chance to Research this Site and hopefully enjoy the various Forums and Threads . Some Doctors using ILADS guidelines
have found some weird links to Lyme disease , which, thet have said can be transmitted in Utero supposably .

Happy to have you, and happy you found your diagnosis. If I may, when I was diagnoses, I figured that was it. But it turned out is was lvl 1 autistic + cptsd + ocd + dyslexia. What I'm saying is, keep exploring who you are always. Just incase there's another thread that might need healing also.

I'm glad you are glad Q13t_1
The path beneath our feet always feels a bit "springier" when we are relieved, or positive to be walking it.
Many references to the articles were requesting can be found across the many different fora and posts here on WP, have fun.

Kind regards,
Kada

welcome! the relief I got from diagnosis at age 68 five years ago was tremendous. Autism was the answer to almost all the Painful "whys" of my past and all my struggles. I have used my printed assessment summary to make self accommodations and for better self understanding. Its never too late to discover diagnosis. Best of all I learned that there are so many others out there who will understand and who can provide information, insights, suggestions and ideas as well as empathy/sympathy/ support from their own real life experience . I never knew! We are not alone. <

Q13t_1, Welcome to Wrong Planet.

You wrote, "So, at my therapist’s recommendation, I was evaluated by a psychologist for autism. Contrary to my expectation, the psychologist did not diagnose me with autism, but with social anxiety and a personality disorder! Feeling misunderstood and frustrated, I began researching autism in girls/women, and discovered that autistic girls/women often go undiagnosed because they internalize/mask their traits more, and because current diagnostic assessment tools and criteria are based mainly on studies of autistic males."

That is very true. In general, the way this condition is displayed in females is very different then how it occurs in males. I have a condition known as Asperger's Syndrome (or Aspei for short). In a way it provides me with a very unique skill set.

You then wrote, "Please share scientific articles about the neuroscience/psychology of autism".
The first thing that came to mind was Temple Grandin.

When Temple Grandin was born, her parents knew she was different. Years later she was diagnosed with autism. Temple’s doctor recommended institutionalizing her, but her mother believed in her. Temple went to school instead. Today, Dr. Temple Grandin, a scientist and professor of animal science at Colorado State University, is an autism advocate and her world-changing career revolutionized the livestock industry.

Welcome to WP!