Hi, I'm new here, and have some questions

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Hi all, I just registered here a few days ago, and have been skimming through the discussions and the rest of the content here at wrongplanet.

It looks like I'm on the older end of the demographic here-- will be 58 years old in a few months. Although I've been aware of autism and Asperger's syndrome for many years (read books, memoirs, online articles, etc.), I've only recently seriously considered that I might have Asperger's, mixed in with the batch of other things I've struggled with over the years (depression since early childhood, horrible feelings of social anxiety, isolation and difference, being a geeky gay male with a bit of gender variance in a rejecting world, a variant of ADD, mental illness/suicidal depression and substance abuse in my family, ad nauseum). I'm actually going to talk to my psychiatrist tomorrow AM about this.

What I'm wondering about is this: how do I go about getting evaluated as an adult? I'm in New York City, where I assume there are specialists galore who could offer an opinion. Is there a reputable website recommended for locating such specialists? Is there a discussion here focusing on this subject that I have overlooked? And what benefit might I get out of a diagnosis, other than earning a new label and getting my curiosity satisfied? I've compensated very well in many ways for my bundle of quirks and woes through sheer, agonizing diligence over the decades, but am still baffled about why I'm the way I am -- what was I born with and what is an after-effect. It sometimes seems like I live at the intersection of many different spectrums; this amuses & horrifies me, and makes me dizzy, all at the same time.

Thanks very much for reading this.

Welcome, muntonmion! I was only diagnosed by a clinical psychologist a few months ago. Her expertise is in ASD and I found her on Psychology Today's website. You know what I've been finding out recently? Psychiatrists tend to rely on the strict textbook definition of AS and aren't aware or cognizant of the subtleties of the spectrum. It's almost like knowing about the "definition" of the blues - the majority of it being 12 bars with the typical I - IV - V variant, yet the other blues variations utilizing major to minor transitions, minor keys, etc are just as valid. (I'm looking at Cold Case tonight and the background music is mainly the blues stuff by Ray Charles, hence the reference).

I guess it's not too late to "discover" yourself. Yeah, I envy these teens who find out now. Still, better late than never huh?

Hi redrobin62! You touched on one of my concerns, which is that my history isn't necessarily very evident from how I am currently, especially to such a psychiatrist. I developed social skills and compensations over the years out of dire necessity, and can seem pretty normal, sociable, and functional in many situations. I can dredge up countless anecdotes of how I was as a kid and younger adult that match a wide array of the symptoms I see associated with Asperger's, but many of those match the moderate, non-hyperactive ADD I was diagnosed with less than 2 years ago. Over 20 years ago, I thought I might be a sexual abuse survivor, because I matched so many symptoms on checklists in faddish books I looked at, and even was in therapy where I "recovered" very early childhood abuse "memories". In retrospect, I think I was misled and deceived, as I groped for an explanation of why I was as shut down, solemn and withdrawn as I was as a kid, and always had been. PTSD? ADD? AS? Mentally ill mom (she killed herself, and might have had Borderline Personality Disorder)? Just a kid from a crazy family? Some oddly-shaped amalgam of neural variances? If I was a kid during the 1980s or 90s, I wonder what teachers or perceptive adults might have spotted in me that people were oblivious to back during the 1960s when I was a schoolkid.

Hi muntonmion,

It's nice for me to see others my own age here at WrongPlanet, so thanks for sharing that info about yourself.

Being that you're in NYC, I highly suggest visiting GRASP Manhattan Over 50 NY (<-- click on the link). Manhattan has 2 Asperger groups. I've been to one of them. They are an ideal source for the kind of information you want.

I'm not so sure there are a lot of benefits in getting a formal diagnosis for people our age. If you go to a GRASP meeting, just being there among a crowd of 40 or so Aspies will help you to quickly get an idea of how similar you are to those in the group.

Hi Muntanmion! Welcome to Wrong Planet! Check out the many interesting and helpful forums here. The General Autism forum has at least one post article with links to online tests you can take. I suggest you take the tests and save the results. If you go for a formal diagnosis, print out at least one hard copy of your test results to show to the doc doing the evaluation.

I am in my early 50s, and self diagnosed. I have no need for any of the government or insurance paid for treatment programs, so I see no real need for a formal diagnosis. Based on my own research, my own online test results, and also independent confirmation from a relative, I have no doubts that I have Asperger's Syndrome. My older sister, who had some medical training and worked in the medical field for some years, came across info about Asperger's. She contacted me to tell me that she believes I have it. By that time I had also come across Asperger's, had realized it sounded like me, and had done my own research and testing. I told my sister that. Right now she is the only other person outside of my friends here at WP that knows I have Asperger's. The rest of the family knows I have problems, they just don't know about the Asperger's Syndrome.

Since I see no benefit to me in going for a formal diagnosis, I won't bother, unless sometime in the future, it can help me. Whether you go for it or not is a personal choice, although I do recommend taking the online tests.

And remember, you are among friends here at WP!

Thanks for your link to GRASP. I'm going to check it out. I just came from seeing my psychiatrist, and he thinks it's very plausible that I'm on the Asperger's spectrum; he suggested that a therapy group for people with high-functioning Asperger's might be of value to me.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Welkome to WP

Mick