Finally introducing myself

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Hello fellow WP members, I have been lurking for quite some time, and have even made a few posts, yet I have not formally introduced myself until now.
I am a 23 year old Female who has not been officially diagnosed with anything on the Autism Spectrum. I have a long and frustrating history with psychology however. But first, the reasons why I believe that i might be on the Autism spectrum.

I didn't talk until I was 4 (when entering 'pre-K')
until middle school (age 12) it was difficult if not nearly impossible for me to make and keep friends
I always had a tendency to take things literally
I prefer conversations about intellectual topics, and am not too interested in people topics
I used to be quite gullible when it came to people, now I tend to be apprehensive towards everyone (although I don't make it known that I dont trust a person)
I do like to rock back and forth while concentrating, talk to myself, pace while I talk to others (especially on the phone), and always feel the need to do something with my hands (like spinning a flash drive i wear around my neck on a long band)
I do have problems making proper eye contact
I seem to have a sortof blank expression on my face most of the time (I am told that I am hard to read until you get to know me)
There is no way I can comprehend two people speaking at once, and I tend to be easily overwhelmed by groups of people talking (a pet peeve of mine is when someone near me in person tries to talk to me while I'm on the phone)
I have to wear comfortable clothing, and the only bra choice of mine is a sports bra turned inside out (hate stitches and tags)
I also hate it when people touch me in anyway other than a handshake without first asking
I like keeping things routine (although i don't appear to get all "bent out of shape" It effects me depending on the situation)
I have always felt like an outsider
People's behavior have always confounded me

I have also been teased in school, and diagnosed everything from depression, to bi-polar NOS (is that even a legit diagnosis?), to schizoid-avoidant-obsessive compulsive.

I'm clearly not depressed, and always felt that the diagnosis was suspect (i was 14, being teased massivley in school, and my mom was pushing for me to get Prozac, which I hated)
I'm not bi-polar (they didn't even use any tests to come up with that one, I think I was being exploited by the therapist and her psychiatrist associates, I believe my moods at that time were a direct result of my work, which I loved, but hated having to deal with the people and things always going wrong. It was computer work btw)
And I don't think I'm schizoid (I care about things going on in the world and I'm not content to just drift along in life as an underachiever)
not avoidant (If people make fun of me anymore they're being stupid, I may be shy and have to fake eye contact but approach me and i'll talk your ear off)
or clinically obsessive compulsive (I have my quirks, I like to be right, thorough, and I always have to check the door to make sure it's locked, but my apartment is a mess, and nothing obsessive that I do causes me distress)

I'm finally seeking a diagnosis from some specialists in the field but it's been difficult. They want to set up a phone interview, and to do that I had to wait for them to call me back to schedule it (which they were late in doing) then they didn't call me for the phone interview until a half hour late when they simply wanted to just reschedule
I ended up calling them back and yelling at them for jerking me around (because I was getting the suspicion that they did not take me seriously)
although I dont know if I handled that correctly and will probably call them back (just in case I can't find any other Dr's that specialize in that field)

There's more, obviously, but I don't want to bore you all to death, I just want to hurry up and find out either way. I will say this however, you are the first and only population of people that I can really seem to relate to. All I really want out of this is to be able to meet some people in person, and practice social skills in a safe setting (like a group therapy thing). Too much to ask for typical psychs however, whom I have come to distrust.

OMG,

this is totally irrelevant, but I just noticed my status go from emu egg to butterfly! I'm so happy

this is like the first forum in all my years of being on the internet that I actually care about enough to post more than once.

ok go back to your lives.

sorry, forgot my manners, thankyou for your reply btw

Haha no problem, I was like that too. Good luck in finding out what your DX is, hope all goes well for you.

Welcome,

You belong here.

Come join the fun, we know all that AS stuff, so what are your hobbies?

Welcome to WP

Ok, my hobbies are Drawing, Computer Aided Drafting, Computers ( operating systems, hardware, super computers, clusters, networking, fixing them, breaking them, and just anything I can do with something called a computer ), Retro video games (too poor to buy modern ones so I wait till they're 50 dollars for a package, and aged like fine wine), some philosophy, some science, some psychology, some biology, some politics, some of everything. It might just be easier to list things that I could never have a conversation about (like sports, celebrities, dating)

I have a weakness for wanting to be useful

Hello! You sound a lot like me! except for the comfy clothing part...I am ever a slave to fashion...^.^

I also like the "aged like fine wine" descriptor...

Welcome from a fellow newcomer. If nothing else, it's obvious that you can learn a lot from this forum. One of the things that really helped me finally get a diagnosis of AS was my own research. I found that most therapists are not well informed on the topic unless they've worked specifically with others (usually more than one) who have confirmed AS already, and since it's a relatively new recognized condition that includes a LOT of therapists. I was able to present a very complete, almost academic, paper on why I thought I may have AS from all the research I'd done. You could say that by this time the "official" diagnosis didn't really make any difference, but it at least gave me the peace of mind that someone who had spent a lot more time studying the human mind than I agreed with me.

In any event, I wish you luck and you're among friends here!

Welcome to WP!

Tim

Hi Venevus,
I am new as well, although newer than you because I'm not a butterfly yet!

I too was diagnosised with depression and although at the time it seemed accurate I'm now thinking it isn't. I haven't bothered with a diagnosis because I have lost all faith in the mental health industry.

They had me on Prozac for some time, but it never worked, which my psychiatrist seemed to be angry with me about, like it was my fault!! !

I also like a bit of retro gaming, when time permits. Ah, the 80s...

Hi,

Welcome to WP!

Reading your reasons for thinking you are on the spectrum, I have to say that I have experienced many similar problems (apart from communication delay) and have a diagnosis of AS. Although like you I have struggled to get an appointment with a specialist.

I also wasn't properly diagnosed, and even now I only have a 80% diagnosis so I am still trying to get it properly. I diagnosed myself three years ago (during a year of agoraphobia... what else was I meant to do?!) with AS, ADD, Tourette syndrome and OCD, all of which were later confirmed! Who needs doctors?! Oh yeah... welcome and all that social crap...

Hi!

Welcome!

I'm glad to finally know who you are, and I'm glad you joined us!

I hope you enjoy posting!

Gosh! Yet another outcast returning home... and you didn't even realise this was home.

Welcome to WP, Venevus. The place where being you isn't a problem.