How beneficial is it for a female to get a diagnoses of AS?
I'm a 19 year old non-binary female who's seen a few psychiatrists but have never had AS suggested to me. I am diagnosed with ADHD & PTSD.
I really suspect I may really be somewhere on the spectrum end of Aspregers, but what's the point of actually getting a diagnosis?
Are there treatment programs that can help me learn how to stop the shutdowns when they happen?
And alternatively, are there free guides on the internet for this, links would help?
Thanks!
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P.S. My Story
I remember this one time -- I was talking to a friend about how I don't always think in words, but in concept strains and pictures and they mentioned that their autistic cousin had said something similar. So I looked up autism because I was just curious about what It was. But when I read a list of detailed aspreger traits and personal stories, It was like I was reading this weird summary of myself.
My whole life i've always felt like a different type of human. I remember being really young and not understanding all the BS social rules the other kids "fell for" and getting into trouble alot, especially for "acting like a boy". I also had alot of really intense interests and never understood why other kids couldn't relate to me in that way (and all this hasn't changed). I've always developed attachments to certain things I owned and I've always seen animals as highly intelligent. I also had a really sensitive sense of smell, taste, and temperature. During stressful situations or activity packed situations in my life I would have these weird states come over me were I'd have a hard time expressing myself verbally and feeling confused and overwhelmed with people and other things around me. I always thought those were just panic attacks that lasted really long. In crowds I would unconsciously start tapping my hand against my thigh, It helped me feel present. In high school people would tell me I was "different" and "weird, but in a cool way" and when prompting people for elaboration, they would shrug and say "idk you just seem different". I was always so hella confused by what people meant by that. There would also be those few times when people would be suddenly mad at me and I would have no idea why, and sometimes I would find out that It was just some small social mistakes had made a few times and not getting why those were enough reason for me to get rejected and why people thought my lack of tact was on purpose.
But the thing that makes me doubtful about this self-dx is that I often pass as NT unless people know me for a period of time. People that know me briefly think I'm kinda great, and lol it hurts when they figure out I'm not even cool. But I do notice a handful of social cues, it's just during times of stress/overstimulation that my verbal and social skills seam to falter or just randomly "turn off". And while I do have times when eye-contact is terrifiying, there are many more stretches of time were it's just something I keep up easily. There are times when I feel so overwhelmed I shut down and "zone out" and my facial expressions are kinda dead and my voice is dead and phrases are slightly incoherent and I have this mental fog. However the rest of the time I have an opposite effect were I struggle to hide my emotions from pouring out into my facial expressions and showing in my voice, and people always seem to know how I'm feeling because of this. I am also told by a handful of people that I have alot of empathy, though there are a great handful of people that used to be those people but started hating me after sticking around long enough to interact with me when I disconnect/shutdown. I'm usually very extroverted and It really upsets me that I spend so much time alone when I have these weird episodes, whatever they are. However there are also times when I go out very often and have a great time that goes smoothly, to the point were my social streak resulted in a 3 month relationship with a really attractive guy. But alot of my friendships never seem to last, I always kinda eventually "disconnect" and the people i've gotten to know are strangers i dont understand and know how to respond to and I have a hard time talking and saying what I mean. Does anyone else relate to this?

I have an actual aspergers dx and I can absolutely relate to this. It's something I've actually been thinking about a lot lately. I can be very energetic and extroverted, but then I just run out of steam and have to retreat from the social situation. I haven't had many close friends, and my friendships never last very long because people eventually get really annoyed by the constant social errors I make. Like you said, it hurts.
(A sidenote: I think that there's another reasons my friendships don't last very long: I pull away. Knowing I have AS, I get into this mindset where I'm afraid I'm not connecting properly, or that the other person finds me annoying or that I'm missing something. Also, with all except a few people, the more I talk to them, the less I want to talk to them. That may not be the case for you, but it took me a while to realize that the disconnection was not entirely my friends' fault and it was a helpful realization.)
You definitely sound like you have AS. Considering you're out of school, I can't say getting a professional dx will help you in any way. It actually might hinder you. But just knowing that this is a problem that other people struggle with, and that you're not alone, is something you have already accomplished, and that would have been the only major benefit.
As for how to stop shutdowns, I've never heard of any programs to help with that. Personally, I've found that finding a quiet space away from people and just taking a breather helps. It's not a permanent fix but it alleviates some of the problems temporarily.
_________________
Feel free to PM me. I don't bite!
Pizzagal3000
Snowy Owl

Joined: 25 Dec 2014
Gender: Female
Posts: 152
Location: In The Land Of Quality Music
I really suspect I may really be somewhere on the spectrum end of Aspregers, but what's the point of actually getting a diagnosis?
Are there treatment programs that can help me learn how to stop the shutdowns when they happen?
And alternatively, are there free guides on the internet for this, links would help?
Thanks!


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
P.S. My Story
I remember this one time -- I was talking to a friend about how I don't always think in words, but in concept strains and pictures and they mentioned that their autistic cousin had said something similar. So I looked up autism because I was just curious about what It was. But when I read a list of detailed aspreger traits and personal stories, It was like I was reading this weird summary of myself.
My whole life i've always felt like a different type of human. I remember being really young and not understanding all the BS social rules the other kids "fell for" and getting into trouble alot, especially for "acting like a boy". I also had alot of really intense interests and never understood why other kids couldn't relate to me in that way (and all this hasn't changed). I've always developed attachments to certain things I owned and I've always seen animals as highly intelligent. I also had a really sensitive sense of smell, taste, and temperature. During stressful situations or activity packed situations in my life I would have these weird states come over me were I'd have a hard time expressing myself verbally and feeling confused and overwhelmed with people and other things around me. I always thought those were just panic attacks that lasted really long. In crowds I would unconsciously start tapping my hand against my thigh, It helped me feel present. In high school people would tell me I was "different" and "weird, but in a cool way" and when prompting people for elaboration, they would shrug and say "idk you just seem different". I was always so hella confused by what people meant by that. There would also be those few times when people would be suddenly mad at me and I would have no idea why, and sometimes I would find out that It was just some small social mistakes had made a few times and not getting why those were enough reason for me to get rejected and why people thought my lack of tact was on purpose.
But the thing that makes me doubtful about this self-dx is that I often pass as NT unless people know me for a period of time. People that know me briefly think I'm kinda great, and lol it hurts when they figure out I'm not even cool. But I do notice a handful of social cues, it's just during times of stress/overstimulation that my verbal and social skills seam to falter or just randomly "turn off". And while I do have times when eye-contact is terrifiying, there are many more stretches of time were it's just something I keep up easily. There are times when I feel so overwhelmed I shut down and "zone out" and my facial expressions are kinda dead and my voice is dead and phrases are slightly incoherent and I have this mental fog. However the rest of the time I have an opposite effect were I struggle to hide my emotions from pouring out into my facial expressions and showing in my voice, and people always seem to know how I'm feeling because of this. I am also told by a handful of people that I have alot of empathy, though there are a great handful of people that used to be those people but started hating me after sticking around long enough to interact with me when I disconnect/shutdown. I'm usually very extroverted and It really upsets me that I spend so much time alone when I have these weird episodes, whatever they are. However there are also times when I go out very often and have a great time that goes smoothly, to the point were my social streak resulted in a 3 month relationship with a really attractive guy. But alot of my friendships never seem to last, I always kinda eventually "disconnect" and the people i've gotten to know are strangers i dont understand and know how to respond to and I have a hard time talking and saying what I mean. Does anyone else relate to this?

I can totally relate also.
Although I have been diagnosed as bipolar depression, I want the psychiatrist to review the scores on my AQ test that I took online. And the diagnostics I have found that correlates with my thought patterns/behaviors. So I can have the official diagnosis as having Aspergers.
I find myself to be extremely similar to these fine people on WP that have been diagnosed by a psychiatric practitioner as having some form of autism.
_________________
I dress anyway want I to, do anything I want to, be anything I want to, cause I got the right to! I is talkin to you(ppl who "oppress" us), boo!----PizzA TimE!! !
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