Have you ever been in denial of having autism/Asperger's?

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NewTime
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17 Dec 2017, 1:33 pm

I was. I used to not like it whenever someone said I had such. I'd say I didn't really have such.



nick007
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17 Dec 2017, 6:40 pm

No. I never even heard of it till after I graduated high-skewl & my mom told me she thought I had it. I researched it alittle but I didn't dwell on it much at the time. A psych I started seeing at 20 referred me to get tested but It got ruled out in favor of a bunch of other things. I didn't dwell on it much for years till I was having problems on other forums & realized that the problems & things I've been posting about were probably related to Aspergers & I joined this forum.


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AspieUtah
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17 Dec 2017, 6:53 pm

Yep. The first time I completed the AQ screening test was based on sheer boredom one day in 2014. In 30 minutes, it showed that I likely had ASD. "Couldn't be; I must have misunderstood some questions," I thought. Another 30 minutes later, it showed that I was even more likely to have ASD. "Nope, I don't believe it. I should slow down, and answer carefully. Another hour later, my score was even higher than the first two times. "Three strikes, you're out," I thought. It was time to look into this ASD thing.

So, yes. For two hours, I was in denial.


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18 Dec 2017, 8:11 am

Oh yes. The first time I was told that I probably have AS was when I was 13. It came from an older friend who's also autistic. I just didn't believe him.
I was 20 when it was pointed out by a professional. I was hospitalized, in contact with the psychiatry for the first time, and three doctors plus several nurses all asked me if I had ever considered that I might be on the spectrum.
Still nope.
I didn't fully accept it until I was in the middle of my assessment, at 23.

So, it took me about ten years to come to terms with it.



Joe90
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18 Dec 2017, 5:31 pm

Yes, I've been in denial of it since the day I was diagnosed with it. I've just always felt embarrassed about it. I can open up about it more on WP because it's anonymous and I just feel differently when talking about it here.

OK I do talk about ASD and stuff with my mum and my aunts, but otherwise I don't want anybody else knowing because of how ashamed I feel about it. If I did explain it to people, I know they will probably say "but you don't seem autistic".
I am also diagnosed with ADHD and a few people have actually asked me if I have ADHD before. And somebody has asked if I have dyspraxia and even dyslexia, although I do not have either. Everybody I meet soon sees that I have anxiety and panic disorder, because I do. But I have never had anybody suspect Asperger's or autism to me before.


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lostonearth35
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18 Dec 2017, 9:00 pm

Nope. I'd never even heard of Asperger's until I was diagnosed as an adult in 2001, and what I "knew" about "classic" autism was that it basically made little boys trapped in their own world where they are always confused and frightened and non-verbal, and spent their days doing nothing rocking and staring into space. Times sure have changed (somewhat). :)



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19 Dec 2017, 3:05 am

My employer and boss said in the late 90’s said that I had a little bit of autism. At the time I thought it was a weird way to bully me.


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blooiejagwa
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19 Dec 2017, 9:44 pm

Yes. i actually briefly studied it in college, and i not once thought that was me. i felt very sad reading the textbooks, because i felt i understood the kids and why they did it (as the book described things) or why THEY Preferred certain things, and i felt sad that it was being written about like a disease or something to fix. i felt i could figure out approaches intuitively, that the books wrote out as if it was some awful thing that needed tons of work.

later when my son got diagnosed with severe autism, lowest 1 percent,
i was in denial about him. i was in such complete denial for months.
I KEPT SAYING: 'but everyone thinks like that! everyone does that!" when in actuality it was ME who did or thought like that, not 'everyone' as i thought.


but then after therapies and seeing the progress he made (so slowly poor kid) i realized he actually had it strongly.
THEN i thought, hey, if those traits are considered autistic, i have them too, to a lesser degree!

I WAS SO SLOW.


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SentientPotato
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20 Dec 2017, 4:37 pm

...is it still denial when it has not been proven definitively, and the only people to make note of it are a parent with an overprotective nature, and one special ed teacher who only theorized it at a time where it was all still new (and misdiagnoses happened), but lacked the proper qualifications to make that call? i don't know, i prefer to think it safer to potentially deny what might be, than accept what might not...


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goldfish21
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20 Dec 2017, 6:19 pm

No.

Once I realized, I knew & accepted it. Denying it wouldn't help me one bit. Accepting what is has allowed me to learn a LOT about it & how to treat it, manage it, work with it etc. WAY better than denying it and allowing it full control of interfering with my life w/o my input & efforts that have a chance of improvement.


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blooiejagwa
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20 Dec 2017, 10:07 pm

goldfish21 wrote:
No.

Once I realized, I knew & accepted it. Denying it wouldn't help me one bit. Accepting what is has allowed me to learn a LOT about it & how to treat it, manage it, work with it etc. WAY better than denying it and allowing it full control of interfering with my life w/o my input & efforts that have a chance of improvement.


Smart! You’re so right there is more chance of improvement that way. Since accepting it I have been improving in communication too, knowing in advance what my weaknesses are.


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21 Dec 2017, 12:59 am

I was, for a little while after my diagnosis. I learned to accept it, though. Now it isn't a big deal.


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