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League_Girl
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06 May 2011, 4:29 am

MyWorld wrote:
League_Girl wrote:
MyWorld wrote:
Hello.

I read most of the posts and I appreciate for your feedback (as long as it wasn't about calling me a troll). I now understand why some don't have a diagnosis. The thing was is that there are 100's of mental disorders so one should claim to have some disorder because they are familiar with it. There are disorders that happen to be similar to each other. Again, sorry if I came off as a b****.

As for those who were wondering why I didn't post right away is because I have classes (finals coming up), clubs, and I have other activities and events that I go to. I usually don't post until late at night and not everyday. It's 2:13AM where I'm at right now.


Did you meant to say "The thing was is that there are 100's of mental disorders so no one should claim to have some disorder because they are familiar with it?"

That's for the correction.

Well you sure didn't come back to this thread since you had posted it but yet were on this forum since then but I guess you forgotten all about this thread until now?


It was posted 2 days ago, so I have not forgotten it. I have a rather busy life. I don't know why you're being so hostile?



I'm not being hostile. I asked because I forget about my threads sometimes too so I thought that's what happened.



MyWorld
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06 May 2011, 4:33 am

League_Girl wrote:
MyWorld wrote:
League_Girl wrote:
MyWorld wrote:
Hello.

I read most of the posts and I appreciate for your feedback (as long as it wasn't about calling me a troll). I now understand why some don't have a diagnosis. The thing was is that there are 100's of mental disorders so one should claim to have some disorder because they are familiar with it. There are disorders that happen to be similar to each other. Again, sorry if I came off as a b****.

As for those who were wondering why I didn't post right away is because I have classes (finals coming up), clubs, and I have other activities and events that I go to. I usually don't post until late at night and not everyday. It's 2:13AM where I'm at right now.


Did you meant to say "The thing was is that there are 100's of mental disorders so no one should claim to have some disorder because they are familiar with it?"

That's for the correction.

Well you sure didn't come back to this thread since you had posted it but yet were on this forum since then but I guess you forgotten all about this thread until now?


It was posted 2 days ago, so I have not forgotten it. I have a rather busy life. I don't know why you're being so hostile?



I'm not being hostile. I asked because I forget about my threads sometimes too so I thought that's what happened.


Oh sorry, I guess it easy to misinterpret posts around here.



leejosepho
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06 May 2011, 7:33 am

MyWorld wrote:
League_Girl wrote:
I asked because I forget about my threads sometimes too so I thought that's what happened.

Oh sorry, I guess it easy to misinterpret posts around here.

League_Girl and others of us here are much alike in simply asking whatever might come to mind and with no hostility ever actually being even anywhere nearby. :wink:


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draelynn
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06 May 2011, 11:19 am

MyWorld wrote:
Hello.

I read most of the posts and I appreciate for your feedback (as long as it wasn't about calling me a troll). I now understand why some don't have a diagnosis. The thing was is that there are 100's of mental disorders so one should claim to have some disorder because they are familiar with it. There are disorders that happen to be similar to each other. Again, sorry if I came off as a b****.

As for those who were wondering why I didn't post right away is because I have classes (finals coming up), clubs, and I have other activities and events that I go to. I usually don't post until late at night and not everyday. It's 2:13AM where I'm at right now.


I'm curious why you believe that people who have self dx'd have just latched onto the the first disorder they 'liked' to explain their issues. It implies that people haven't done any research whatsoever. Also, what possible benefit could there be, and what harm does it do to anyone, if people self dx wrongly? A self dx gets you nothing in the way of services or inclusion. If anything, it is simply self assuring that the challenges you've faced your whole life are actually - something. It's a personal revelation, nothing more.

Now, hopefully, you are aware that being older - pre-dx criteria circa 1994 - and not fitting the children's dx is a hinderance to getting dx'd. You will never have a doctor talk to you for 10 minutes and tell you you do not have Asperger's because you don't have a flat voice, you make eye contact and that you just aren't 'odd'. (Yes, that is a true story.) The science is just starting to question the undiagnosed community of autistic adults and have already recognized that adult women do not follow the male model and are often misdiagnosed or inadequately dx'd around their co-morbids. If the medical community acknowledges this huge gap in diagnoses, then why is it unusual or somehow wrong that adults are dxing themselves with the same tools and criteria the experienced, knowledgable professionals use?



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06 May 2011, 11:49 am

cyberdad wrote:
Verdandi wrote:
I mean, I can relate. My first reaction was instant denial that lasted for a good three years.


In my case it was a immediate sense of relief. Obviously I was carrying the gene for autism which I passed to my daughter. It made sense as my older brother had a speech delay and was classified as ret*d back in the late 1970's. Then mysteriously he started talking around 10 yrs of age. My parents sent him to regular school after he had an IQ test. He scored 162. Suddenly he was all normal again. Today it all clicks together, he had HFA (he doesn't want to admit this as he was never diagnosed). I must have AS but have no burning desire to seek a formal diagnosis.

My brother works for a major Engineering firm and although has ongoing minor social issues he provides a lot of hope that my HFA daughter will turn out ok. That's what I mean't by instant relief.


When I came back to it and determined for sure that I had it, it was definitely a sense of relief to know for sure. The first time around, I didn't know who to talk to, how to find support, I always thought in terms of "how can I deal with this on my own" instead of looking for help. I thought that no one would take me seriously, and I had internalized negative attitudes about disability.

I do regret not doing what I did last December and thinking on how to look for help? But I only really worked out how to ask for help or look for support for things like this last Spring. My record on such things is extremely spotty, and it was usually if I worked out how to get help for one thing, when it came time for the next I had no idea what to do.



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06 May 2011, 12:03 pm

draelynn wrote:
I'm curious why you believe that people who have self dx'd have just latched onto the the first disorder they 'liked' to explain their issues. It implies that people haven't done any research whatsoever. Also, what possible benefit could there be, and what harm does it do to anyone, if people self dx wrongly? A self dx gets you nothing in the way of services or inclusion. If anything, it is simply self assuring that the challenges you've faced your whole life are actually - something. It's a personal revelation, nothing more.


Hmm, I went through:

Social Anxiety Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder
PTSD
Schizoid Personality Disorder
Schizotypal Personality Disorder
ADHD

at times. As it turns out, I only have the ADHD, and that's so commonly comorbid with autism it might as well be standard to test for when diagnosing.

Quote:
Now, hopefully, you are aware that being older - pre-dx criteria circa 1994 - and not fitting the children's dx is a hinderance to getting dx'd. You will never have a doctor talk to you for 10 minutes and tell you you do not have Asperger's because you don't have a flat voice, you make eye contact and that you just aren't 'odd'. (Yes, that is a true story.) The science is just starting to question the undiagnosed community of autistic adults and have already recognized that adult women do not follow the male model and are often misdiagnosed or inadequately dx'd around their co-morbids. If the medical community acknowledges this huge gap in diagnoses, then why is it unusual or somehow wrong that adults are dxing themselves with the same tools and criteria the experienced, knowledgable professionals use?


Yes. One thing people who come in here with this question fail to realize is that a lot of the people here were born in the 70s or earlier and by the time there was a dx that would include them if they would even be seriously evaluated at all*, they were already adults and the (childhood) problems that would lead to a diagnosis are in the past. Self-dx or at least sufficient evaluation to investigate an "official" dx are just about the only tools anyone has once they determine where to look in the first place. I think most found out by happenstance.

* And girls and women still have a harder time being taken seriously and getting diagnosed (aimed at OP, not draelynn) (I clarify a lot)



draelynn
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06 May 2011, 12:42 pm

Verdandi wrote:
Hmm, I went through:

Social Anxiety Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder
PTSD
Schizoid Personality Disorder
Schizotypal Personality Disorder
ADHD

at times. As it turns out, I only have the ADHD, and that's so commonly comorbid with autism it might as well be standard to test for when diagnosing.


The doctors were trying to put 'social anxiety disorder' on me. I laughed. Just because I'm bad at social interaction doesn't mean I'm afraid of people. I don't purposely avoid people in as much as I've just given up. They hold so very little interest for me. I have no interest in small talk and they have no tolerance for my idiosyncrasies. I can literally talk to anybody. In fact, I'm pretty good at public speaking. That doesn't mean people have any desire to get to know me better for a variety of 'odd' reasons.

I may fit the dx for ADHD. Those other four dx's just don't fit me. I've looked. Extensively. The only official dx I have is depression and yes, I know some symptoms of depression overlap AS. I have alot more going on that just that.

Quote:
Yes. One thing people who come in here with this question fail to realize is that a lot of the people here were born in the 70s or earlier and by the time there was a dx that would include them if they would even be seriously evaluated at all*, they were already adults and the (childhood) problems that would lead to a diagnosis are in the past. Self-dx or at least sufficient evaluation to investigate an "official" dx are just about the only tools anyone has once they determine where to look in the first place. I think most found out by happenstance.

* And girls and women still have a harder time being taken seriously and getting diagnosed (aimed at OP, not draelynn) (I clarify a lot)


It seems fairly common that adults are self dxing after having a child dx'd on the spectrum. Since it is widely accepted that autism is, most likely, genetic it would stand to reason that these kids inherited the trait from a parent. A parent that was a child before there was a dx available. My daughter's dx is what led me to self dx. I seriously doubt that, if I was NT, I'd understand her so well and simply know how to help her and how she is struggling just from a look on her face or a simple question. Before her dx, I had others tell me I'm reading too much into what I see - that there is no way I can KNOW what she is thinking. Turns out, they were wrong. I'm not the Autism Whisperer. I'm not an NT with a magical ability to understand the autistic mind. I'm simply autistic myself. I get it because I'm the same way.



Beabe
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06 May 2011, 12:54 pm

I think if you think you might have it then you should just get yourself checked. You may think you have it but you are not a doctor. Plus if you get checked and have it then you can get help with thing within the syndrome that cause you problems. There is also the chance that you may not have it and have something else or nothing at all. I don't really get why people will claim for years they have it but go undiagnosed. I mean there is just as much chance you could be wrong. Self diagnosing of the internet or books isn't the best. Its like people having a cough checking the symptoms online and thinking they have tb. Not as bad as that but I don't really believe in Self diagnosis.



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06 May 2011, 1:11 pm

Beabe wrote:
I think if you think you might have it then you should just get yourself checked. You may think you have it but you are not a doctor. Plus if you get checked and have it then you can get help with thing within the syndrome that cause you problems. There is also the chance that you may not have it and have something else or nothing at all. I don't really get why people will claim for years they have it but go undiagnosed. I mean there is just as much chance you could be wrong. Self diagnosing of the internet or books isn't the best. Its like people having a cough checking the symptoms online and thinking they have tb. Not as bad as that but I don't really believe in Self diagnosis.


People here have many times explained why they don't get an official diagnosis - the most common reasons have seemed (to me) to be:
- It's expensive
- The doctor could be less knowledgeable on the subject



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06 May 2011, 1:13 pm

I remember the time I was scared I was having a ectopic pregnancy because I was feeling cramps on one side. The internet did say that was a symptom of it and I got scared and wanted to be checked out so they gave me an ultra sound. Then I was happy to see it was in my uterus.

Sometimes I think I am a hypochondriac and fear I could be but could I be having hypochondria about hypochondria? :wink:



Verdandi
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06 May 2011, 1:15 pm

draelynn wrote:
The doctors were trying to put 'social anxiety disorder' on me. I laughed. Just because I'm bad at social interaction doesn't mean I'm afraid of people. I don't purposely avoid people in as much as I've just given up. They hold so very little interest for me. I have no interest in small talk and they have no tolerance for my idiosyncrasies. I can literally talk to anybody. In fact, I'm pretty good at public speaking. That doesn't mean people have any desire to get to know me better for a variety of 'odd' reasons.

I may fit the dx for ADHD. Those other four dx's just don't fit me. I've looked. Extensively. The only official dx I have is depression and yes, I know some symptoms of depression overlap AS. I have alot more going on that just that.


Yeah, the symptoms overlap, but I think the experience of having AS vs. having depression is different - and I have depression as well.

Quote:
It seems fairly common that adults are self dxing after having a child dx'd on the spectrum. Since it is widely accepted that autism is, most likely, genetic it would stand to reason that these kids inherited the trait from a parent. A parent that was a child before there was a dx available. My daughter's dx is what led me to self dx. I seriously doubt that, if I was NT, I'd understand her so well and simply know how to help her and how she is struggling just from a look on her face or a simple question. Before her dx, I had others tell me I'm reading too much into what I see - that there is no way I can KNOW what she is thinking. Turns out, they were wrong. I'm not the Autism Whisperer. I'm not an NT with a magical ability to understand the autistic mind. I'm simply autistic myself. I get it because I'm the same way.


Yeah, I've seen a lot of parents doing this.

Several years ago I had some friends who had an autistic son who was at the time nonverbal (I do not know if he has since learned how to speak, I tend to lose track of friends easily...). His sister very probably was autistic herself (more toward the AS presentation, with her interests and monologues and active-but-odd approaches). Anyway, apparently I was pretty much the only adult their son would interact with, although we didn't really talk. He'd show me things and get my attention and such, which was pretty much completely unheard of for him. I don't think there was anything special about me, I just figure that we could relate on a level that other people could not. We didn't really think much of it, although his parents loved that someone could interact with him, and I ended up watching him a fair bit.



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06 May 2011, 1:52 pm

Beabe wrote:
I think if you think you might have it then you should just get yourself checked. You may think you have it but you are not a doctor. Plus if you get checked and have it then you can get help with thing within the syndrome that cause you problems. There is also the chance that you may not have it and have something else or nothing at all. I don't really get why people will claim for years they have it but go undiagnosed. I mean there is just as much chance you could be wrong. Self diagnosing of the internet or books isn't the best. Its like people having a cough checking the symptoms online and thinking they have tb. Not as bad as that but I don't really believe in Self diagnosis.


There is no standardized dx for adults... there are a collection of dx tools that have come into common use from widely respected autism experts but, as yet, the DSM hasn't caught up yet. Adult dx is highly speculative and subjective.

Someone posted on here awhile ago - a copy of the autism questionairre he was given to fill out and bring to his first dx appointment. It asked if he walked on his toes, did he have an interest in watching Disney movies repeatedly, and if he bounced, rocked or flapped his hands while watching tv. These stories are all over the place on this forum. The children's dx criteria is insufficient for adults yet this is what many doctors use along side family interviews of your childhood behaviors. They try to do a belated childhood autism dx because they do not have a book that tells them how to dx adults yet.

Those experts that do understand adult dx are few and far between and are quite expensive.



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06 May 2011, 2:02 pm

MyWorld wrote:
League_Girl wrote:
MyWorld wrote:
Hello.

I read most of the posts and I appreciate for your feedback (as long as it wasn't about calling me a troll). I now understand why some don't have a diagnosis. The thing was is that there are 100's of mental disorders so one should claim to have some disorder because they are familiar with it. There are disorders that happen to be similar to each other. Again, sorry if I came off as a b****.

As for those who were wondering why I didn't post right away is because I have classes (finals coming up), clubs, and I have other activities and events that I go to. I usually don't post until late at night and not everyday. It's 2:13AM where I'm at right now.


Did you meant to say "The thing was is that there are 100's of mental disorders so no one should claim to have some disorder because they are familiar with it?"

That's for the correction.

Well you sure didn't come back to this thread since you had posted it but yet were on this forum since then but I guess you forgotten all about this thread until now?


It was posted 2 days ago, so I have not forgotten it. I have a rather busy life. I don't know why you're being so hostile?


So, there's our OP.

Why, pray tell, was I the "wrong kind of person" to post here when I joined the forum (self-dx'ed then) and I'm not now (diagnosed by someone else since then)? I'm still the same person, and the diagnosis is the same.

If you don't want to be called a troll, don't imply inane, inflammatory things like that I was the "wrong kind of person" for this forum in February of 2010 and not now. Oh, and if you want to STOP looking like a troll, please answer the above question.

~Kate


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06 May 2011, 2:54 pm

Meow101 wrote:
If you don't want to be called a troll, don't imply inane, inflammatory things like that I was the "wrong kind of person" for this forum in February of 2010 and not now. Oh, and if you want to STOP looking like a troll, please answer the above question.

Unless you are sure something had been specifically directed at you, it is quite presumptuous for something you happened to hear in some particular way to then be considered trolling.

I suspect there are many people who are not on the spectrum ending up here for one reason or another, and I believe the OP is simply concerned that some ill-informed or improperly-diagnosed people might end up here and cause some kind of problem ...

... but in fact, WP has so far "survived and thrived", so to speak, just fine in spite of anyone who ever came here!


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League_Girl
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06 May 2011, 3:03 pm

It's against the rules here to call people trolls anyway.



Verdandi
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06 May 2011, 3:25 pm

Beabe wrote:
I think if you think you might have it then you should just get yourself checked. You may think you have it but you are not a doctor. Plus if you get checked and have it then you can get help with thing within the syndrome that cause you problems. There is also the chance that you may not have it and have something else or nothing at all. I don't really get why people will claim for years they have it but go undiagnosed. I mean there is just as much chance you could be wrong. Self diagnosing of the internet or books isn't the best. Its like people having a cough checking the symptoms online and thinking they have tb. Not as bad as that but I don't really believe in Self diagnosis.


Speaking as someone who went from AS self-diagnosis to official diagnosis in three months (plus self-diagnosis to official diagnosis of depression in eight months, and self-diagnosis to official diagnosis of ADHD in 10 months), I have to say I see no reason to assume that self-diagnosis is fundamentally flawed or wrong.

I was also diagnosed with things I don't have, and when I pointed out why I don't believe I have them, the diagnoses were removed, or at least not further confirmed. But the only diagnosis I have that I did not identify first is anxiety.