Being told by someone that they are AS
If "I suspect I have AS" was a profile option (or even I suspect I have AS and am awaiting diagnosis) I probably would have selected that instead of Have Asperger's - undiagnosed, but as I am 90% sure felt this was a closer option to how I feel than "Not sure if I have it or not" which to me suggests a 50-50 shot. As it stands, I tell people "in the real world" that I strongly suspect I have it (or at least "shadow syndrome" traits), am currently on a waiting list for professional assessment and also that my brother is autistic and we share many similar traits. I do not claim to officially have it or try to modify or distort people's views of AS.
It's not my fault my parents didn't want to go through the diagnostic assessment again with a second child when they figured the first assessment and the following diagnosis was a good enough confirmation for both kids... if they had been willing to do so I probably would have been DXed 5 or 6 years ago.
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-M&S
?Two men looked through prison bars; one saw mud and the other stars.? Frederick Langbridge
Even if the diagnosis is technically incorrect, this feels a bit like the person with hay fever telling the person with a bad head cold that they are not sneezing.
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Detach ed
I would never ever have guessed I was an aspie or had any form of autism whatsoever if it weren't for my formal diagnosis. I had gone to a psychiatrist only because based on what I had learned from an ADHD colleague, I began to suspect that I had ADHD, and was hoping that the psychiatrist could possibly also help me with my inexplicable irrational outbursts.
Based on what I had experienced of my colleague's aspie husband and on what I read in Wikipedia and elsewhere, I was really thinking that the psychiatrist had made a mistake in saying I had AS, because a description of a woman like me was nowhere to be found in there (most of the online descriptions were of men who spoke in a monotone, walked on their toes, and made no eye contact). In fact, several months before my own diagnosis, some of the quirks of a new employee made me think he might be an aspie, and I tried (without any success) to get support for him. So I definitely did NOT think I was an aspie myself, and when I said, "Are you SURE?" and the psychiatrist said, "Yes," I felt stunned.
It wasn't until I found that joke page on the Internet titled 'You may be an aspie if...', and until I joined WrongPlanet, that I became perfectly convinced that the psychiatrist was right and in spite of the severe initial shock, I eventually became so, so grateful that he had been so insistent about this.
Recently I was in a restaurant and a little girl came over to my table and started chatting to me. I had a small duffle bag with me -- pink, with Bratz on it, the kind that an adult would not normally carry -- and I was wearing a Tinkerbell t-shirt. She seemed fascinated. So I entertained her by unpacking my bag to show her more stuff, such as a deck of Winnie the Pooh cards that I was carrying
(I am going through some kind of bubblegum Goth phase at the moment. )
Anyway, her parents became equally fascinated by the game, and when I unpacked my hearing protection devices (I suffer from sensory processing problems from time to time), they asked about them, and I explined that I was autistic, and that sensory processing problems kind of "come with the territory".
"You're not autistic!" said one of the men (whom I later found out is one to be one of South Africa's most famous authors).
"What do you want me to do to prove it?" I laughed. "Shall I have a meltdown, or start flapping?"
They laughed back and said, "Yes!"
Eventually after further chatting I gave them my number so that they could pass it on to their neighbour whom they said has a non-verbal autistic son. (There's not much autism support in these parts, unless you are rich.)
We're Facebook friends now.
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When I must wait in a queue, I dance. Classified as an aspie with ADHD on 31 March 2009 at the age of 43.
this is an interesting perspective.
I am male, I am 38, I am Australian...these things i am.
you cant catch this from me, i dont have these things, i am these things....I am AS.
It is a part of me, not something i have that i can give back.
like being gay and being black, it is how i am.
it isnt something i have to be hidden and ashanmed of.
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a great civilisation cannot be conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within- W. Durant
this is an interesting perspective.
I am male, I am 38, I am Australian...these things i am.
you cant catch this from me, i dont have these things, i am these things....I am AS.
It is a part of me, not something i have that i can give back.
like being gay and being black, it is how i am.
it isnt something i have to be hidden and ashanmed of.
I have a male gender, I am not male
I am from America, I am not America
I have a liver, I am not a liver.
I am Not AS.
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Pwning the threads with my mad 1337 skillz.
But you are male.
America is not part of you, so you can't say that you're America.
The liver is part of you, but it is only a certain part of you. It is not reflected in all of your attributes. AS is, so it can be said that you are AS because it is something that is biologically part of you and you express it all the time.
I guess it's more logical to say that you have AS, though, just as you say that you have any other condition. You can also say that you are an Aspie, which means that you are a person who has AS.
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Leading a double life and loving it (but exhausted).
Likely ADHD instead of what I've been diagnosed with before.
But you are male.
America is not part of you, so you can't say that you're America.
The liver is part of you, but it is only a certain part of you. It is not reflected in all of your attributes. AS is, so it can be said that you are AS because it is something that is biologically part of you and you express it all the time.
I guess it's more logical to say that you have AS, though, just as you say that you have any other condition. You can also say that you are an Aspie, which means that you are a person who has AS.
Leaves behind a pwnd mathgirl. I'm not male, I have a circlitory system, but Im not that, I have a skeletal system but Im not that, I am not a reproductive system..Self defining, self refercing, Only I can say what I AM
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Pwning the threads with my mad 1337 skillz.
you can have something which afflicts you, or be something, own it and take responsibility for it.
i am AS, i dont have it.
if you know what you are...then can you share it?
I have aspergers, I am not afflicted with it.
I have a liver, I am not afflicted with it
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Pwning the threads with my mad 1337 skillz.
...getting off topic; perhaps a new thread if this is the conversation you two wish to pursue?
M.
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My thanks to all the wonderful members here; I will miss the opportunity to continue to learn and work with you.
For those who seek an alternative, it is coming.
So long, and thanks for all the fish!
LuxoJr
Deinonychus

Joined: 2 Dec 2009
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 391
Location: a dance party on the moon
So I wondered, these discussions about self-diagnosed AS, what are they based on? Have you (dear reader) ever had someone tell you they were AS, with or without a diagnosis?
And conversely, if you are self-diagnosed, have you ever told anyone in the real world and why?
I am self diagnosed and I based it on the diagnostic material. I looked at many, many sources of information, took any and all tests that I could find on Aspergers/Autism, went through all "symptoms" and related them to specific moments in my life, and really, I just could see that I was reading about me when I read about Aspergers. I saw flashes of memories, things that I did that were weird and made no sense to other people but made sense after reading about Aspergers.
I also think, that while an expert is in some ways, much, much more qualified to diagnose an ASD, they are also hindered by not ever really having all the information. There is no miracle test for ASD's so they just have to work with a person using information provided snd the diagnostic material. Memories are not visible to any expert. They were a crucial part in "diagnosing myself".
In response to your second question, no, nobody has told me they have AS, however, one of my sisters best friends is Autistic(diagnosed as a small child) , as in actual Autistic not just AS. I noticed that I act in a similar way to him when I read about ASD's.
To answer your last question, I have only told one person, my best friend of 8 years who also shows a lot of signs of having an ASD. And even then, I said that I might have it rather than an absolute "yes, I have it". Though, I was asked by someone I barely know who just observed me throughout our classes whether I was Autistic. This was before I had even considered that I might be and I just told him that I don't know.
In my opinion, ASD's are too personal to be diagnosed completely by a doctor only. You need to agree with the diagnosis. I don't even have the chance for an official diagnosis though, I mentioned it to my parents and my mother flat out said "No, you don't". She didn't give a reason when asked either just "because you don't". My father didn't say anything. I don't really have the money for a diagnosis either, being a high school student.
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