How Old Were You When You Were Diagnosed?

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Yes, we have a severe disability.
Having to live in an NT defined society full of ignoram-asses.

I was 3 at the time of my diagnosis.

Despite being female, I presented in every way like a male my age. That probably led to me getting diagnosed so much younger than other autistic females.

If they called him "very mildly" autistic I would have to disagree.
I believe "Rain man" would have been classified as an: "Idiot Savant".
They have dropped the "Idiot" these days.

I was 30.

It was determined, later, that Kim Peek was not autistic.

He suffered from a lack of a big part of the Corpus Callosum (spelling?), I believe.

I'm not sure if they said "very mild," or "mild" in referring to Rain Man. But, at the very least, he was said to have "mild autism.

Yes, it seems a lot of people once thought (and some still think) every condition was binary "on" or "off". In fact there are multiple "spectrum disorders" with their own associated conditions and varying severities.

To answer the poll question, I was around mid-teens when I got a diagnosis of aspergers & depression with a side of anxiety. They didn't really tell me why I was being evaluated, but I don't think anyone in my family had ever heard of aspergers before then. They didn't really seem to accept it as a legitimate thing either. It seemed to make sense for me even though my parents tried to tell me otherwise. One of the doctors even told them I'd probably "grow out of it".

One of my parents came from (Nazi) Germany.
Before the war for a short time and during it, sterilization and euthanasia were institutionalised in Nazi Germany.
That would have influenced some parents into pretending that there was nothing "wrong" with their children.
I had to be directed towards a psychologist while at a vocational guidance testing facility.
Come to think of it, I may have been dxed earlier than I thought.

BTW, Hans Asperger is suspected of being part of the Nazi sterilisation/euthanasia program. <shrug>

It's beyond suspicion. He saved the intelligent children, but shipped the less fortunate off to their demise. I thought it was a baseless rumor, but this pretty well confirms it. Can the term "Aspergers" get any worse now?
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05112-1
It's certainly a valid reason to proclaim nothing "wrong" when there are Nazis and their sympathizers taking an "interest" in anyone who doesn't conform to their "ideal".

In regards to Mr Asperges... One can either not like his suspected past (Assuming he was involved) or one can be greatful he discovered something which has enabled many of you to understand your battles... (As for me, the understanding is far more important then the results of a diagnosis as regardles of what the diagnosis is for me, I am almost 100% sure the energy loss situations are partial shutdowns... Why is knowing this soo much easier? Well... I have gone through years of trying to change diets assuming that the issues were dietry based because a doctor years ago assumed it was....
A few years ago when I changed doctors, both my and my Mums medical records dissapeared or were wiped... And in a way, this was the best thing rhat happened, as doctors who now didn't know me and didn't have anything to go by could actually try to test me for things again... While previous doctors had labelled me as a complainer and did all they could to prevent me from getting appointments (And I purpously tried to limit appointments to one or two a year... Just in the hope that the issues could be found without being labelled as a hypercondriact...

So you see... Just knowing, and if I get assessment results... Confirming that I am right is half rhe battle won. Then comes trying to get myself some sort of income as I will eventually have no more of my train collection to sell... (Which selling rhem enables me to keep a car on the road as we don't live near a bus stop etc).

So in regards to the man... At least he was able to do some good..

No matter what the movie script said, that Rain Man character was by no means mild and high functioning, except by severe level 3 standards.

The question of Hans Asperger's possible complicity is still not settled. See the separate thread Anthropologist disputes Hans Asperger complicity.

Still, until this question does get settled one way or the other, the controversy over his possible complicity is one of the reasons why I prefer to be called "autistic" rather than "Aspie."

(The other reason is that I technically don't fit the diagnostic criteria for Asperger's Syndrome, because I had a speech delay. Had I been diagnosed under a strict application of the DSM IV criteria, I would probably have to have been diagnosed with either "autistic disorder" or "PDD-NOS," I'm not sure which, more likely PDD-NOS I would guess. Nevertheless, my boyfriend got diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome despite having even more of a speech delay than I did, and despite still having a speech impairment as an adult.)

To be clear.
I wasn't criticising my parents.
I was explaining the circumstances.

This was after the war and I was in Australia.
But the psychological damage probably would have been done after living under such a repressive regime.
Once again, this is only speculation on my part.

As an aside:
Eugenics was considered and implemented by many countries:

The thing about discoveries is eventually someone will come along and find it (especially something like "aspergers"). Often things are even independently discovered simultaneously. Personally I wouldn't have minded if the discoverer had a cooler-sounding last name. Both "Winter" and "Wolf" are also Austrian names. I think I could work with that.

To be a little more considerate of the era, perhaps without Asperger none of the children would have been spared. It still sucks, of course. You're right that he was able to do some good too, which my previous post didn't acknowledge.

^ This response may be a little outdated now, but I've been getting SQL errors since trying to post yesterday. (it didn't like my emoji fox).
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Mona, I'll have a look at the link you posted. I prefer the term "autistic" too regardless of possible shady history surrounding "aspergers". Not just because the word itself is more mellifluous.

Pepe, I understood it was an explanation of circumstances and not a criticism of your parents. I appreciate the clarification though. Sometimes I do miss/overlook things. I was previously aware of widespread eugenics practice too. I've even heard one or two people joke about implementing it again.

This thread really steered off course...

Self-diagnosed AS at age 32. I read a description about it in a book and it fit me.

To be fair the movie came out in 1988, and mostly just severe level 3 was being diagnosed.

I was 8, maybe 9. Yet I am a FEMALE with Asperger's, the high-functioning type. Most females with Asperger's aren't even recognised until they are grown-up. I didn't even have all the common symptoms, yet I was diagnosed so early for a girl. Christ, they must have put me under a giant microscope and observed me day and night. I mean, I bet there aren't any females here, with Asperger's (not severe autism), was born in the 80s or very early 90s, who got a diagnosis at that age. I feel so rare.