How many of you are self-diagnosed?

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I dxed myself after a phsyciatrist suggested the possibility of Aspergers. We looked for a web sight and found Oasis linking to an Oasis forum in Delph forums. We followed the link, only to stumble into Aspie Hangout. (I heard things weren't going so well in there lately ) I just started reading stuff in the forums, and come to realise there was a great deal in common that we shared. I have thought alot of "Yep been there, done that" since. Been from The hangout to Aspies for Freedom, then finally comming here. Sakes did the child version of me look like an Aspie after I read about it.

common:
Lack of social skills
Bully target back in public school
Lacking empathy
Specific interests
Specific attire
Hates light touch and annoying, unpredictable noises.
Trouble with social work places
Flat stare..
ect.

Through my reading, mainly. I always had problems growing up but nobody was able to give me any answers that made any sense. When I read what my mother wrote in my baby book I do not know how they missed the autism diagnosis, I had so many of the classic symptoms. I was not really verbal (I could talk but chose not to, especially to strangers), I would spin myself dizzy and I had to be forced to look people in the eye. My baby pictures show a very solemn, bewildered child. I also would obsess on things (still do) and was frightened of public toilets due to the noise. I still have sensitive hearing and can't block out background sounds. When I read Dr. Grandin's Thinking In Pictures I called my mother up and read her passages out of it. I said, Mom, that's me. That's exactly what I was going through!

I do not know exactly where I am on the spectrum, whether it is autism or Asperger's but there is no doubt in my mind that I AM on the spectrum, even though there are people who would say that I can't possibly be because I am too social. What they don't see is the struggle behind this being social.

I was incorrectly diagnosed as a child. The dumbass at Chapel Hill diagnosed me with Tourette's and put me on Paxil. I do have some of the tics, but they don't show up in the same way as with the Touretters. They're a group that I have enourmous respect for, and they've fought very hard to get themselves recognized. I would be proud to call myself one of them. It's not me, though. As an adult, I don't have any pathological symptoms of HFA, but I think that it best explains my behavior both as a child and as an adult. It's a hyperactive version of the disorder. The remaining symptoms are ones that I have no problem living with, but right now I'm shopping for a shrink who has enough common sense to stop trying to treat me for effing Tourette's. If the next guy I go to tries to give me an effing neuroleptic, I'll kill him with my bare hands. I don't mind the tics! I keep asking people, even to the point that they ask me bluntly to STOP asking them, and every possible thing that could conceivably be linked to Tourette's Syndrome is something that I and the people around me can live with! I'm really hyperactive and impulsive, though, and it's driving me and my professors batshit.

These days, most of the HFA stuff is, as with the tics and crap, stuff I can live with.

I self-diagnosed off of a book that some older friends gave me, who over a period of several months noted a lot of odd behavior in me, then they gave me a book on the subject, a bit of a comprehensive one. Probably almost every single detail, I was able to relate to. I showed it to one friend and had her read it, she said, "Yeah, now I understand you perfectly." My dad read it, agrees that it explains me very well, and explains him a little bit too. I did some more research online, took a few tests online (one was official I believe), and I add up pretty well. I was also noting a lot of odd behavior patterns in myself long before I heard of Asperger Syndrome or really even understood autism, like how my voice is unusually loud, I walk kind of oddly, I cannot make small talk to save my life, how I sometimes have a hard time expressing emotions, how I prefer to be alone so much, how my speech patterns are almost textbook-perfect, and a lot more... I'd like a doctor's word just so I can have it in the books, but it adds up perfectly.

I also self-diagnosed and pretty much rid myself of OCD. This I suspected was a problem too, though it wasn't till I read the AS book that two and two finally came together.

Self diagnosed too. I have spoken to my GP who said that as I was functioning in society I probably didn't have AS (how much does he know about this I ask myself?). I think the prevailing medical view of AS is one very small step away from autism and that if you can hold down a job and talk to the GP you haven't got it, which p*sses me off because they clearly need some training in the less extreme form of AS. After spending most of my life miserable and trying desperately to fit in, I read about AS and realised it was my life story for as long as I can remember. Also, my housemate who's a nurse (and used to look after aspie teens) recognised a lot of symptoms in me and several people have suggested it as well. So I'm stuck with self diagnosis until the NHS pulls its finger out and there's a chance it wont affect my job prospects.

I really relate to your posting. All of the above. I also have been working on my OCD, overcame it when I was a kid a great deal - it still kicks in when I am nervous or anxious, but I'm working to control it with my will power. I am a very logical person and I feel that applying reasoned logic is indeed the response to something that seems illogical.

Last edited by alienesque on 29 Feb 2008, 6:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

With you on that and being British born myself I am well acquainted with the NHS. Ironically I used to be an RGN! I live in Texas these days and was kind of contemplating visiting my family GP when I am in Scotland over the summer and pushing for a diagnosis of some kind.

I am self-diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. I have a lot of the traits: obsessive interests, extreme shyness, motor clumsiness and a tendency to do "dumb" things, even though I have strong verbal skills and general knowledge.

I was self-diagnosed with autistic disorder, then "officially" diagnosed with the same.

I'm self dxed.

I was getting a lot of weird comments about my behavior from my teaching evals... strange things like, "odd way of explaining things," "awkward," "never smiles, "sounds tired," "doesn't look at me," and of course, a lot of other good and bad comments (mostly good! i wasn't too dweeby, apparently). But these particular comments stood out to me and bothered me. This went on for several semesters until one day, I sat down in the lounge at the lab and was reading a science magazine and came across an article on asperger's and autism...

Then I knew. All those things I thought were just extra individual plates to balance... were suddenly connected. I talked to a local specialist (not in an appointment of any sort) about some things but have not tried to seek diagnosis...

I'm self diagnosed with either both Asperger's and Schizoid or somewhere in between. I'm fairly certain that I'm on the spectrum.

I guess I would be self-diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. I don't know if it's AS, HFA, or PDD-NOS, but probably AS. I'm not going to put a label on myself though unless I get diagnosed.

im self diagnosed as of last yaer, going to a doctor atm, but she thinks im a skitzo

pretty much had a suspicion from an interview I read, then looked it up on the web, and started going, yup....yup....that too....yup...

found this place, and strangely enough, I'm right at home...

I was diagnosed back in the early 60s with "Autism/Childhood Schizophrenia" long before people heard of "Asperger's Syndrome". In all honesty, I take these so called "Aspie Tests" that have been presented here with a grain of salt. I think the scores can be too easily manipulated depending on your mood.

In my opinion, the only way to determine whether you really are an Aspie is to take a long in-depth look at the years of your life and see if there is a long-term Aspie pattern that has pretty much determined your life which it definitely has with me.

recently Self Dx'd ..... I have free general health and psych care so it won't stay that way, i'm just waiting for my mother to come around. (it sucks only being able to use one person to help with a Dx) I won't go to a doc w/o back-up so I am kinda stuck until she decides to help.

I think I have asperger's, but some of the things I remember might place me in HFA.

Things I specifically remember. I did the spinning thing as a child. I could never seem to talk to kids on the playground, without making them mad, so after a while I kinda just stopped trying. I used to rearrange my bedroom furniture by myself (when I was 7). I once strung a wall of twist ties across my bedroom from the ceiling to the floor, seperating it from the other part of the room, I could get in and out, but no one else really could. My mother took apart a vacuum when i was 6 and couldn't get it back together, I was the one to fix it. I used to have a set of clothes that was specifically used to stand in the rain through middle and high school (until mom came home one day and found me). If you say the words "my stuff" to my mom she will go into a bad caricature of me saying "my stuff! my stuff!" in a high pitched grating voice, because i used to throw fits when she would come in and move the stuff around in my room.

Stories from family that reinforce my Dx that i don't necessarily remember. We lived in denver, colorado, when i was 1 year old, in the winter, and not a single person could keep clothing on me, or my blanket, or socks. I have a picture at my sister's 16th birthday,we had rented a clubhouse, she had about 100 friends there, i was found fast asleep on the floor in the kitchen area at about 4 in the afternoon, when I was 10. When i was about 12 I used to wear long sleeve turtlenecks to school in miami, fl, in april.

I can't look back at my 1-4 year old stage and give stories there, because i was on phenybarbitol for seizures, which is also how I say my family would have missed the earlier signs. Because of the meds I didn't speak to anyone until age 4 when they took me off it, though my sister says i used to talk to her.

Current stuff. I do random repetitive behaviors (not OCD). I have to be over-tired or stressed because I manage to control this normally. I still think tom and jerry are hilarious. I eat applesauce, tomato soup, PBJ, gatorade, pudding snacks, cinnamon toasters, eggs and chicken breast done in a variety of ways. I don't communicate with coworkers well(or at all). I use mental programming to get through work. I don't get social cues, ever, at all, never. I have echolalia, bad. I repeat entire conversations to myself. I double-say sentences when speaking to people. I repeat words over and over in conversations. I flap when excited or agitated. I rock to music in movies, i think i have always done this.

I am Dx'd GAD, have been since high school. I get minor depression when personal issues screw up my schedule.