A question for teens & adults on the spectrum...

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When I was 3 and/or 4, my mother took me to a place where I was evaluated and they told her that I had autistic tendencies but didn't want to diagnose me something this early. My mother told my teacher in kindergarten that I had autistic tendencies and they cnsidered putting me in the Giant Steps program but didn't. When I was a kid, like about in first grade, my mother said something to me like "Maybe you ARE autistic." Then again, when I was 13, she said that I might be autistic and asked me if I had this symptom of that of Tourette's Syndrome, schizophrenia, personality disorders, etc. I learned that I was probably AS, from a general practitioner when I was 13. He said I had it, not that I probably had it, but I think it's probably PDD-NOS. He asked me if it was okay for him to tell my parents. I didn't think I would get in trouble if he told them, because I thought they already knew from my mother's research, so I said okay. But then my mother treated me like a ret*d and criticized me all the time saying "Because of your AS you can't do this, you won't do that, you don't do this, you should do this because you have AS." Then when I was 14, I was assessed-- or rather, just talked to-- and that same day I learned from the shrink that I had been diagnosed with it. "The school doesn't have to know, nobody has to know," the people at the adolescent clinic said when I was 13. They told the schol that I was fine. The first time it was in the school records that I had AS, I was 14. My mother told them. It was a disaster. I went to that school in grades 9 and 10 and because they knew abut the AS, it was a DISASTER! Then I switched to another school in grade 11, and a month or so after I started they knew too... the school I had gone to in grades 9 and 10 faxed the information to them, which was the last thing I wanted them to do. I was supposed to have a clean slate here with nobody knowing. And it was another disaster. Then I went to another school for grade 12 and they didn't know, but my mother eventually told one of my teachers and the guidance counselor, but they didn't put it down in my records.

Last edited by Ana54 on 17 May 2009, 12:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

When I wa diagnosed I was first told by my grade 8 teacher. I knew the routine, I go in I sit down, I talk about me, and I get diagnosed with something. Just didn't know about it... Then my grade 8 teacher asks me if its alright to share my diaagnosis with the class, and that's when I find out she wasn't talking about ADHD, but rather AS. Never up until December last year did I think I have it.

My daughter is 2, and I'm kinda in the same boat. I'm debating on getting a diagnosis at all, and I really think she's Aspie, but I think I will because she's overactive, and I don't want the school to diagnose her for me.

Now the telling her part? I don't know. When my sister found out my nephew was Aspie, I told her not to tell him because he shouldn't label himself, but she argued that with me for a long time. I assumed she told him at some point, but I guess not because now, what 8 years later, I found out the Pokemon creator was Aspergers from this forum, and I bought my nephew a book about the Pokemon Creator (tough bio to find, and I so overpaid for it), and then after I tell him this guy has Aspergers like you, my sister informs me she never told her son he has Aspergers because she didn't want him to use it as an excuse like i do (which I don't for my behavior, but like her, I use it as an excuse for my child's behavior, except unlike her, I use it as an excuse to excuse my child from behaving badly at times (i.e. clumsiness) whereas she uses it as an excuse for her to behave badly at times (i.e. temper tantrums, yes as an adult) because it's just so hard to be a mom of an Aspergers child, waa waa waa).

I've been told it's best to get a younger diagnosis for autism related issues as many behavior problems are best treated with therapy at the onset of the behaviors as opposed to trying to undo years of it. Many can as well be prevented with that knowledge. But at the same time, you deal with labels for your kid and idiots in the world of Psychology and Psychiatry (why Aspergers is in the field of Psychiatry is beyond me because there's nothing they can do medically for it beyond experimentation and at this point, therapy, something Psychologists do, is the only option). Either way, there's too many quacks. It's like trying to find a real psychic through the 900 numbers. Sometimes you even wonder if a real psychic exists or if it's myth...like real psychologists anymore...do they exist or is Dr. Phil the best they got to offer? You know Dr. Phil and Cleo would make a wonderful couple.

Anyway, I guess I'll give you the advice people gave me on here that I loved... go with your own motherly instinct on it. You are doing good to research as much as you can first and look at options.

It's in psychiatry because it is more of a medical condition than what psychologists deal with, plus where I am, psychiatrists are covered by my provincial helath insurance, and psychologists aren't. On top of that, my psychiatrist is the #1 autism specialist in my area, and also deals with a lot of my comorbids as well...

Where I am, most psychiatrists are only here to prescribe, and they are the top sell outs to the industry. Their solution to every problem is a drug, and family doctors are not that much different..in general in my area. Well, I don't know what health insurance out here that doesn't cover psychology (some require a referral and diagnosis, and most shrinks are nice enough to diagnose you with something you don't have just to get the insurance to pay for it). To be honest, at this point anymore, I don't see psychology or psychiatry even to be any more scientific than astrology when it comes to finding a specialist. It's like there is a science there, but only few people know how to use it, and those few people are hiding somewhere in the chaotic circus of the field and industry.

Heh... Try finding a good gender identity specialist... most of the ones that are out there just want to make your life harder.

I agree... I think drugs are prescribed too often too quickly...I'ts ultimately up to the parents in the end to decide what is best for their child, not the psych.

I certainly wont be giving my Son drugs for his behaviour. He copes well and so do we as a family.