Do others aspies even say you don't have AS?

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I've tried to get a diagnosis, and cannot. Even other aspies have said they don't think I have it. Is this common, or not? Somebody, if that's happened to you, yet you still think you have it, please say so.

I've seen it happen on this forum a few times. I've been guilty of it one or two times.

No, but it wouldn't surprise me if anyone said I didn't.

I didnt belive that i had AS even though i had all of the evidence in front of me. I always knew i was different it just never had a name (well they gave it several add, depression, social anxiety, blame the drugs i took to cope with it). The spectrum is a continume I spend my days with a man who is nonverbal and is obsessed with unraveling threads(and has on occasion eaten batteries and rubber gloves) we both have the same diagnosis PDD NOS.

I have had another aspie/HFA person who has had the benefit of therapy make comments about how I act and some of the things I do and question my doing them-well I am sorry if that persons part of the spectrum might not include those actions but mine happens to and I am not making it up or faking anything-its what I do and I havent had the benefit of therapy yet.

Occasionally, but I have other friends who get accused of faking it MUCH more often than I do b/c I actually have a few noticeable symptoms. I've met some aspies who try to use their condition to manipulate people (in a way that its obvious b/c they want attention ).

Well, if NO ONE can see it, including all other Aspies AND the psychologists, then maybe you don't....

I'm not saying you don't because I have no idea who you are, but it just seems like if it was there and the symptoms were prevelant enough to cause limited function, then SOMEONE else would be able to notice it, even if you had to point it out first.

I've never really had the problem before. Everyone who counts takes me seriously. Before I was officially diagnosed, my closest friend told me it was all in my head. Now that a doctor is backing me up, she has changed her mind. I had one aunt say, "really? She doesn't seem autistic, she doesn't even make random noises" (I think she has autism confused with tourette's....) Anyway, no one else has said anything, and most people are like, "ooooooooh, so THAT'S why you _______________. I see it now!" (fill in the blank with any of the many "abnormal" things that I do.)

I would only be happy to accept that it is not a possibility after a very thorough diagnostic assessment that takes into consideration the fact that I am female and that an ASD can present slightly differently in girls/women. I have read that a lot of diagnostic tests mostly go by the male stereotype of Asperger's. In fact they did a study where they sent a number of women who were known to be autistic to a psychiatrist for a routine assessment and all of them were misdiagnosed as having a personality disorder etc. The fact that they had autism was completely missed.

As an adult woman I doubt I'm diagnosable. The traits that may have given me away as a kid are long gone. I've taught myself enough to seem normal on the surface. Doesn't change who I am or what I experience internally. Any psychologist that looks for nothing but exterior clues just isn't doing his/her job.

I don't know if I have it. I only recently came to the conclusion I might, and even then it would be hard for anyone to make a professional assessment because, yes, I'm a woman. I don't think I really want to take those steps anyway. I might mention it to my husband one day. I think that, as you seem to have found, I'm worried that people won't take me seriously and will then mock me for it. I've dealt with enough mocking, it's one reason I don't really want to deal with people anymore.

Congratulations for being brave enough to open yourself up to other people about this.

No, and even if they did, they have no right to and their opinion should be nullified.

I have had NT people come up and tell me that they knew I was an aspie before I was diagnosed officially-one because she has a son with AS,a coworker who worked with disable teens said "well when I saw you banging your head into the wall when you get frustrated I knew what it was" another coworker did not notice it because he has a son with AS and to him my peculiarites were normal every day things to him.

Hells no. Apparently my closet has glass doors. Everyone knows without a doubt that I have it and many even long before I was DX'd. Pyschologists do not blink an eye or even suggest that I do any sort of "formal" testing. They just give it to me.

That said I was in HUGE denial for quite a few weeks after the first one laid the label on me...

The only other person who was in denial was a friend I had for 20 years. She was just so used to me being "me" and had accepted me so "wholly" for being "me" that she was angered by those who dared to label me. So she bought a lot of books on it for me and to help me to prove it wrong. The more she and I learned about it the more we were both fully convinced. Now I see how obvious it is and I have now become "the autistic lady" instead of "the eccentric lady" in my town. Different words... Same me.... LOL!

I too am adult female but present as male.

These might help, although I think I've posted them before. http://www.help4aspergers.com/pb/wp_a58 ... d4f6a.html

No, but other people haven't spotted it before I told them. However, some people have managed to Dx' me from the moment they met me, and they weren't psychiatrists... it's quite odd. I suspect the latter know autistic people, and know that the ones they know are autistic.