HFA.....

Post Reply New Topic

My dx date has been moved forward. In 2 days time i will be dxed as a HFA!

I am not sure how i feel.

stories of others dxed as autistic in Adulthood please!

What you have always been won't change.

You will however have more information about yourself, because you will know whether the label "autistic" applies to you and by extension whether you have similar traits as a large group of other people.

It's a little odd thinking about yourself as "autistic" at first. You may have to deal with self-directed prejudice against disabled people, if you didn't consider yourself "disabled" before (many of us do have to deal with that, because autism is an invisible disability and we grow up not realizing that this is a description that fits us.)

On the other hand, it can be nice to have that label, because having one word for it means not having to scrape together a huge description every time you try to think about it.

All in all, it's a good thing in the long run to know whether you are autistic, especially if you need significant amounts of help (which is true for most autistics, at least in childhood). Many of us blunder along without any help for a long time, burning out or just performing way below our potential, when rather simple adjustments would let us use our skills effectively.

And of course it lets you put yourself squarely into autistic culture and autistic pride, though you could do that without a diagnosis, of course--many people do, since autistic culture isn't really based around the diagnosis--a diagnosis asks "Are you significantly impaired?" and many people who are culturally autistic are not, despite their having more in common with diagnosed autistics than with NTs.

I just got my diagnosis. Since there's no clear definitions about HFA against Aspergers I fall in-between both categories. Though since I do have some weird properties such as the ability to learn/pattern social behaviour and adapt (albeit, with a lot of effort) I'm told it's more of a HFA then AS.

Honestly, I feel free. Finally an answer as to why I feel as an outcast. I'm also told I have a huge self-defence mechanism of finding anyone not interesting. I will work on the things that I learned from the diagnosis (I got a full explanation on everything) I got tips how to best study and how not to (lots of visual/writing, don't even try with audio). And I learned I have a horrible working memory and quite a bit of attention difficulties.


I'm quite sad my IQ is estimate at around 109 only, on a global scale, though the individual parts are interesting. I scored horribly on working memory/attention tests while I scored a lot on analytical/spacial/logical tests (few points short of being classes as 'supergifted'. I know and I feel that I can do so much more, since I've been stuck for years, my cognitive abilities rusted. I know for sure that my potential has yet to be reached. If I do an IQ test in 5 years, (I plan to study 5+ years at least) I'm sure I can score a lot higher.

All in all, I learned a lot. Exactly what I wanted out of the diagnosis, answers. I now know some things are impossible for me, I know which things. I also know what things I have trouble with and what I can change.

Very enlightening.

See I fit in both columns, I didn't really have speech delay issues, but I do have a better visual/spacial processing ability then one would fit in AS. I also do not have huge issues with motor skills (but still some) then one would expect with AS.

I read not all things are the same with everyone who has AS or HFA. Which does explain why there's still ongoing debate whether they are the same or should remain two separate diagnoses.

I wasn't diagnosed as an adult, but I was diagnosed with HFA at the age of 5 and a half.

Technically speaking, wouldn't it be that in two days you will go in for an assessment and perhaps be diagnosed with autism or aspergers? There is no formal designation of HFA. You will either get Aspergers, classic autism, or PDDNOS, if the psych agrees with you that you are on the spectrum. I was diagnosed just a couple months ago at the age of 26, although I knew about the possibility since I was around 21. My official label was Aspergers; however, I did not know I had a significant speech delay/regression. I will be going next month for another evaluation at another. That is not to change the label, but because I had issues with the original clinic I went to (long story, but I can't get a report from them for my student loan purposes, so I am going somewhere else). If they are going to give me the correct diagnosis at this new place, I will be labeled with autism due to my speech delays. I consider myself to be on there severe end of HFA. I say I am HF because I am verbal now, go to school, work about 10 hours a week (sometimes quite a bit less, sometimes a bit more). I am severe though because most of my symptoms are very prominent, I cannot sustain conversation with people, I cannot make friends, and I am not independent (and do not know if I ever will be). Still HFA and LFA are just clarification labels. Really, all people with classic autism just have autism, and that is what they are diagnosed with.

When i got my dx, i were told that the difference between AS and (HF)Autism were, if speach before two years birthday and IQ in the normal to high range you'd be dx'd AS. Else (HF)Autism...