Did you become obsessed with autism?

Post Reply New Topic

I definitely did when I first realised that I thought I had it.

That was useful - it helped me to find out more about why I thought I did, to look into the reasons why I might not, to build up a folder that I ended up taking with me when I asked for a diagnosis, to learn more about myself, to find out how I could improve things for myself.

I obsessed about it for months. Read everything I could get my hands on, watched documentaries and TV shows about it, was constantly doing tests and browsing every thread on relevant forums to gain a better understanding.

It's now been a month since I went to the GP to ask for a diagnosis, and I've definitely calmed from 'obsession' to 'interest'. I feel like if I keep obsessing, the wait to hear about my next step will be torture. I also feel that I've gone through a lot of the 'less dramatic' things that I could be reading or viewing, and what's left is the more extreme representations of autism. If I view enough of those, I might once again start to convince myself that I'm not autistic because I'm 'not like them', and that could be harmful by making me stop seeking a diagnosis or convincing myself that I've been wrong.

I'm getting there. I think it's normal to want to understand yourself. Especially after 40 years of wondering why everyone else was so strange it's great to get some answers.

I have always felt (yes, this is true!) that everybody is "strange" in some fashion.

I did some research and read several books. The topic really fascinates me, but I don't think I really became obsessed.

I have not been officially diagnosed,
but I have becomed obsessed trying to confirm my suspicions.At first it was a simple curiosity,but then the more certain descriptions and comparing them to my life experiences and I got obsessed after I realized I had it.Now I keep searching through forums in this site finding out more
and more about this condition.
(I need to stop rambling)
Tl;dr
Looked up aspergers,realized I had it,got obsessed.

I'm also one who researched autism/Asperger's after my diagnosis, but I never became obsessed about it. To me, it was finally an explanation of why I was the way I was, and still am. If anything, I try to pass as NT, although I'm not that successful at it, since getting hired after an interview has been difficult.

Depends what you mean by "obsessed." I've spent ages researching and pondering autism, on the grounds that I've got it and need to know how it impacts on my life and how to mitigate its dark side. Even after all this time, I still feel there's a lot I don't understand about it - I got a glimpse of an Aspie's neurological report recently, first time I've seen a neurological report, and although it was like trying to read Greek, it convinced me that fathoming autism in terms of brain wiring might be very helpful, as unlike psychology it aims to get down to the real nuts and bolts detail of the matter. But as I'm stuck for sources that explain the neurology accurately and clearly enough for an ornery dude like me to fathom. Too smart for popular science, too stupid for degree-level neurology. So I won't be putting much energy into pursuing it unless I happen to stumble on a source that talks to me on my own wavelength. Mostly I study autism here on WP and by observing myself and my autistic friends. I do a lot of that, but I can be drawn away from it, and frequently become sick and tired of the whole shebang, and go off and do other stuff.

Yes, I've been obsessed with autism for the past five years or thereabouts. My knowledge base was so high that my college professor for my abnormal psychology class asked me to teach the unit on ASD's, so I did, and I did it so well that she had me do it for the other sections of her class, and a fellow professor as well. It's been four years now, and I graduated from that school two years ago, and I still get called back every semester to give my lecture.

My obsession with the topic has definitely helped me as far as self-advocacy. My family finally understands me, and respects my autistic behaviour. They don't mind if I can't talk some mornings, and they don't get angry or blame me for my meltdowns. They explain social phenomena to me when I ask, and aren't condescending about it. I'm very lucky that they've been so supportive, but it's entirely down to me that they know as much about autism as they do. I taught them everything they know about it.

Well, if its more than average (whatever that is) then i might have to say guilty as charged! But i think more of a heavy interest so to speak. Obsession? maybe not , but it is definitely one of my main focal points the last year!.... I think im in denial, i think it might be a little obsessive! Now im confused!

Yes, it's my current obsession.

No, I avoided it and tried to put it out of sight and out of mind. Not a good way to go about things, I wasn't a good advocate for myself beforehand but these last few years I have made a considerable effort in trying to open up. I post here, mostly in the non-autism parts of the forum showcasing my own autism by posting walls of texts about **** nobody cares about or everybody hates. So no, I would not call it obsession or even really an interest of mine since it usually makes me uncomfortable. Some things hit too close to home.

I definitely think about it everyday. It did make me do a lot of research and analyze every time period in my life. I consider it to be intrinsically part of myself. I used to think it wasn't important to find out because I knew my personality type and that seemed so all-inclusive that I felt it wasn't necessary to know. Now I feel the opposite, I feel like most of my personality is based on it and most of my symptoms stem from sensory overload. I think sensory overload is much more complex than some people realize, but I can tell that some people on here get that it goes beyond something simple. For instance, I can get overloaded and overwhelmed doing just about anything, talking to people, you name it. It affects the entire way I live and always has. I watch all of my behavior now and it's all so tied to autism, I think it's more important in determining the way I am than my personality type by far.

Yes, but not anymore. If anything, I'd like to go back to my ignorance before.