How did you discover you might have AS/ASD?

Post Reply New Topic

My mom told me she thought I had Aspergers after i graduated high-skewl. I did alittle research on it & it seemed to fit but I didn't really dwell on it much till years later when I was having lots of problems on other forums & I thought things could of been related to my autism. My psychiatrist had also told me she thought I had Aspergers when I had a mental breakdown at 20.

Always knew I was very different, but when I was a child you were just 'shy' and began hearing about ASD in my twenties. Self-diagnosed myself after doing some research around 10 years ago (in my thirties). Got an Official diagnosis 3 years ago.

I had some repetitive behaviours in my teenage years and thought it was OCD. I did some research online and somehow stumbled upon ASD on Wikipedia. I remember reading the wiki and although some of it resonated with me I wasn't totally convinced I was autistic. Years later I went to a mental health service for depression and a social worker was adamant that I was on the spectrum. So I got a referral and then a diagnosis.

3 years ago, my symptoms (especially sensory issues) were getting worse because of increasing stress and anxiety, to the point where it became obvious to my parents, who took me to a psychologist. Before that happened, however, I searched Google for hours looking for an explanation, and I found a single Google Image on symptoms of autism. Somehow then I just knew that was what I had and the reason for my behavior, as it pretty much described everything I had ever had issues with. I eventually told the psych that I thought I had it, and I was diagnosed when I was 12. 1 year later, I was diagnosed with OCD.

My sister told me she suspected I might have it.

I learned a bit about autism when I was googling about sensory processing disorder. That time I was very sure that I had SPD but I never thought I could have autism.
Years later my boyfriend told me he'd found something called 'Aspie Quiz' and that I should check it out. When I took the test I scored very high on it and it made me more curious about AS. During that time I was seeing doctors and they were unsure about what was wrong with me. I started to read books/articles about ASD and the more I read the more convinced I felt. About a year later I was diagnosed with AS.

My granddaughter was diagnosed with Asperger's a few years back and my daughter started posting things about it on Facebook. After a year or so, I said "these items sure do remind me of your mother!" She laughed and said "Keep reading, Mom. It gets even more interesting!"

I finally have an appointment for a diagnostic assessment tomorrow, with a therapist who has experience working with autistic women!

I was watching a TV show that was talking about Asperger's symptoms and they sounded very familiar. This was about a year before the DSM 5 was released, hence Asperger's instead of AS.

A string of movies told me I might have it: Social Network, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and The Imitation Game

Went to see a psychologist for social anxiety disorder, asked him if I might have it - I was recommended to someone else, took the test, and got diagnosed last month. I read about 10 + books on it within a three week span and I'm still picking up on things that I never would have before, for example - I do rock back and forth when nervous.

Currently, I'm unsure why my parents didn't have me tested sooner since I do remember showing signs as a kid and teenager. One instance even being similar to a trait depicted in 'A Boy Called Po.'

Apparently it's so obvious to some people that my cousin's wife knew I had it the second she met me. So, they knew longer than I or my parents did.

In my early 40s I realized I was from a dysfunctional family, and started going to various support groups, etc. Nobody breathed a hint of any organic causes for troubles. When I was 56 my sister was in distress over mother's "cold" persona, which was not melting even as she was dying. I had figured out some of mom's secrets, but, hoping to help my sister, I did some extra reading. As soon as I read about Asperger's, both our lives made sense, and probably her father's too.

My story is very similar to the first two posts.

Job performance reviews. Resurfacing issues. Each item to work on this past review - it's like a laundry list of autism. It was so frustrating to ask the supervisor for specific examples and what they'd like me to do differently since there hadn't been feedback during the year (that would have been helpful - duh). I knew enough to ask for examples...and it's the professional way to give feedback. She just looked at me like I was an alien. Later at home, I wracked my brain trying to solve the problem of why I couldn't understand her better and even said out loud in fear and frustration that I felt like I had a mental disability. I couldn't find a better explanation.

I know that I'm very intelligent. And, I've studied the exact topics my supervisor listed for me to "take additional training in" which added insult to injury, and confusion. Finally, I came across a newspaper article/blogs online about how autism is different in women and how adult women learn to compensate and remain undetected. How "passing" is exhausting, takes extra energy to process social interactions, and requires recouping time.

I thought, "oh f*ck, that's me". It's is the only thing that explains nearly everything. And I cried. And I still do. It really is a paradigm shift. (checked with my p-doc, but not sure what testing i might pursue and for what purpose)

Why didn't anyone tell me or help me sooner? Life could have been so different. I'd always struggled and blamed myself, my uber religious upbringing, and asocial parents for my many "deficiencies". The reality...no one knew about autism for girls in my day and locale. My parent's world view probably wouldn't have allowed for a diagnosis anyway unless I was non-verbal and it was undeniable.

I always knew I had issues with how people perceive me. I try so hard to connect but am always edged out, or a fifth wheel, or maybe tolerated but never asked to be included. I never got why people always misinterpreted what I mean. I assumed before that I had childhood family issues and was doing something unconsciously from that. I thought about autism because of sensory and social difficulties, but never pursued it because of the no empathy stereotype, I think I have hyper-empathy. I started volunteering for a therapeutic riding program for free horse time and realized the autistic kids have a lot of empathy, it just comes out differently. I then realized I have so much empathy I freeze and from the outside it looks like I don't react appropriately. It all made sense after that.