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gee_dee
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
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04 Sep 2015, 6:59 pm

Does anyone else feel like the status of their condition is almost unpredictable, changing as days and even years go by?

Since a young age I've been classed as having mild to moderate Aspergers, depending on how stressed I am in life as it tends to get worse under adverse conditions, and for a long time I've felt just as capable as anyone else of living a "normal" independent life. However my life so far has told a different story. Due to being chronically unemployed (unemployable?) I've been reliant almost entirely on allowances, first from parents and then from the state, and already feel like not a proper adult but it's hard to tell how much of this situation is due to the aspergers or to the job market as it is right now, and not majoring in a very job-oriented degree. Friendships and relationships have likewise been very few and far between but again not sure how much of that is due to aspergers or simply not "clicking" with very many people. I've also made some profoundly bad decisions due to simply not knowing any better but with hindsight I've been able to see where I went wrong.

These factors, and more, have led me to be classified by my psychiatrist, who I only see every few months and the only "help" from social services I currently receive, as having "a severe form of autism" quite an upgrade from previous assessments, which I think is a gross exaggeration seeing as I can exist independently and don't need to be supervised 24/7 or anything, but again, the way my life has turned out would point to that conclusion. I'm now beginning to wonder if that's how I really am even though deep down I don't feel that way. I don't know if a recent worsening of the aspergers has become something of a self fulfilling prophecy in that sense, like I need to "justify" my own diagnosis or something.



BeaArthur
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05 Sep 2015, 10:36 am

Maybe you don't need to classify yourself. There will always be others who are willing to do that for you.

I'm reminded of the saying, "If you've seen one Aspie, you've seen one Aspie."

Do things that are effective for helping you feel better and function better. My daughter, about your age and also on public support for Aspergers and other issues, started participating in a church recently and found that welcoming. She also uses the Internet to augment her social life. She also got a pet cat which helps calm her - it's increasingly acceptable with landlords to have a "therapy animal" or "emotional support animal." I'm not saying you should run out and do these things, I'm saying do things that work for you.



b9
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05 Sep 2015, 10:44 am

one letter and one number is all it takes to have a unique classification in this simple world



Browncoat
Deinonychus
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Joined: 14 Feb 2013
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13 Sep 2015, 12:38 am

The way I've always seen it, labels are a means of grouping people based on similar traits. However, even if we took every label ever applied to a person and put them together, that would fall short of the actual person. We are more than labels.
It's possible to have better or worse times, but I believe that with the right perspective, we can turn that to an advantage. For example, I am prone to relatively mild spells of depression. The main thing that helps me through it is the reminder that it is temporary; I've come out of it before. "When you hit bottom, the only place left to go is up"


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