Just found out - now what?

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just found out that I may have Asperger's from a facebook app of all things. I did the Autism Specrum Quotient Test because I was board. I was floored when I got a 37. I have been reading about the condition most of the day, and have to admit it all sounds right to me. But I could be being suggestive or acting like a hypocondric too.

I learned to talk at 6 months. Everyone thought it was so great that I could ask for what I wanted, they would get me anything. It had always been assumed that not learning to walk till I was 3 was just lazyness. I begged for and got my first computer at the age of 4, and have done little else since; at age 30 I'm now a Systems Administrator. I have always had trouble judgeing social situations, and my litter understanding of language gets me into trouble frequently. I can memorize slang and expressions, which helps, but new ones always through me and usualy require a 15 min conversation to explain. I have always had problems with depression and anxiety; I recently started taking Celexa which has been great. I had always just assumed I was an overly intelegent, rather odd, jerk and have even come to be proud of my direct speaking and logical though process.

So do I really have Asperger's? If so, what does that mean? Do I need to talk to a doctor? Do I need to start changeing my life? I like my life! I admit that I always though most peoples brains were broken compared to mine, but do I have to be wrong?

I don't know, this is pretty strange. Not sure what if anything to do.

It depends, if you should see a doctor about AS. I wouldn't trust too much on Internet tests for anything, however getting an official diagnosis can be rather expensive. I would only recommend seeing a counselor only if you feel it's needed, it's much harder to adjust certain behaviours when someone is older than younger.
Anyways, Welcome!

The same happened to me!! ! Its kinda ret*d how i found out. I love dr house, and in one episode his friends suggests he has aspergers. Since Ive heard a million times I act like him, I started researching, and the more i read the more i thought i had aspergers. I took the autism quotient test and the empathy quotient and got both absolutely aspie. I had all my family take them just to see what "normal" people scored. I finally decided to go to a psychiatrist especialist in autism and asperger and got diagnosed with a mild aspergers. I know theres no "cure" sort of speak, but i wanted to know cause it explained a lot of who i am. He said to list the things that brought me trouble in my everyday life and he would refer me to whatever therapy was best. Im glad I decided to go, I feel understood and I understand myself better now. I think thats the advantage you can get out of actually persuing a diagnosis.

Yar you sound Aspie to me I found out at 39 simply because my sisters started having Aspergers children and they wanted to know where it was coming from. I did a bit more analysis and realised it was staring me in the face all along. I actually enjoy the diagnosis after the initial shock because I was getting v tired of being told I was arrogant (by total strangers who knew nothing about me, as if that isn't an arrogant thing to do). The biggest thing is it helped me with was all the odd meaningless little behaviours that I never understood- echolalia, sensory overload, walking on my toes, anxiety attacks etc
I wouldn't bother with a doctor to be honest; they're expensive and tell you what you already know. Change your life if it isn't working; if you're regularly being run out of villages by angry crowds holding pitchforks and torches (the burning kind) then yeah you may need to do some behavioural adjusting. Personally I'd see a behavioural psychologist for that. If things are basically ok (you don't sound ready to throw yourself off a bridge) maybe just kick back and enjoy the ride; you're amongst other Aspies so if it gets bad you do have other people to talk to.

A very special Welkome to WrongPlanet, with a K.

The WP Kink

Hi Gothstone--welcome to Wrong Planet!

Knowing I have Aspergers allows me to better understand NTs--because we think differently we can't expect others to see the obvious, nor can we necessarily see what others think is obvious. This insight has made conversations much smoother. Also, NTs think in approximate terms, while Aspies are much more literal.

I have found that minor changes to accommodate NTs to be quite helpful--they are the majority, after all. For instance, dressing well automatically means you are intelligent to most NTs, so you don't have waste time educating them that you are really smart. This can be quite useful in work settings.

BTDT

Welcome!

Greetings, Gothstone, and welcome aboard the WP.

Hi Gothstone,

Welcome to the club. Earlier this year, I mentioned my AS to another guy on a techie list, and he wrote back that he'd looked up the term and realized that he had gone 50 years without knowing he had it too.

The clinical trials of Anti-Depressants mostly used sugar pills for the control group. Some used a random selection of psychoactive drugs of no known value, since the controls on sugar pills figured out which group they were in. Those tests showed no difference between groups - anything to get you thinking differently and talking about it works just as well. However, the real anti-depressants can cause violent episodes or suicide. I've been attacked twice by people using them, and no other people.

I was dx'ed with another autism spectrum disorder about 5 months ago, and so it can be a shock realizing that you won't /never have been 'normal'

I saw someone who was trained in diagnosing autism spectrum disorders and getting that formal diagnosis helps in case of medical needs such as getting meds to control symptoms (in my case anxiety).

It's also nice to know that you're not alone in your struggles and also there are some good role-models on this forum and elsewhere with Aspergers / Autism spectrum disorders that can help guide you also.