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Struggling through life

MooHippy
over 6 years ago

Hi, I’m new to the forum. 

I’ve always been different from the crowd and have suffered from depression all my life. I’m 41 and work in a fairly demanding job, but I struggle socially and I struggle with dealing with life. 

I recently watched Chris Packham talking about his autism, and although I’ve thought I may have aspergers for a while, some of the things he spoke about hit a chord with me. I’m very ritualistic when I do things regularly. I choose to have no friends as I find people so demanding. I find work absolutely drains me of energy. I don’t go out socialising. I crave time alone and spend a lot of time alone. People, mainly my family, don’t understand how I see the world... the list goes on. 

For the record, I don’t have a boyfriend, have never even been engaged and I don’t have children, so it’s safe to say I’m a fairly unsuccessful human being. 

I went to my doctor a couple of weeks ago to ask about getting a diagnosis and he told me the NHS will only diagnose people up to the age of 19, so I’m well out of that age range. 

Can anyone give me any advice of direction as to what I might be able to do next? I need to find a reason for my weirdness (I went to an art university and was weird even by their standards)

thanks in advance... 

Parents
  • over 6 years ago

    Hi MooHippy,

    I was diagnosed by the NHS at 48 years of age - that was 2 years ago.  My GP arranged it all, which was brilliant.

    I am exactly like you and the more I found out about ASD, the more it struck a chord. I did an online assessment test and achieved the top score so I thought I'd better ask my GP for the test.   I saw a really lovely NHS consultant who conducted the ADOS test and I was then diagnosed with ASD.  I struggled in school as I was seen as a weird kid and the school teachers just thought I was lazy and unmotivated - Autism wasn't recognised then and I just had to muddle through.  I hated the sheer size of the school, the noise, the disruptive pupils, the playground aggression and violence, and unsympathetic teachers.

    I think that here isn't enough emphasis and support for newly diagnosed adults: the ones whose ASD was not recognised when they were children.  All the emphasis and support seems to be geared towards children with ASD, and newly diagnosed ASD adults just have to 'get on with it.'  Social Care is unsympathetic and told me I have to be physically disabled to receive any support from them.  Without my very loving and supportive family, I would be lost completely. 

Reply
  • over 6 years ago

    Hi MooHippy,

    I was diagnosed by the NHS at 48 years of age - that was 2 years ago.  My GP arranged it all, which was brilliant.

    I am exactly like you and the more I found out about ASD, the more it struck a chord. I did an online assessment test and achieved the top score so I thought I'd better ask my GP for the test.   I saw a really lovely NHS consultant who conducted the ADOS test and I was then diagnosed with ASD.  I struggled in school as I was seen as a weird kid and the school teachers just thought I was lazy and unmotivated - Autism wasn't recognised then and I just had to muddle through.  I hated the sheer size of the school, the noise, the disruptive pupils, the playground aggression and violence, and unsympathetic teachers.

    I think that here isn't enough emphasis and support for newly diagnosed adults: the ones whose ASD was not recognised when they were children.  All the emphasis and support seems to be geared towards children with ASD, and newly diagnosed ASD adults just have to 'get on with it.'  Social Care is unsympathetic and told me I have to be physically disabled to receive any support from them.  Without my very loving and supportive family, I would be lost completely. 

Children
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