Everything I know about me that's relevant............

Just collated this list..........honestly I will stop thinking about it soon & getting it down here will help get my mind off it (stops me worrying that I'll forget something!).

Still haven't had official confirmation of my ADOS date (told by phone last week that it's mid July) but will be glad to get it done.

Still can't imagine how ADOS will fill in the gaps, as it focusses on Social aspects rather than RRBs ..................

  • Suggestive of positive DX for Autism
    • Confirmed by NHS diagnostic report:
      • Qualitative impairments in in social and emotional reciprocity and sustaining relationships.
      • Definite difference in sensory sensitivity across Tactile, Taste, Smell, Visual / Auditory and Auditory Filtering.
      • Problems with sensory integration
      • Fleeting limited eye contact & lacked normal eye contact as a child
      • Flat tone of voice
      • Complex head / vocal / eye tics as a child (sniffing, grunting, blinking, head shaking)
      • Known as a "little professor" at primary school (I would correct teachers when they got scientific facts wrong)
      • AQ 41 (T>32), CBS 7 (T<30),
    • Circumstantial / corroborative signs:
      • EQ 16 (T<30),  RAADS-R 145, Aspie Quiz 129ND/86NT
      • Score on the RBQ2a (a new standardised self-report on Restricted and Repetitive behaviours in Adults) is 1.6. This is 0.53 standard deviations away from the ASD score in the reference, and 1.84 standard deviations away from the NT score.

      • Alexithymia
      • Aphantasia
      • Poor Affective Empathy
      • Take statements literally & rarely “read between the lines”. Find intentions hard to perceive.
      • Focus on self & little interest in others.
      • Perseveration & perfectionism
      • Succession of solo, technical hobbies often recurring
      • Chronic anxiety & depression both driven by obsessive rumination
      • Need for certainty; anxiety produced by uncertainty
      • Strong preference for routine (avoid holidays & events, same lunch every day at work)
      • Burnout after working with people
      • Alert to mistakes in detail
      • Skin picking, leg bouncing, chest rubbing
      • Unconscious / conscious throat / nose noises (grunting/snorting/sniffing)
      • Seek refuge in “flow” state through hobbies & interests & creative & abstract thoughts
      • Logophilia (I so wish I had studied Latin at school!)
      • Executive function problems; working memory, planning, impulse control, directing attention
      • Mild synaesthesia
      • Palinopsia
      • Breech birth
      • Sleep paralysis
  • Suggestive of negative DX for Autism:
    • Noted by NHS diagnostic report:
      • Good facial expressions and expressive hand gestures
      • Don’t appear to have difficulty with receptive expression
      • Insufficient evidence of Stereotyped and/or Repetitive Behaviours
      • Unable to determine significant difficulties around rigidity and adhering to routine
      • SCQ score = 11 (T>16)
    • No Prosopagnosia
    • Good judge of character (noted by colleagues)
    • Good Cognitive Empathy & theory of mind
    • Good fine motor skills
    • Good “big picture” / context thinking

EDIT 5th June 2019 - added a few extras to the list and decided I'm going to print out and show my GP when I see her later this month...........

Parents
  • Can I just clarify: Even though you do have routines (as you've stated) because they don't cause significant difficulties it's been dismissed as a symptom of autism? Avoiding going on holiday or certain events and even eating the same thing everyday seems significant to me? If you're able to accommodate and adapt to changes in routine is it not through learnt behaviour through years of masking?

    Original Prankster makes a valid point too

Reply
  • Can I just clarify: Even though you do have routines (as you've stated) because they don't cause significant difficulties it's been dismissed as a symptom of autism? Avoiding going on holiday or certain events and even eating the same thing everyday seems significant to me? If you're able to accommodate and adapt to changes in routine is it not through learnt behaviour through years of masking?

    Original Prankster makes a valid point too

Children
  • Yes is appears so. Several times in my clinical interview I was asked "But you *could* do it?" when asked about things like changes in routine that would cause me anxiety and stress. It's almost like you have to present as inflexibly as a mechanical robot with hard limits for the symptoms to count.

    So the fact that I can *force* myself to sit in a noisy pub beyond the point where I would naturally choose to leave means that I'm not limited by my aversion to chaotic noise. The fact that I *can* tear myself away from my isolated hobby to socialise with unexpected house guests means that my inner yearning to get back to my solitary thoughts isn't relevant.

    This strikes me as not recognising the huge effort needed to comply, that has led on a couple of occasions to burnout. 

    Because I've learned to cope, I have no problems (rolleyes).