• Replies 1 reply
  • Subscribers 81 subscribers
  • Views 1077 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Hi, do you think I could be autistic?

orangellama

Hi there, I have just joined this forum because I feel that I might be autistic and was hoping to ask for people’s opinions. I have often wondered this in the past, but some recent events have made me want to find out for sure. I think I might be autistic because:

  • I’m always accidentally interrupting people. Even when I’m trying to listen and have a flowing conversation, I find myself interrupting people accidentally, just due to ‘bad timing’.
  • Apparently when I get super into a conversation, I put up a ‘wall of words’ (i.e. go on and on without giving anyone the chance to interject)
  • This is also embarrassing, but even though I’m 26 I’m terrible at dealing with any confrontation, especially with my family. Arguments with my parents often rapidly escalate to shouting matches and generally leave me in tears. It often feels like, by the time I even realize an argument is afoot, it’s already too late to escape it!
  • I get stressed by the smallest tasks. Like, I’m generally good at the jobs I do, but then the smallest little thing will stress me out, like taking rubbish to the recycling bins when I don’t know where they are or something like that.
  • I will sit on small tasks. I have no trouble completing coursework, regular work etc, but I’ll take six months working up to cancelling a phone contract or filling in a form or something. If anyone could actually see how much money I’ve wasted and how many opportunities I’ve jeopardized because I delayed silly little tasks, I’d be super embarrassed!
  • Although I always got good grades in school, I have always struggled in the workplace. I often feel that I make a good impression during the first couple of weeks, and then people will start to get frustrated with me over small tasks, and I struggle to make work friends.
  • I have quite a lot of autistic friends, which makes me think that I find it easier to get on with autistic people
  • I definitely struggled more when I was a kid and would spend months without friends, or struggling to make friends, if I joined a new school. Even when I had friends, I would often find myself sitting silently with the group but not really joining in the conversation.
  • I have bad anxiety, which can apparently be associated with autism.

But I’m not sure I’m autistic because I don’t fit all of the stereotypical criteria listed online. For example:

  • I don’t struggle to read facial expressions and am generally comfortable with eye contact
  • Although I prefer quiet activities, I can go to a club or a concert with my friends without feeling overwhelmed or overstimulated
  • I don’t really keep to a routine in any aspect of my life. If anything, the opposite is true: I tend to move around a lot and have had many different jobs in the last few years.

What do you think? Could I be autistic, or do I just have anxiety about certain things? Would really appreciate anybody's thoughts!

Parents

  • Welcome to the forum.

    I would say that it's definitely worth you looking into it further. I was diagnosed a few years ago in middle age, and every one of your "might be" points would be equally true of me. And the "stereotypical criteria" are exactly that - just stereotypes. Not every autistic person will behave in those ways, or they may have found ways to cope with or disguise them during childhood which they're not even aware that they're using ("masking"). It's also pretty hard to judge for ourselves how good we are at recognising facial expressions etc., because what seems good enough for our own purposes may still not be the same as for other people, or we may have learned to achieve the same end results in a different way than would be typical (e.g. more by brain power than by instinct). To give you one counter-example; even though I often do struggle immensely with distracting sounds, I was still able to play bass guitar and drums in punk bands years ago!

    On the other hand, there are other conditions which might appear similar. Most of the traits you've listed could fall under the category of "executive functioning" - the bit of the brain used for planning and carrying out actions. Executive functioning differences are common in autism, but also in AD(H)D (which may be "primarly inattentive"; so without hyperactivity). Indeed, there's a big overlap between these two conditions (or possibly, many people have both, depending how you look at it). There's also a concept called the "Broader Autism Phenotype" (BAP), which includes people who have some autistic traits, but not all of those necessary for a diagnosis.

    The next step I suggest is to take a look at these two self-assessment tests...

    Those are both designed to be filled out yourself without any prompting, and are often used within the NHS for screening purposes - they're not just fooling around for internet hypochondriacs! Of course, on their own, they're not enough to know for sure, but they should give you a reasonable indication of whether it's worth proceeding to a formal diagnosis, and might provide useful evidence to present to your GP if you decide to do that.

    Also, hang around here some more, and do some research on blogs etc. written by autistic people. The "experts" often have quite a blinkered view of autism - it is much, much more than just the formal diagnostic criteria. Getting to know more about it from people who live autistic lives will be a much better guide to what traits you may or may not have, as you'll see the whole picture, and just how different we can be from each other.

    And whatever you decide - you're welcome here to discuss things further. Common experiences and useful advice are much more important to us than people's official diagnoses.

    Best wishes.

Reply

  • Welcome to the forum.

    I would say that it's definitely worth you looking into it further. I was diagnosed a few years ago in middle age, and every one of your "might be" points would be equally true of me. And the "stereotypical criteria" are exactly that - just stereotypes. Not every autistic person will behave in those ways, or they may have found ways to cope with or disguise them during childhood which they're not even aware that they're using ("masking"). It's also pretty hard to judge for ourselves how good we are at recognising facial expressions etc., because what seems good enough for our own purposes may still not be the same as for other people, or we may have learned to achieve the same end results in a different way than would be typical (e.g. more by brain power than by instinct). To give you one counter-example; even though I often do struggle immensely with distracting sounds, I was still able to play bass guitar and drums in punk bands years ago!

    On the other hand, there are other conditions which might appear similar. Most of the traits you've listed could fall under the category of "executive functioning" - the bit of the brain used for planning and carrying out actions. Executive functioning differences are common in autism, but also in AD(H)D (which may be "primarly inattentive"; so without hyperactivity). Indeed, there's a big overlap between these two conditions (or possibly, many people have both, depending how you look at it). There's also a concept called the "Broader Autism Phenotype" (BAP), which includes people who have some autistic traits, but not all of those necessary for a diagnosis.

    The next step I suggest is to take a look at these two self-assessment tests...

    Those are both designed to be filled out yourself without any prompting, and are often used within the NHS for screening purposes - they're not just fooling around for internet hypochondriacs! Of course, on their own, they're not enough to know for sure, but they should give you a reasonable indication of whether it's worth proceeding to a formal diagnosis, and might provide useful evidence to present to your GP if you decide to do that.

    Also, hang around here some more, and do some research on blogs etc. written by autistic people. The "experts" often have quite a blinkered view of autism - it is much, much more than just the formal diagnostic criteria. Getting to know more about it from people who live autistic lives will be a much better guide to what traits you may or may not have, as you'll see the whole picture, and just how different we can be from each other.

    And whatever you decide - you're welcome here to discuss things further. Common experiences and useful advice are much more important to us than people's official diagnoses.

    Best wishes.

Children
No Data