Could I be autistic? Not medical advice just seeking opinions.

Good luck to you too.

Im starting to realize that I MIGHT have some of the common symptoms, but to a way lesser extent it seems. I also don't have enough life experience in some areas to know those things about myself and I cant always remember what the past was like.

I might be missing alot tho so ill give it some time.

I thought I only minded change if it were something social, like moving schools, which I contributed to social anxiety, but one thing I've found is that I've been wearing clothes off of the same 2 brands for years now, and just recently I've brought the same exact shoes to replace my old ones. But I feel like that's normal? Anyways I don't really have enough life experience to know if change really bothers me.

Another example is with routines - I barely use any routine now - only a small routine like setting 30m to shower in the evening, an hour to watch a film and then an hour to read - and didnt when I was younger, but thats because I have no life, nothing to do. 

There was a period however where I was pretty fixated on routines but that could have been for any other reason. I do like the idea of routines but not any more than other people I think.

Another example is with having obsessive or weird interests - I don't have any obsessive or weird interests but the truth is that I don't have and haven't had any interests at all for the longest time because I was so absorbed in screens. I did at one point tho like the idea of having certain niche interests, like paranormal stuff, heraldry etc but never actually did anything with it.

I've never been obsessed with any interest since like I said I never really got the chance to have an interest at all, or atleast to be absorbed in one, but I do currently feel like I need to have strong interests because I have no life or personality. I would definitely get obsessive with some interests like films, reading etc if I had the chance to. Currently in kind of a bad spot so im not really engaging in any of that.

Another example would be gathering information on certain things - I did in the past try to learn certain subjects and I remember just creating folders in my pc and dumping any information about it in a catagorized way in those folders, e.g a folder for fitness, a folder for self improvement and so on. That went awfully wrong tho.

I like the idea of gathering info, and at some point I've made a list of things I'd like to know about like tree types, bird species, flower types etc but never actually got to it.

Hi

I am also undiagnosed atm and age 49. I’m now ready to go to my gp to get a right to choose pathway. I have managed this for my son and we have a 3-6 month wait now which is great. I needed to get this for him before I thought about myself. I don’t know if this might help you at all but I decided to do a profile of myself over a number of months. As I have masked all my life I too was dismissive of traits and doubted myself even though I’ve always known I’m different. So from only having 3 or 4 things in my list I now have over 40.  Have spent the last 6 months researching, asking my parents questions and going through my past in great detail and making notes. I think that this profile I have done will help me in my assessment personally as I struggle to retain information and forget things easily even if it is something I’m very knowledgeable about or a special interest. Basically my brain struggles to keep up when in conversation (not always but when I feel pressured) so I write things down and keep diary’s. I’m quite sure I’m ADHD also which was a shock to me as well. If I am diagnosed I intend to be proud and open about who I am and not try to keep everyone else happy which has basically been my life story right from a child. I am prepared to say goodbye to people in my life who choose not to understand or be interested in understanding and I’m okay with that. In some ways I feel like I have wasted a large proportion of my life not being my true self which does make me sad but we must look ahead and not back. 
I do hope you find what your looking for and also hope that you can accept the outcome and live your life how you truly intend.

Good luck  

I've watched one or two videos already and didn't seem to have most of the symptoms, but I'll keep looking into it, thanks.

Hi, I dismissed being autistic 10 years before I was diagnosed because I didn'y have some common things like reactions to lights and smells.ASD symptoms vary wideley and you should get an opinion from your GP. You certianally have many ASD traits. Do some reasearch, there are several Youtube channels that helped me decide if I had ASD.

I suggest taking care before dismissing anything.  In my case, my abusive childhood led me to being VERY emotionally repressed - I am alexithymic (inability to feel or identify my emotions).  This masks a number of autistic traits - I basically lived in a state of shutdown for 40 years.  Only now that I am starting to recover from the abuse am I starting to have the emotional toll of some of my autistic traits become apparent.

NAS92080 said:

My point is, is it possible for a person to have autism without exhibiting most of the common symptoms? 

Possible? Yes

Probable? Not so much.

Autism is a fairly arbitary label assigned to those who have sufficient neurodivergent traits at a serious enough level to be in need of being labelled as disabled.

There are plenty of others who have neurodivergent traits at different levels of severity where these may or may not impact their quality of life but who do not meet the criteria for autism.

From what you describe you could be one of these (it sounds like this is a much larger percentage of the population than who are classed as autistic.

As a point of etiquette, I would recommend that you use the following conventions:

1 - you don't "have" autism, you "are" autistic.  It isn't an illness but a permanent state.

2 - you don't have "symptoms", you have "traits" as the word symptom refers to an illness which autism isn't.

This is to help you phrase things in a more accurate way in future.

Looking at the traits you mention, there are indeed some that align with autism but plenty more are more  common with gen-Z in general so it will be difficult to assess without using proper autism test.

Got it. I see that I don't really have most of the commons symptoms, I dont mind change unless things get worse in a way or its outside of my social comfort zone ( e.g. moving schools ) , I don't have any weird interests, I dont have any strict routines ( I do remember being fixated on routines for a bit in the past, when I had a life and things to do, but I don't think its related to autism, I was just being a perfectionist at the time. ) etc

My point is, is it possible for a person to have autism without exhibiting most of the common symptoms? 

Iain said:

Don't take anyones advice here in it - do an online test, be honest in your responses and the result should give much more accuracy than any of the keyboard warriors here.

You mean all the 'keyboard warriors' who have all said, "do your own study and seek a diagnosis" ... lol

NAS92080 said:

Do you think it is likely I have autism based on the symptoms that I have listed alone? Or is it not enough to even assume

Don't take anyones advice here in it - do an online test, be honest in your responses and the result should give much more accuracy than any of the keyboard warriors here.

There is a free, non profit organisation supplied autism test here:

https://www.thevividmind.org/blog/test/autism-test-online/

Make notes on the results of this (maybe some screen shots) and read up on autistic traits to see which you exhibit (write them all down, especially how your traits exhibit themselves) and supply this info to your GP.

Your GP may well lack much knowledge of autism so having this info should make them realise that you are better informed and will use this to justify the referral.

I have heard that waiting lists are between 3 and 5 years at the moment so once a referral is confirmed, ask your GP for the "right to choose" which means the right to chose a private referal company that the GP pays for - that should bring the referal time down to less than a year or even less depending on which county you are in.

Being autistic and having suffered childhood trauma often go hand in hand. We put our "difficulties"down to our childhood experiences. I am of the opinion that is only part of it. You have had a difficult time and its good that you are seeking some insight. I wish i had understood myself better when i was younger. If it were me and kniwing what i know now, i woukd definatly seek a diagnosis and an opportunity to talk to some one about it x

While I am not going to diagnose, it is certainly possible.  I too have light sensitivity and a sensitivity to certain smells and textures.  
As I say, there are youtube videos hat go though the criteria.  Take some time to write out everything hat you believe fits with each of the criteria for autism and cptsd and make you own decision.   by the time you have completed that process you will be more knowledgeable that your GP on the subject, and also the fact that you can present them with a whole pile of notes and symptoms (and school reports etc) adds weight to the fact that you have a real difficulty that needs to be dealt with.  

Thanks for the feedback .

Do you think it is likely I have autism based on the symptoms that I have listed alone? Or is it not enough to even assume

cptsd and autism do have significant overlap in the symptoms, but either way, your life will be better if you can get some help and therapy.  Either therapy to deal with your childhood issues (I am doing this now at 50 after a blighted life) but also guidance on how best to manage autistic issues (assuming you have autism). 
I suggest writing everything down you can think of ... Go though the diagnostic criteria for cptsd and autism (there are great videos on youtube) and list everything out that applies to each of the criteria.  You will find that you need to teach your doctor about what autism and cptsd look like - this is why it is important to list your issues under the headings of the diagnostic criteria.
If you review the videos on youtube, you will notice many other things that you thought were 'normal' that are not ... things that you do that are typical of autistic people, rather than the general population.

There are also online assessments you can do .... do all of them and include the results!

GOOD LUCK!

You're best contacting your GP and asking for a referral, you should also check what mental health services the NHS offers locally to you.

If you postpone dealing with problems and cover it up with the word "hope", all that awaits you is an empty reality.