• Replies 47 replies
  • Subscribers 97 subscribers
  • Views 2905 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

What confirmed your own autism suspicions?

Violetfred

Hello, I am very new to all this, so please forgive any faux-pa's I make regarding post-etiquette. 

I am awaiting autism  diagnosis on the NHS. I have read up extensively on the classic signs, but I am curious what specifically confirmed it for you.¹ I have made many analogies to people over the years, as I have struggled to find a cause for what I believe is behind my decades-long battle with anxiety and depression. I am 52 years old

It is like you are walking around in a big spacesuit. You can perform basic tasks but are unable to interact with people on an intimate level. They see you, but are unaware you are in this suit. It's frustrating, as you can see people living their lives, while you can only watch. 

This is the best description of how I feel and it is a desperately lonely place to be. I often contemplate the point of it all when It seems an impossible problem to conquer in an ever increasingly complicated world.

Apologies for the ramble, but it would be nice to know I'm not alone.

Parents

  • Hi and welcome to the forum.

    Scoring 42 on the AQ50 test was a huge clue, but joining this community and finding out that there were others who thought and acted like I did was the biggest confirmation.

    I understand the spacesuit analogy, and being unable to really connect with most people. My analogies are Star Trek ones (another big clue to my autistic nature, ha ha!) I think that neurotypical people have this understanding of each other that is almost like the hive mind of the Borg, but we're not connected into it so we have no idea what they might be thinking or feeling. Plus there are many of us who shut down our emotions due to experiencing them overwhelmingly strongly, leaving us dealing in facts and figures and practical solutions, and making us appear a bit like we're Vulcan.

  • in reply to Lotus

    I love that analogy! Thank you so much for sharing this!

Reply Children
  • in reply to Emmalephant

     well said. the data analogy was maybe a bit clunky. the last thing i want to say is that we're androids (haha) i meant it in the sense of someone who is uniquely different, striving to understand everyone else (and in some situations, being baffled) in my case, thinking i am not enough of a person to warrant someone else investing the time in ME. that i am not worth the effort.

  • in reply to Iain
    Iain said:
    In essence maybe Data is actually a good comparison, but it is just many neurotypicals who won't understand the nuance of the reference.

    That’s exactly what I mean. Many know the “robo-character” Mr Data, but only people who actually watched his era know, what he actually embodies.

  • in reply to Emmalephant
    Emmalephant said:
    I just don’t like people thinking something like “they don’t have feeling, they don’t have any empathy” or something like that

    In Star Trek, was it the case that Data didn't have feelings or empathy though?

    I though it was more a case of he was developing these and his connection to them was being explored with the help of others - very much like the autists who have issues in connecting with their emotions and/or empathy.

    I recall my theraist explaing to me that autists were often more empathetic than neurotypicals although we often didn't understand it ourselves.

    Maybe if more of us had a bigger group of friends we would find it easier to find the input to explore and understand this.

    In essence maybe Data is actually a good comparison, but it is just many neurotypicals who won't understand the nuance of the reference.

  • in reply to Iain

    I just don’t like people thinking something like “they don’t have feeling, they don’t have any empathy” or something like that. That’s just not true for many. But for anyone that does know the character Data a bit better it could still be a fitting analogy since he is nothing like that.

  • in reply to Emmalephant
    Emmalephant said:
    I would bring up Data, but I feel like that would feed stereotypes of autistic people being “robotic”

    Is it a stereotype if that has been your experience of many other autists though?

    I meet with quite a lot of neurodivergent people through volunteering and there is a pronounced increase in this behaviour compared to neurotypicals so it is my experience based on a sample of maybe 60-70 autists.

  • in reply to Emmalephant

    I would bring up Data, but I feel like that would feed stereotypes of autistic people being “robotic” (although we all know he’s a highly sensitive android with the purest artificial heart).