• Replies 10 replies
  • Subscribers 79 subscribers
  • Views 1923 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

Do I have Autism?

Tulip52

Hello I have just joined the site, i am 52 years of age and think I may have autism. Last week I had a melt down! I was due to go on holiday. The night before I took my dog to the boarding kennels and broke my heart and was unconsolable! I didn't go on my holiday that I had so been looking forward to. This brought on a conversation with a collegue who discretky mentioned autism. I looked up on this and everything started to fall into place. Briefly my childhood was sad, traumatic and emotional. I spent some time I don't know how long, in foster care and a childrens home with my brother. I don't remember much of my childhood. during my teenage years I was disruptive at school, spent a lot of time on my own, played truant. I refused to go to school for my mum for approx 3 months when I was about 14 years. I wasn't naughty but stayed at gone tidying up . I recall constantly washing my hands for a period. I had an image and a weird sensation of sleeping on boards, and can sometimes occasionally experience this now. I cut all my hair off to be like the boys! I left school with 2 gcse's, knowing I could have done better and regretted it. I worked hard, always wanting to do a perfect job. I seemed to learn What people expected of me. I became promiscuous, thinking that this was the only way I could be close to someone. I could not recognise when someone truly liked me. I was often on my own. I went from one job to another! Continueing to live a destructive life but always in employment. In alcohol I would break my heart crying in public and could become angry in alahol. I have struggled with depression, low self esteem, obsessive thoughts all my life. Struggled to cope with demands and changes in my life and unexpected occurrences. I am articulate, very caring and supportive. My head feels full! Foggy! My memory is poor and I struggle to retain information! I have highs and lows and cannot hide my emotions. I have never married and had no children. I have few friends and most of my relationships with men have been based around sex. It's as though this is what is exoected of me. I went to see my doctor yesterday, she was very supportive and is going to refer me to the mental health team. However, I am concerned that they will dismiss me as they have in the past. Something is not right! Why do I feel different? I am a strong minded person. What do you think From reading this? I would appreciate your advice. Many thanks 

Parents
  • Former Member
    Former Member

    People with autism tend to be poor negotiators and we resort to confrontation and complaining too quickly for our own good and this tends to alienate and then undermine whatever we are trying to achieve. I know this from personal experience! Will a complaint actually achieve your goal or will it just attempt to make a point?

    If you want to go the private route then you should let the GP identify a diagnostic service rather than you finding one yourself and trying to get the GP to refer. You may not be able to identify the right service yourself or you may end up trying to persuade the GP to refer your brother to a service that the GP doesn't know or that they don't want to refer your brother to.

    Given that your GP is supportive and has referred you to the MH team then you could follow this through to see how it goes and then your brother might be able to follow your example. If you did this then you might be in a better informed position to help him navigate the system again. If you get a diagnosis, or at least a recognition that you have significant traits, then this should make it easier for your brother as they recognise how this runs in families.

Reply
  • Former Member
    Former Member

    People with autism tend to be poor negotiators and we resort to confrontation and complaining too quickly for our own good and this tends to alienate and then undermine whatever we are trying to achieve. I know this from personal experience! Will a complaint actually achieve your goal or will it just attempt to make a point?

    If you want to go the private route then you should let the GP identify a diagnostic service rather than you finding one yourself and trying to get the GP to refer. You may not be able to identify the right service yourself or you may end up trying to persuade the GP to refer your brother to a service that the GP doesn't know or that they don't want to refer your brother to.

    Given that your GP is supportive and has referred you to the MH team then you could follow this through to see how it goes and then your brother might be able to follow your example. If you did this then you might be in a better informed position to help him navigate the system again. If you get a diagnosis, or at least a recognition that you have significant traits, then this should make it easier for your brother as they recognise how this runs in families.

Children
No Data