Published on 12, July, 2020
So I was Diagnosed with HF ASD Sub-type in 2015 (16yo at the time, 18yo).
I am being reassessed again hopefully before september as I am going to universiy, to study psychology, coincidentally.
So I was given the AQ and EQ tests, a well being test an what appears to be an ADHD screening test.
I have already done the AQ and EQ, SQ and Reading The Mind in The Eyes
AQ: 34/50
EQ: 76/80
SQ: 123/150
RTMiTE: 35/36
So clearly my autism is a strange presentation, I look online and there is nothing, just lack of empathy, lack of TOM, and I have all these, no I have these and they work better than most NTs!
Well my friend, my only friend that is. Countless times accuses me of being psychic, and I mean no I am certainly not, I am just a little unnerving sometimes, especially when it is over the phone or messages, and I know and "hit the nail right on the head". I get told I do that a lot. When I was in secondary school I was always withdrawn and shy, and awkward. All my teachers picked up on my Empathy, it's depth, how I could assume anyone's perspective. One of my Teacher was also head of the Schools Gifted/Talented Programme, they picked up on the empathy, It is almost as if I am gifted in Empathy, and I mean I am mediocre at Maths, at written language, I'm not exactly spatially aware. However, everything has been pooled in abstract/conceptual reasoning and Theory of Mind. I think very laterally, not because I choose to, but because I can't think any other way, I approach engineering problems by thinking about how different engineers think how to do it. For example, or what is the nature of our ability to reason these problems and why has this created a bridge in this shape, irrelevant of the physical constraints?
I mean I do have ASD associated symptoms, I have trouble reciprocating social behaviour, not because I don't understand social interaction but because I am so overwhelmed by it. I was never an innocent child, not one point in my childhood was I not painfully aware of the nature of the people around me, people's eyes are terrifying pits where if I gaze to long than I lose myself for a couple of days, they can also be the most beautiful thing in the world, genuine. I catch myself thinking and acting like people who are not me, and I have to fight back to myself. So eye-contact and socially engaged behaviour is best avoided, I mean of course I function socially, but I can't or won't put myself any further. I also miss a few social cues, because usually I am not facing the person, but is this anymore than the average person?
I am also very hypersensitive, to light, to sound and to olfactory stimuli. I should also note my interests are fairly narrow, being psychology, forensic psychology... so not too narrow, more like very broad. I suppose Neuroscience and Medical stuff are also areas of interest, originally I wanted to be a doctor but my mental health slashed my A-levels down to 3Bs so I am studying psychology instead, get qualified in the relevant area, maybe teach when I most definitely will burn out.
My mannerism are awkward, I am aloof and I am blunt, because I would rather be seperate from people, unless I care about them, and then I might become too attached, I end up blurring with them.
Coincedentally, my humour is dry as a bone, and too sarcastic that even I lose track of the sarcasm occasionally! and I love animals, most of the day is spent talking to my pets right now.
My friend and I were watching Hannibal (TV show) and Will Graham, she accused me of being on a TV show, becoming an actor, I am on the other side of the uncanny valley for this character, haha my dog decided this was the opportune time to jump in between us... So now I was amazed myself because finally a human being who's mind was directly identifiable as like-me. No Empathy needed, I didn't have to leave my mind to understand the characters. Now I have to watch the show routinely otherwise I convince myself I am all sorts of things I am not.
But of Course they are a fictional character, and long nights of searching the internet, research and blogs and books I have found no one quite like me and like the character Will Graham, I wish I could be like most people with aspergers sometimes. I don't want to change who I am, I just want people to say I am autistic for sure, or no I am not. If I can get over the hurdle of accepting how I think, who I am, then I can make myself feel better.
Hi Northern Geek - reading your two posts, I feel a lot in common with you. I'm a mid-fifties male, recently diagnosed with Asperger's, originally from Bolton (now live in the south-west). I've always had depression but refuse to take antidepressants - they made me feel worse - and I found CBT unhelpful; that was in the 1990s, long before I was diagnosed with autism.
In my case, Asperger's was never raised by any medics and it took 10 years of my pushing GPs for an assessment - yet the autism specialist told me it was obvious I had it within a few minutes! I don't think I fit the media stereotype either; I've little interest in science or maths (though I do have a good memory for numbers and dates if they interest me). I'm quite outspoken and have a dry, ironic sense of humour. The other day I noticed that our house number is the same as the quantity of sausages in our freezer!
My partner often tells me that I'm a very good judge of character, though maybe that's because I always look for the flaws (including my own). I excel at picking up on inconsistencies in other people's opinions or "stories" - he thinks I would have made a good barrister! I too loathed Blair for the same reason; he struck me as an opportunist long before he became PM. But I've little respect for politics generally; I think of it as the art of not telling the truth without actually lying. (Well, not usually.)
When I was a CAB volunteer, I was trained to look at the client's mouth, as I find eye contact so difficult, especially when I'm the one speaking (I find eyes very distracting).
The AS diagnosis hasn't really helped me, except to explain the past. Like you, I grew up when nobody in Britain really knew about Asperger's. At school I did very well academically and teachers didn't seem bothered by the fact I didn't have any friends.
How do you cope with your tinnitus? For the last few years, this has increased my depression as I can no longer experience silence or enjoy quiet music. I wear hearing aids, which are supposed to help, but only of course when there are sounds that they can amplify - and, as my audiologist acknowledges, they are useless for music. Noise generators are almost as distracting as the tinnitus, though I use one at night to cover traffic noise (I have chronic insomnia). I see a tinnitus therapist every few months but there's no practical treatment; it's really just a nice chat with a sympathetic lady.
(Sorry to have hijacked this thread, but PMs are not possible on this site.)