Is diagnosis as an adult worth looking in to?

I thought some more about this and decided I would say some more about myself. I might get some benefit just out of doing it even if no one else does or no one responds.

I had another look at the test, made some adjustments and came up with a different score - 7. I lost a point for number 2 as I feel I cannot really say that I concentrate more on the whole picture than the details or vice versa. I picked up a point for number 7 and 10 because, when I thought abot it, I am not good at all at working out people's intentions in a story or in real life.

What very little success I have had in life came from my ability to focus, absorb facts and apply them and ignoring aspects of my life that I can't handle too well, such as people.

I had girlfriends before I met my wife, but never for very long and they always dropped me, although some still remained friends but in a distant, almost caring, way. I could never work out what I was doing wrong or why those who remained friends, did so even when they didn't want to be my girlfriends.

My wife and I worked in the same Department of a local authority. I did pays and she had to do her team's timesheet and send it to me and she was always late with it so I always had to chase her up. Our first 'date' wasn't a date at all. We both wanted to see a film that no one else wanted to see so we went to see it together. That was 45 years ago.

Despite the facts that I have always been aware I had problems and my nephew was diagnosed as autistic as a small child - he is now 22, I made no connection between the two. Partly, it was because he was diagnosed around the time of the MMR scare and also there were other reasons, in my upbringing, that I blamed for my problems.

I learned in recent years that my granddaughters had cognitive issues. One has difficulty 'receiving' instruction given to the class. The teacher has to make sure that she has my granddaughter's attention or my granddaughter quickly loses touch with what the class is doing. She will always have that problem, has been Statemented and attends a special class, part time to help her cope with it. In all other aspects she is very quick and intelligent. Her elder sister has been identified with a related but different problem but at a lower level and gets some one to one help in school. Otherwise, she is also bright and intelligent. Their mother, my daughter, has a Ph.D. in biological sciences.

Even knowing about my granddaughters' problems did not change my perceptions.

It was only when I had a long chat with my sister, the mother of my autistic nephew, a few weeks ago and she pointed out things about the wider family that I began to wonder. She has four children. A son and daughter by her first husband and two sons by her present husband. My autistic nephew is the youngest child. Her eldest son suffers from periods of severe depression and has been committed on a number of occasions. Her middle son has recently got his degree but has failed to get a job despite having had a lot of interviews. My sister feels it is because he comes across as being 'different'. I don't know what the 'difference' is. She hasn't elaborated.

My eldest sister has two sons and a daughter. Both sons are married with children. The eldest had a first class honour degree in Mathematics, is an actuary, has had high flying positins in his field and is now an independent consultant. The younger one suffers from periods of depression but nowhere near as severe as his cousin.

My middle sister also has two sons and a daughter and her elder son is a fairly successful business man but her middle son also suffers from periods of depression.

I was born, prematurely, during the war, was puny and not expected to live very long. A matter of days or weeks at best. I understand that people born prematurely can develop various problems.

My father was brought up in very poor circumstances, had a difficult childhood, left school at 13 to work to support the family, was traumatised by his war experiences, drank heavily and was very volatile. My mother was a 'sickly' child and had difficulty coping with her life. She had a period in a mental hospital soon after my youngest sister, the mother of my autistic nephew, was born.

There were 4 of us children and we all ended up with 'stress related' problems of one kind or another that we all blamed on our childhood.

The possibility that my issues could have a different cause was further disguised by the fact that we all produced children who were very intelligent and several have really good jobs. Even my granddaughters are very bright despite their problems. We actually thought their father's family was the source of their issues as he displays compulsive behaviour and his sisters have their own issues that they blame on their upbringing.

It is all very complicated and confused.

I thought some more about this and decided I would say some more about myself. I might get some benefit just out of doing it even if no one else does or no one responds.

I had another look at the test, made some adjustments and came up with a different score - 7. I lost a point for number 2 as I feel I cannot really say that I concentrate more on the whole picture than the details or vice versa. I picked up a point for number 7 and 10 because, when I thought abot it, I am not good at all at working out people's intentions in a story or in real life.

What very little success I have had in life came from my ability to focus, absorb facts and apply them and ignoring aspects of my life that I can't handle too well, such as people.

I had girlfriends before I met my wife, but never for very long and they always dropped me, although some still remained friends but in a distant, almost caring, way. I could never work out what I was doing wrong or why those who remained friends, did so even when they didn't want to be my girlfriends.

My wife and I worked in the same Department of a local authority. I did pays and she had to do her team's timesheet and send it to me and she was always late with it so I always had to chase her up. Our first 'date' wasn't a date at all. We both wanted to see a film that no one else wanted to see so we went to see it together. That was 45 years ago.

Despite the facts that I have always been aware I had problems and my nephew was diagnosed as autistic as a small child - he is now 22, I made no connection between the two. Partly, it was because he was diagnosed around the time of the MMR scare and also there were other reasons, in my upbringing, that I blamed for my problems.

I learned in recent years that my granddaughters had cognitive issues. One has difficulty 'receiving' instruction given to the class. The teacher has to make sure that she has my granddaughter's attention or my granddaughter quickly loses touch with what the class is doing. She will always have that problem, has been Statemented and attends a special class, part time to help her cope with it. In all other aspects she is very quick and intelligent. Her elder sister has been identified with a related but different problem but at a lower level and gets some one to one help in school. Otherwise, she is also bright and intelligent. Their mother, my daughter, has a Ph.D. in biological sciences.

Even knowing about my granddaughters' problems did not change my perceptions.

It was only when I had a long chat with my sister, the mother of my autistic nephew, a few weeks ago and she pointed out things about the wider family that I began to wonder. She has four children. A son and daughter by her first husband and two sons by her present husband. My autistic nephew is the youngest child. Her eldest son suffers from periods of severe depression and has been committed on a number of occasions. Her middle son has recently got his degree but has failed to get a job despite having had a lot of interviews. My sister feels it is because he comes across as being 'different'. I don't know what the 'difference' is. She hasn't elaborated.

My eldest sister has two sons and a daughter. Both sons are married with children. The eldest had a first class honour degree in Mathematics, is an actuary, has had high flying positins in his field and is now an independent consultant. The younger one suffers from periods of depression but nowhere near as severe as his cousin.

My middle sister also has two sons and a daughter and her elder son is a fairly successful business man but her middle son also suffers from periods of depression.

I was born, prematurely, during the war, was puny and not expected to live very long. A matter of days or weeks at best. I understand that people born prematurely can develop various problems.

My father was brought up in very poor circumstances, had a difficult childhood, left school at 13 to work to support the family, was traumatised by his war experiences, drank heavily and was very volatile. My mother was a 'sickly' child and had difficulty coping with her life. She had a period in a mental hospital soon after my youngest sister, the mother of my autistic nephew, was born.

There were 4 of us children and we all ended up with 'stress related' problems of one kind or another that we all blamed on our childhood.

The possibility that my issues could have a different cause was further disguised by the fact that we all produced children who were very intelligent and several have really good jobs. Even my granddaughters are very bright despite their problems. We actually thought their father's family was the source of their issues as he displays compulsive behaviour and his sisters have their own issues that they blame on their upbringing.

It is all very complicated and confused.