Son undergoing assessment, I'm now wondering about myself...

Coming from a different country there could also be cultural factors at play, affecting your ability to interact, and affecting you socially.

See my stickied thread about assessment and diagnosis for adults and try the AQ10 test.  It explains the scoring in the document and take it from there.

I would like to know if someone can tell me what to do now, go to the GP again and insist or what? I can't aford privat psycologist. I have 3 children and they need looooots of things.

Thank you for listening.

Hello all,

I'm in the same as you. I'm not from UK, I've been here for 2 years now. My son is in reception and there is where the school help me to find the professionals that help us to get a diagnosis of ASD to my son (he is now 5).

When I was reading your post here, I could say that see myself in the same situation.

I always wander if I was shy, but the thing is that when I'm with people with the same interest than me I feel confortable. Now, when I go to school to pick up my son, I don't know how to fit with the other mums. I whan to fit in but I don't know what to do. I allways feel unconforable in this situations. I normaly do what you said. I writte what I'm going to say. I practice at home, but then in the moment I don't know how to act.

For me is dificult go to the GP, because it cause me anxiety. But I when to tell her the things you just said. And she told me to see a pshicologist if I want,  but a privat one because she didn't think it was important. 

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I've gone through a similar experience myself last year until the coincidences of being like by son couldn't be explained away. For me finding this forum has turned my life around as I have found many people that think in a similar way or have similar problems and even enjoy similar things. One of the most encouraging things is that every one here is different so, guess what, you can just be yourself. That is so special after years of feeling you're odd or don't fit in. The best way I've found to describe it is it is like coming home to your family.

As far as seeing your Doc, it would be good but don't expect too much. I wish now I had written down what I wanted to say in a letter and sent it to him to read in advance of our appointment. You (like many other folks here) write with great clarity and I suspect that may be a great asset when meeting the Doc. (I turn into a jibbering idiot as soon as I step into the room.) My Docs view was that it was probably depression/anxiety related but over the last few months I've worked through this argument and just don't believe it. Depression is basically a squashing of your mental being but the traits of aspergers are basically who you are. Both can be painful but one of them is part of you and the other isn't (that not always easy to see in the thick of it).

There's a really good topic running on the forum about positives and negatives which may put a different perspective on the situation than you might expect.

Whether you are or aren't you're very welcome just as you are.

Dunk

Me, my mum, and my granny, didn't realise we had Asperger's until it was noticed in my brother.  So, my mum didn't realise it until she was in her early 40s, and it has helped make sense of why she does certain things and why she is the way she is.  And it explained a lot about my granny too.  All of us had a lot of people we knew but none we would really call close friends.  And people think I am strange that I only talk to my mum via Facebook and text instead of phoning her, but that's what works for us.  We shouldn't have to have an awkward conversation on the telephone every week because that's what 'society' states as being 'normal'.

It is unfortunate that ASDs are not picked up in females as well as it's picked up in males, but we do a much better job of putting on a brave face and just 'putting up with it' than guys.  Also, it's seen as the social norm for women to be critical and somewhat bossy, when all we're doing is trying to organise our life so we know what's happening and that our environments feel safe.

I know I will sound brash right now, but again that's my nature, but I really don't like it when people say they won't go to the GP because they think they will get laughed at.  GPs are supposed to take all patients concerns seriously and if you don't feel like you're making any progress then get another opinion from another doctor.  They will ask questions, like, 'how does it impact your life?' and 'how can we help you?'.  They can maybe give you some options but I find they won't put you forward for getting diagnosed as an adult unless there is a reason for it, but you have every right to ask for it if you want it.

Yes, possibly, but you might just have traits, or another condition like social phobia, which is not merely about being shy. Autism, of course, is a spectrum, and family members of autistic children (or adults) often share traits.

I have Asperger's, but my brother does not. However, he has no friends as such,  other than his girl-friend. As a boy, he had no friends, but has never been diagnosed with anything. He can manage a full-time job, and crucially can have relationships with women (if not friendships with men!). As a child, he was given treatment for a mild pronunciation problem, which made him very shy. I am convinced this is genetic, although I learnt to speak on time.

Having three children and a husband by the age of 30 sounds pretty positive to me, from a social perspective. I would love this for myself, but my social skills and other issues are so disabling that this is off the radar for the time being. So if you do have Asperger's, you must be functioning very well.

There is a condition called the broader autism phenotype, which affects close relations of an autistic person. While stopping short of a diagnosis, it can help explain why close family members can share autistic traits, without necessarily having the full blown condition.

I would recommend speaking to your GP - a problem shared is a problem half solved.

You definitely sound like it's a possibility.   Don't worry about your GP laughing at you, you are legally entitled to an assessment according to the Autism Act and the Autism Strategy.