Confused by today's assessment and diagnosis

Aspergers/autism are such vast categories, and everyone is so unique, that it can be difficult to include everyone intoone water-tight label, but we do so because we need simplicity in order to get by in life, and, in any case, what is most important is that you get sufficient support to meet your needs. An individual strengths/weaknesses assessment should take place, but this does not always happen.

I was diagnosed incidentally with both aspergers and atypical autism; both labels were noted on the same sheet of paper as if they are interchangeable.

I have a history of very narrow and intense interests, but I am far more flexible in my interests now, although I still have an obsessive tendency. I am very articulate and verbally I am quite intelligent. I do not lack imagination and I did  play with dolls and teddys when I was little, but during diagnosis the quality of this play was questioned, and it turned out that my play was rule-bound and repetitive.  I always had to be in control. I had just one school friend at primary school, but I often fell out with her and I refused to share her company with other people. I do remember playing 'schools' and 'home' with her.

I can camouflage my difficulties very well in public, so my AS is not immediately obvious. But I have general anxiety and OCDs which are currently my main source of difficulty. I do not have many sensory issues, although loud noises have been a source of acute anxiety and I am hopeless at multi-tasking. Interestingly, I have very poor visual-spatial skills, which are often considered to be a strength for people with ASD, but I am hopeless at jig-saw  puzzles and my numerical understanding is miniscule. Generally speaking, I am classed as 'high-functioning asperger.

I hope this allows you to see, through my own experience, how AS/autism is simply a label that describes a person who broadly speaking fits into a particular description of behaviour, but  very few individuals are 'text-book' cases!

Girls are meant to have a different presentation than boys, and I can certainly relate to this. My interests were to do with the actress Kate Winslet, a celebrity, and I was obsessed with babies and child development, as opposed to objects. My difficulties became more noticeable during my teenage years as my behaviour remained at the level of a child for some time. I have finally become more mature, but it has  taken a long time to catch-up. And I am still socially behind my peers, but then I always will be !.

Aspergers/autism are such vast categories, and everyone is so unique, that it can be difficult to include everyone intoone water-tight label, but we do so because we need simplicity in order to get by in life, and, in any case, what is most important is that you get sufficient support to meet your needs. An individual strengths/weaknesses assessment should take place, but this does not always happen.

I was diagnosed incidentally with both aspergers and atypical autism; both labels were noted on the same sheet of paper as if they are interchangeable.

I have a history of very narrow and intense interests, but I am far more flexible in my interests now, although I still have an obsessive tendency. I am very articulate and verbally I am quite intelligent. I do not lack imagination and I did  play with dolls and teddys when I was little, but during diagnosis the quality of this play was questioned, and it turned out that my play was rule-bound and repetitive.  I always had to be in control. I had just one school friend at primary school, but I often fell out with her and I refused to share her company with other people. I do remember playing 'schools' and 'home' with her.

I can camouflage my difficulties very well in public, so my AS is not immediately obvious. But I have general anxiety and OCDs which are currently my main source of difficulty. I do not have many sensory issues, although loud noises have been a source of acute anxiety and I am hopeless at multi-tasking. Interestingly, I have very poor visual-spatial skills, which are often considered to be a strength for people with ASD, but I am hopeless at jig-saw  puzzles and my numerical understanding is miniscule. Generally speaking, I am classed as 'high-functioning asperger.

I hope this allows you to see, through my own experience, how AS/autism is simply a label that describes a person who broadly speaking fits into a particular description of behaviour, but  very few individuals are 'text-book' cases!

Girls are meant to have a different presentation than boys, and I can certainly relate to this. My interests were to do with the actress Kate Winslet, a celebrity, and I was obsessed with babies and child development, as opposed to objects. My difficulties became more noticeable during my teenage years as my behaviour remained at the level of a child for some time. I have finally become more mature, but it has  taken a long time to catch-up. And I am still socially behind my peers, but then I always will be !.