I'm struggling to decide

There seems to be an ever growing number of people who basically need a sensible, meaningful assessment of their difficulties.

But little has changed in half a century. Doctors still dismiss many people as simply inadequate, or having immaturity problems, or lack of assertiveness, delusions etc. Autism, and a number of other conditions, singly or collectively, might help people resolve their lives. But there is yet no change in entrenched professional attitudes.

It ought to be so simple and straight forward just to give people constructive assessment, without this blame culture - its probably the patient's fault...... how many years studying medicine to get that little grasp of people!

What makes it hard for individuals is to judge, for themselves, whether autism explains their difficulties, and is sufficiently relevant to be meaningful. Because although there are a lot of texts on autism that could provide people with reference points, it is difficult to use them unless you are confident that the advice applies to you.

And all this stuff about common sense. Ermmm how does anyone know what common sense is....if you are very confused and muddled, and clearly having trouble finding practical solutions ...common sense is just a platitude... it is easy to talk about common sense if you have ready access to social referencing.

That however is something both TeaRex and Cephie should give some thought to. Are you able to get all the information you need about life from social conversation - by that I mean informal conversations with a group of mates? Not simply, are you comfortable socialising in a group, but are you reasonably good at it? You might think that you aren't doing it well, but for many people on the spectrum, they aren't doing it at all....or are doing it very badly. They don't fit in. They don't get invited to join in.

Part of the trouble is making eye contact. This is overstated in two respects. Most people have some discomfort making eye contact, and aren't sure how much is good, but they more or less get through. Health professionals go on about conspicuous gaze aversion (looking down, or to the side, whereby it is obvious you are avoiding it), but most teenagers and adults in the spectrum, though having it pointed out so often, look in sort of the right direction. They might be making eye contact but not well, noticeably to others, staring too much - but also they may be looking at people's mouths, necks or ears, rather than anywhere near the eyes. It really tends to be a big issue.

They are likely to be misunderstood in social situations, and to misunderstand much of it. That character in the TV sitcom in a prison -Porridge - who comes up with an answer long after the topic has moved on to other things - that's autism.

Noise can be an issue - people on the spectrum can be hypo or hyper-sensitive to sound, unaffected or very affected. Those very affected will find many modern young people/younger adult environments painfully loud. Usually if it is too loud, so the saying goes, you are too old. But on the spectrum it is often really difficult to go anywhere busy or noisy.

There are books about autism that would give you a clearer idea about whether it applies to you. The problem with the Triad of Impairments, and the AQ test, broadly based on it, is it gives you pointers, but you can read too much into it. There are some things like eye contact, social integration and sensory overload, which spell it out for most people.

There seems to be an ever growing number of people who basically need a sensible, meaningful assessment of their difficulties.

But little has changed in half a century. Doctors still dismiss many people as simply inadequate, or having immaturity problems, or lack of assertiveness, delusions etc. Autism, and a number of other conditions, singly or collectively, might help people resolve their lives. But there is yet no change in entrenched professional attitudes.

It ought to be so simple and straight forward just to give people constructive assessment, without this blame culture - its probably the patient's fault...... how many years studying medicine to get that little grasp of people!

What makes it hard for individuals is to judge, for themselves, whether autism explains their difficulties, and is sufficiently relevant to be meaningful. Because although there are a lot of texts on autism that could provide people with reference points, it is difficult to use them unless you are confident that the advice applies to you.

And all this stuff about common sense. Ermmm how does anyone know what common sense is....if you are very confused and muddled, and clearly having trouble finding practical solutions ...common sense is just a platitude... it is easy to talk about common sense if you have ready access to social referencing.

That however is something both TeaRex and Cephie should give some thought to. Are you able to get all the information you need about life from social conversation - by that I mean informal conversations with a group of mates? Not simply, are you comfortable socialising in a group, but are you reasonably good at it? You might think that you aren't doing it well, but for many people on the spectrum, they aren't doing it at all....or are doing it very badly. They don't fit in. They don't get invited to join in.

Part of the trouble is making eye contact. This is overstated in two respects. Most people have some discomfort making eye contact, and aren't sure how much is good, but they more or less get through. Health professionals go on about conspicuous gaze aversion (looking down, or to the side, whereby it is obvious you are avoiding it), but most teenagers and adults in the spectrum, though having it pointed out so often, look in sort of the right direction. They might be making eye contact but not well, noticeably to others, staring too much - but also they may be looking at people's mouths, necks or ears, rather than anywhere near the eyes. It really tends to be a big issue.

They are likely to be misunderstood in social situations, and to misunderstand much of it. That character in the TV sitcom in a prison -Porridge - who comes up with an answer long after the topic has moved on to other things - that's autism.

Noise can be an issue - people on the spectrum can be hypo or hyper-sensitive to sound, unaffected or very affected. Those very affected will find many modern young people/younger adult environments painfully loud. Usually if it is too loud, so the saying goes, you are too old. But on the spectrum it is often really difficult to go anywhere busy or noisy.

There are books about autism that would give you a clearer idea about whether it applies to you. The problem with the Triad of Impairments, and the AQ test, broadly based on it, is it gives you pointers, but you can read too much into it. There are some things like eye contact, social integration and sensory overload, which spell it out for most people.