After diagnosis - stage 1 worries

EDITED - I wish you very well with this Apollo

Hi Apollo,

I am also in my early thirties and have been recently diagnosed, if that is of any help.

To project; I think that this is probably an anxious time, however, if you have already researched what something like Aspergers means or involves, I think you should try to be comfortable with yourself:

Although you now have a diagnosis, this has not changed who you are or how you act (and shouldn't, you've already lived thirty or so years without a diagnosis - so what has changed?).

You should try to use this assessment to provide yourself with peace-of-mind, and allow you to realise effective ways to get what you want from life or improve your life in ways which you can be more comfortable with (i.e. there may now be a quantifiable reason for certain of your attitudes or actions, and so a mechanism (or at least some literature) to allow you to better understand yourself).

Are you a fraud? Maybe, however I think it's probably unlikely that you'd have gotten as far as a diagnosis if there weren't at least some similarities. A face to face or telephone interview is also intended to prevent mis-diagnosis, and is much more difficult to cheat than something like a questionairre.

As you've probably been told, ASD is a spectrum. As such; two different people with the same diagnosis (i.e. high functioning ASD) may not express exactly the same characteristics (although there are some which appear to be fairly standard).

Regarding who to tell; generally it is not worth discussing with people who do not need to know. Conditions such as ASD are about as well understood by the general public (all the way to non-specialists, and, generally, those with the condition) as fibre-optic telecommunications (i.e. when discussed, most people will, as you have found, generally massively over-simplify a complex matter).

hi my name is Laura. I am 19 and got diagnosed with asd 7 years ago. it is quite recognisable that I am Autistic. But I have not got the Severe type I can do normal things with people and by myself so its not hugely noticeable. I am a very clingy person and can be over clingy with people who are close to me and have trouble with not being clingy and I have lost several friends over this. I am not very good at making conversation either. wnat I'm looking for it people who have similar diagnostics to tell me what strategies they've tried to help them. I have made my own list of strategies which I'm going to give a go cos it does sometimes annoy me when people are clingy and I don't to carry on being like it

tia 

Apollo,

One thing to think about is who do you think you have to tell? The more I live with it, the more I realise that it probably isn't most peoples business to know anything about it. Your doctor should know but not sure who else you think needs to know about it.

As someone with the condition, I did feel the urge to tell all and sundry when I was diagnosed but most people don't know anything about it and won't know how to act appropriately. 

Thank you very much for replying. I feel less worried now.

They had a telephone interview with my mum. That provided them with information about my childhood/adolescence.  And adulthood, as a lot of things I would've been expected to grow out of (meltdowns, fantasy) continued into adulthood.

Thank you again 

I have had these same worries myself, and still do from time to time. I was diagnosed age 21 and the only person other than my parents who floated the idea of Asperger's was my University Counsellor. Women with Asperger's often fall under the radar, particularly if they are good at covering up (masking) their difficulties. Diagnosticians are usually aware of this, and they ask probing questions to find out what is really going on. Was your mum at the assessment?

Nothing else would explain my  experiences growing up other than Asperger's, but there is a widely held stereotype of what Asperger's should be like. This stereotype can lead to self-doubts because we tend to internalise societal perceptions. You know yourself and what you have been through (and continue to experience beneath any masking), and hopefully this alone will help to nullify some of the doubts.

Sometimes diagtnosticians are happy to have a post diagnostic chat. Have you considered this?

People who are not educated in autism may exhibit disbelief if you tell them, but this is your chance to educate them and tell them what autism is really like. If they still refuse to listen, that is their loss.

'Stage 1 worries' because I am anticipating there may be other problems in the future. 

I am not overly worried about them now though.