Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi everyone! I hope this doesn't come across as a neurotypical guy trying to invade your space here, but I was wondering if anybody could tell me whether or not it's worth me seeking a diagnosis for autism, based on my experiences.
I've seen a couple of counsellors over the years for depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts etc. and it's been suggest to me once or twice - most recently by my dad's partner, who is a mental health professional - that I try to get tested, because it seemed likely to them that I'm on the autistic spectrum.
I do identify with a lot of symptoms that have been described to me, such as struggling to understand people's thoughts and feelings and having trouble communicating, seeming to perceive the world around me different to most other people, having ritualistic behaviours and habits. I also am only ever social when I really force myself to be and I much prefer to be at home talking to the few friends I have over messengers than being at a busy party, though I can enjoy myself at parties once I've had a drink or two and let myself relax. I also struggle to focus on most things, but when I am focused on something, like making music or writing, I laser in and can spend all day doing it, forgetting to eat or properly take care of myself.
What's making me hesitate, however, is that I don't identify with a lot of common symptoms, for instance I don't speak monotonously at all, I have trouble looking people in the eye but I can force myself to do it, I generally don't like being touched except by certain people but it's never caused me any kind of serious reaction - I can normally put up with it. Also, I consider myself very empathetic and I like to help people, however around 70% of the time I completely misread someone's emotions so even if I correctly identify how they're feeling, I fail to understand what is causing them to feel that way.
I'm not sure if these means I couldn't be autistic or if I just have a particular form of autism that I'm not familiar with. People have always told me I'm strange (not always in a mean or aggressive way) and my family and close friends have just come to expect 'abnormal' behaviour from me, particularly now that I'm almost 20 and they seem to have realised I wasn't just slow to mature in certain ways.
I'd really appreciate any advice on whether or not I'd be wasting my time trying to get diagnosed, or if there are any tests or assessments I can do more easily that have any validity, I doubt most of the online tests I'm seeing.
It would be nice to know the exact reason for the ways I seem to be different to the people around me, especially as I head into university and start to meet a lot of new people all at once.
Thank you!
I mentioned about sex and gender as I know an autistic guy who has empathy, too. Always best not to assume.anything Good luck, I hope you can find the answers you need.
Oh right I should have made that clearer, I'm male, I don't really care about my gender identity but I'm p much customer, thanks read that now!
It definitely sounds to me as though you're on the spectrum. I'm not sure of your sex or gender but, as a woman myself, I've always been put off identifying as autistic. The reason is that most information online about autism is geared around how it presents in men and boys. It was only when I found an Australian study on how autism presents in women who've been diagnosed with it that I realised just how closely I fit the description. Male autistics can be empathic too, btw, it's not solely a female thing. If you'd like to take a look at the study you can find it here:taniaannmarshall.wordpress.com/.../
That's exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for! Thanks!
That's what I kind of had in mind, I figure they know better than I do right now so I should take their advice, thanks!
I would definitely recommend doing some tests to see if you do fall within the realms of ASD.
I am recently diagnosed, did it really just for my self, for some sense of validation of the fact that i was me and that was ok.
There are lots of tests here, the AQ one is a good place to start perhaps https://www.aspietests.org/ and here https://www.aspergerstestsite.com/75/autism-spectrum-quotient-aq-test/
The reason it is called a Spectrum is because there are a long list of different symptoms which can manifest themselves in different ways and no-one ticks all the boxes or fits into a neat little list of things. To be honest you sound like you have some of the similar experiences to me and I have just been diagnosed with Asperger's of Higher Functioning Autism. If healthy experts are advising you then perhaps it might be worth getting diagnosed but only if you want to know the results. Personally I found it answered so many questions and reasons for things from my life.