Introducing Myself.

Don't know what to put. 

Maybe hello?

I do not know if I have autism.  I am on a list to be assessed.

  • The big concern for me is every burnout that came through each job I took, seemed to be worse then the last one (And even though I thought I was recovered from the last one I obviously wasn't. Takes years to fully recover ai guess).

    But my huge concern is that if I tried working again and had another burnout I would end up dissabled and not being able to drive. Driving is my number one way of relaxing. If I can get to the miles of country lanes, I am in my element. I am no longer "On edge". As long as I keep out of the crowded roads I am fine. 

  • Hello.

    Yes. This virus thing has caused turmoil. I find I can't go in a few shops anyway, but with the turmoil now, I just have not been able to go in a shop at all. Luckily my Mum can but even she is not confident enough to tackle a large shop. We can only shop in a small local shop at the moment. 

    The assessment. I hope that it is not too long to wait. I am a little nurvous about it, but I have met some of the people working for the assessment team and they are nice people so I should be ok. Slight smile I am concerned that if the economy collapses I may never be assessed. 

    I could do with being assessed because I reached a point where I can't even do part time work in a job I can usually do with my eyes closed... Last time I tried I was getting constant strings of partial shutdowns one after the next after the next... And doing all I can to avoid getting full shutdowns. And I liked the work. I liked the staff. I just was not able to avoid the shutdowns. I then had burnout and forced my way through the last week or so (The shifts were 4 or 5 hours a day every other day of the week) and when the temporary summer time job ended I was in a right mess! I was glitching between masking and unmasking... Hardly able to walk that far... I was missing gears when I drove... I was a mess. 

  • Welcome aboard and good luck with your assessment.  I got my 'ASD' diagnosis last summer, but still largely feel like an impostor.  Things were starting to gather momentum regarding treatment/counselling, but now with coronavirus that's all been paused.

  • Yep because it’s typing - written communication I’m fine with, it’s when face to face with people I struggle most. 

  • You are excellent at talking on this site. 

  • I’m a social disaster, so I feel your pain on this one!

  • I knew I was different. People told me! Haha! An outsider to a group. When I have had to be in a group I do my thing and let them do theirs! 

    Due to a different upbring on a smallholding, I assumed that it was due to having a different lifestyle. My Mum is very different as well! 

  • Yeah sadly a lot of people dong get diagnosed when kids, I just thought I was always stressed, anxious and well weird with few friends... In the end I found out it was likely ASD, I still struggle but moving in the right direction. Sounds like you are too :)

  • It is only by chance that I found out that what I have been experiencing for almost all my life were shutdowns. 

    I have also had gone through many burnouts and each one I found myself in a worse state then the one before. I would just quit my job and then just wait a few months or a year or two to recover (Without an income for most of the time as I couldn't face signing on). I never knew that they were called burnouts. I am still recovering from the one I had last september when I had taken a low hours part time summer job. Not quite recovered yet. 

  • It’d completely ok to be anxious about it, for some people to prospect of being diagnosed is daunting. I think you’ve done the right thing and it will lead to greater clarity for you further down the line.

  • Thanks. It took me two years to ask to be assessed as every time I went in to see the doctor to ask, I clammed up and could not ask. 

  • Hello :) The wait can be frustrating along with the uncertainty. For reasons I won’t go into I’ve been waiting since 2014/15 for my assessment. If you need a chat at anytime with someone who has had a similar experience, feel free to send me a message :)