Autistic Alien calling in

CrazyCatLady said:

Hey 

I'm a 23 year old woman, living with suspected autism. I often feel like a alien trying to blend in but never quite succeeding in integrating with the natives. Here is a little about me please feel free to take a read, apologies for spelling/grammar mistakes I am diagnosed as having dyslexia.

In school they told me I was weird and that I would grow up to be the crazy cat lady, I couldn't imagine anything I would enjoy morecurrently I foster cats and work at a nursing home but every day is a struggle. 

Although my gp has referred me 3 times to be tested for autism apparently because I have a job and therefore they assume I can function in society and I am 'not autistic enough'. I have a lot of the symptoms associated with being in the autistic spectrum and the people working with autistic people often ask me if I have autistism or tell me I do have autism. Over time I have just ended up assuming I am autistic or I have a mental disorder making me socially awkward.

Currently I have no real friends. I have some hobbies including glamour\alternative photography modelling and pole dancing. Despite how it sounds, I am not a sex addict and I do really struggle with my social job and hobbies.

I think I covered most relevant points feel free to ask questions < i use a lot of Smiley's I find it easier to understand people online who use them as I seem to do a good amount of communication through body language and this helps give a indication of mood and intention.

When I read this post it's asif I have writen it myself. I'm also 23 years old but I'm a male. Iv found your words very comforting in a sense of self reflection.

Persue your hobbies, I used to enjoy going to the gym on myself (at non peak times). It helps maintain sense of will power and balance. I was a bit of a wierdo at school, isolated at lunch time. I used to have crazy idea's and thoughts about life which others couldn't comprehend. So I would just stay indoors building something in the technology department, luckily the teacher's spent some one on one time with me. School was a very thin tight rope walk as is life.

I am diagnosed as an aspie, although I too believe that i am an alien in many ways. I wanted to know, do you solely believe that you are an alien? Asin your soul or your physical construction? Have you ever had visions or lucid dreams of other life forms?

Iv always felt useless in this time phrase, do you ever feel like you would have been better off being born more into the past/future?

Sending you love and light, thanks for your words they mean soo much

The excuses GPs come up with for not referring are amazing, and this keeps cropping up in postings, one last week was apparently told that someone with autism wouldn't be able to approach a GP.

Yet my understanding is there was a recommendation last year that GPs endeavour to improve referral directly to autism diagnosis services

Did your GP refer you to an autism diagnostic centre, or to Adult Mental Health Services or just some psychology clinician that visits the practice now and then?

There was a survey of GPs by the National Audit Office in 2008 that found though GPs got large numbers of children and adults coming to see them about autism, only about 0.2% were referred and more than half of referrals were to mental health services compared to only 10% referred to an autism diagnosis centre.

I cannot find any more recent survey, but I suspect little has changed. Whether children or adults seeking diagnosis most are turned away with some silly excuse.

It is truly shocking the level of failure to help people in need. So much for the hippocratic oath.

Hi, and welcome

It's surprising how many people 'think' they're ASD because other people say things to them that are the same or similar to what has been said to you.

I spent all of my life being called every name under the sun. It's extremely hurtful, the worst part being the total lack of understanding of the people who say them. I have no idea why 'humans' can't grasp the simplest concepts in the way that I do.

I only got my diagnosis a few months ago, and Im quite old now. I was asked what difference the diagnosis might make, and the range of differences was so immediately great to me that I couldn't answer. It can be quite difficult to answer such complex questions, and certainly, putting it into human language would take too long, but it has made all the difference imaginable.

I've felt like an 'alien' all of my life, it's as if I've been planted on this planet to observe the humans, and report back to the Galactic Council on their progress (which I find limited and with no prospect for improvement). By the way, I should explain that I now refer to non-ASD people as 'humans'  - a bit tongue in cheek, but also the perfect way for me to describe how I feel about 'humans. They're totally unsane, but mostly kind.

I think that most of us would encourage you to seek a formal diagnosis. I can't explain why mine has made such a difference, but a major result is being able to come to terms with who I am, and being able to put all of that past experience of people into context. By their standards, I'm wierd, by my standards, they're stupid, selfish and completely illogical.

Now, does any of this strike a chord with you?