Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello everyone. I am a 61 year old male whom others often think of as having strange habits and strange ideas. I am also 'stuck in my ways'. I find that I am frequently misunderstood and have problems with spoken communication at times. For example when someone asks 'How are you', not knowing what to say so I'll say something like 'I'll live'. I am very abrupt with answers, often resorting to one or two words and not carrying on the conversation. I speak inappropriately at the wrong times in meetings, play unnecessarily with, for example, paper cups to the annoyance of others without realising what I am doing and am often talking to myself.
Conversely, once I get going on a topic that I have an interest in, I talk the hind legs off a donkey, not knowing when to stop and boring the pants off the recipient of my talk. Job interviews have always been a problem, I have been told I do not engage enough eye contact and either fidget a lot or sit bolt upright with my arms folded. I have failed so many job interviews that I am a candidate for the Guinness Book of Records. This led to a l-o-n-g period of unemployment lasting twenty years from my twenties to my forties.
Recently, my job changed- I used to work as a data manager but having been Tuped over it changed to an office administrator. I cannot work how I would like and I know there are better ways of doing things but I am not allowed to do them the way I want (I am very computer literate). This has caused problems with accuracy by working in a way that is not how I like to work and also there are so many interuptions that I find it difficult to complete the tasks and it has caused so much stress and anxiety that I am now on long term sickness for stress manifesting itself in anxiety and depression.
I strongly suspect I may have Aspergers. Some time ago I took the Aspergers Test (self took, not with a doctor) and got a score of 42. Taking it again recently had the same result. I am aware that self tests are not necessarily accurate but I think a lot of my experiences fit in with Aspergers. I have been trying to convince my GP to refer me for a proper assessment but it is so far falling on deaf ears. I believe an assessment if positive would provide me with a strong case for adjustments at work so that I can better cope. What do others think?
Hi there,
This is my first post and I'm particularly interested in this discuassion as I'm 56 and only now considering getting a referral from my doctor after years of wondering whether I have autism problems. My life has been very chaotic at times and I have lived getting deeply frustrated with what I see as my own incompetence at organising and ordering my life. I have had therapy and treatment for depression but because my inter-personal skills 'seem' good I had doubts about whetehr autism could be a real issue or another 'excuse' I'm creating for the 'balls up' my life appears (to me) to be!
I scored 31 in the Autism Spectrum test, so doea that indicate 'some' traits rather than the 'full job?' behavioural traits I have are:
Quite a lot of pacing around not knowing what to do next.
Great difficulty prioritising tasks.
Sudden obsession with things from nowhere which I go into deeply even without any background in it (e.g some years ago I trained as a rugby referee having zero backround in it-and did it!)
Holding down jobs and relationships have been very hard.
Dispraxic tendencies doing practical tasks
Difficulty moving objects and reordering things which creates anxiety.
Plenty more but |I wont bore you with them. Any advice here, appreciated. I'm worried my doctor will think I'm exagerating as I appear 'well' and good on communication.