What made you realise you have/might have autism?

Yes I'm quite deadpan too. I think I've said before on here, that sometimes I can make a statement about something and people laugh. When to me I was just making an observation! 

Oh that's so annoying when people think you're being thick isn't it. And then you try and say you're joking but they think you're trying to make excuses.

It's nice when someone gets it though isn't it. I usually say things in a deadpan way and most people don't get it but some are laughing.

There have been times when I've said something which I thought was a joke and it fell flat. I know it was my delivery and not them. There have been times when I thought I was being sarcastic and I thought my tone implied this, but people thought I was being thick.  There have been times when I've tried to explain something funny that happened and it fell flat or the point of humour was lost. Probably because I got jumbled up. Or it wasn't actually funny to them.

Agree. I don't think "regular" people wonder so often about why they are like they are.

I love hilarious

There is a polish poem for kids by Julian Tuwim about Mr Hilary (apparently from hilarious :P), who is looking for his glasses, flipping whole flat upside down in a process, until he stops in front of a mirror and notice he had them on his nose all along.

that's hilarious :P

I found a website with his poems, while chrome had a setting to translate all non english websites to english automatically, I forgot to disable it looking for something in spanish, so it looks like chrome does translate them pretty well, if someone wants a look here is a link:

wierszykidladzieci.pl/wierszetuwima.php

Yes, I had my final assessment in May with confirmation of ASD, final report was received in June/July.

Then I had a final virtual chat a couple of weeks ago to discuss the result.

It was all NHS. I was on a waiting list for nearly 3 years. I had virtual assessments in March, April, and May. It was really good, very easy and relaxed. The assessor did a great job putting me at ease and teasing out details I'd never even thought about.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience.

I was advised to seek ADHD assessment because they noticed some obvious traits, but for various reasons it wasn't in their remit to diagnose ADHD.

Did you get diagnosed in the finish exist?

I don't tell jokes because I'm rubbish at it.

I do try to be funny at times, but because I might say things without changing my voice people sometimes get confused, upset, or offended.

My partner says it's not always what I say, it's how I say it.

Other times, people say I'm hilarious.

Know what you mean about , not being able to tell when you're joking.

I've always found this. Even if a I smile a phrased in exactly the same way I've seen others joke.

People never know when I'm joking.

Gave up trying to joke in the finish.its easier.lol

I think so too.

If someone is going to spend time finding out about it, on a path of self discovery, and what they find resonates, then surely that is a sign.

Stevew said:

self diagnosing

it is one of the signs of being autistic I think

I myself have discovered this, I’ve always had issues throughout my life , it’s always been labelled as something else, but reading about autism and taking various tests online I too think it’s possible I may be autistic. Still a lot to learn about it , I’m self diagnosing from what I’ve learned about myself, next step is to get an official diagnosis 

Yes. People can't tell when I'm joking either. They respond seriously or think I'm just weird. I have to explain the joke, which is never good.

Indeed 

That was a taste of it. It is often a phrase from a movie or a book, used, when time and place are right. 

Though this one presents itself far better spoken outloud, intonation is a key to understaing it.

Teal'c says it a lot in Stargate, to confirm he acknowledges.

Yes, I always wanted to connect with people but I never felt comfortable, even with a group of friends.

Somehow I'd always feel disconnected, so I eventually got used to being an anomaly.

I was fortunate enough to fall into a career, that I never wanted but was pretty good at, which allowed  me to craft an environment of my own making...  but not knowing why, apart from the fact that I didn't want an actual job.

I work around/for people on a one to one basis, but dealing with people wa/is one of my biggest difficulties. It was also the only way I would really interact with anyone. I always thought it odd that I chose to do something that causes me so much stress

At least now I have an idea of the internal mechanisms at play.

I'm not sure about my sense of humour, people can't seem to tell when I'm joking...

Probably a bit weird, and I'm not stalking, but I noticed you're in Btn. I've been there since the early 90s. 

Small world.

very much like my life's story, I noticed, that I do not fit anywhere for the first time during 3rd year of primary, so at age of 10. The feeling of longing for someone like me accompanied me ever since, until discovery of this forum.

I interject alot of my humor, so as to cloud people's perception of all those things I do because I do not notice when to stop, plus it makes life a bit more endurable.

''Enjoy the little things'' rule number 47 in Zombie Survival guide :P

I had a slight hint about a decade ago because I was really having difficulty dealing with people.

But I shrugged it off, feeling a little better, and I didn't think about it again.

Then, about 5 years ago, I was beginning to feel very burnt out and irritable and was looking to change career, or just looking for something to change.

A colleague had been observing me for about a year and they said.

"I've been watching you all this time and I've noticed you don't read body language at all well. You don't notice when people are tired, bored, or upset. You interrupt and talk over people. You get moody about the smallest things. You're definitely autistic, maybe you should look into it"

My response was to chuckle, yeah maybe.

A while later, I finally realised/accepted that something was going on, so I went to my GP and 'demanded' a referral.

I suppose one sign was that I took a carrier bag of printouts, surveys, anecdotes to the surgery. They fortunately had no reservations about referring me.

As a child, I always had the loner/outsider thing. I often felt I was living in a movie and that people were merely interesting entities to observe and try to understand. There was a distinct sense of separateness.

Somehow, it all seemed to go unnoticed for nearly 5 decades...

My ex's friend is a carer working in hospice, she used to visit my ex regurarly, girls do that apparently, and after few of them she had a talk with my ex about possibility of me having autism, and together they convinced me to get a referal from my GP for tests. But then, for me, it was only empty words, until January this year, and joining this forum.

I had some friends at primary, but we moved area. Secondary made a couple of good friends who I am still friends with, but also suffered from HORRENDOUS bullying, Made zero friends at college. Uni was very difficult and I clung to a girlfriend until that ended. Made a few friends in my late 20s, but no new friends in the past 15 years.

It's quite weird, I had lots of friends at primary school, made some abusive friends at secondary school so dumped them, made some really nice friends in the Sixth Form and at university, I had a great social life. But I haven't made any since, that was 30+ years ago now...