aleph_nought

I drink way more than that. Five cups of (strong) coffee a day minimum. An invaluable aid to getting up in the morning! Is it possible to ask whoever told you to restrict your intake what they mean by 'normal'?

Night.

Something which I find a problem is that, because I can do some things in life very well, people find it very hard to get their heads round the idea that there are some everyday things I find very difficult. I encounter this both with friends and with people I just happen to meet in the course of life. For example, the other day, I was almost shouted at by someone in a railway ticket office when I was having difficulty understanding the rules for applying for a student railcard. I think that he might have thought that I was either being deliberately difficult, or that I was lying about being a PhD student (how could I be, and be *that* stupid?) - but, then, trying to work out out what was going on with him was part of the problem. It was a very stressful situation, and I completely melted down afterwards. I ended up kicking a bench in the station, and then sitting down, shaking and taking a quarter of an hour to read the short leaflet he'd given me. Other less bad examples are frequent: I get disbelieving looks when I tell people that I find certain 'basic' things stressful (doing more than one thing at once, being in crowds, managing money). Because my problem with this stuff is invisible, it's very difficult to 'prove' to people that there's an issue. How do others deal with this sort of thing?

I'm doing a PhD, hoping for an academic career. Personally, I'd second the suggestion about deferring a year. Most unis will be fine with this, and it means there will be more time to make a definite decision.

School

I'm having CBT at the moment. Personally, I'm finding it useful.

Sounds like the right attitude. Hope it goes well.

Hi Ben, I'm 32, with a history that sounds very similar to yours in many ways. I eventually saw my GP about the issue, and have recently been diagnosed with AS by a psychiatrist. Personally, I found it a great relief putting a name to the 'oddness' I'd always felt about myself, and am now getting help for some traits which cause me problems - perhaps more importantly, I'm also recognising that AS brings with it some real benefits. I'm good academically at things I enjoy - the challenge is to channel that ability, and overcome the other hurdles. If I were you I'd see your GP. It sounds as though there's some stuff that's causing you problems, and whether or not its because of an ASD is worth checking out.

I'm currently getting CBT. Obviously the way it works with adults may be different, but I've not found that I've been asked to 'imagine' things in a way that I find difficult. Basically the idea is to develop a variety of techniques (some of which will work better for some people than others, whether NT or on the spectrum) to help change patterns of thinking which have been causing problems. In my case, for example, I'm addressing an automatic tendency to think catastrophically. If anything, I would think people on the spectrum are more likely to warm to CBT than NT people, since the methods used tend to play to our strengths - thinking things through in a logical, systematic way. As I say, it is no doubt slightly different with children, but I hope this helps.

Hi I'm new here. I'm a 32 year old man, recently diagnosed with Asperger's following a bout of depression and some relationship issues. I have to say that the diagnosis came as a great relief. I'd always realised that there was something a bit 'different' about me, and it's good to be able to put a name to it. I don't see having AS as a bad thing at all - many traits, such as the ability to focus on detail, work in my favour. Other things are more of a problem; I'm currently getting CBT/ OT help for them. So that's me. Hello.