indiscreet

March 5, 2014

I'm the same as Lilbec - like dogs but prefer cats.

February 27, 2014

From posts on this and other sites it would appear that diagnosis varies wildly between different parts of the country. It also seems to depend on age and how much financial or other support woiuld be involved if a positive diagnosis were to be given.

February 19, 2014

One of the most frustrating problems I find with the NAS is that whenever I raise the issue of support and services for people on the higher functioning end of the spectrum I find myself up against the parents of a person with severe traditional autism who dictate (for the want of a better description) that their family's needs are greater.

The problem is that when the NAS was formed it only dealt with children with "traditional autism" and though the organisation itself is making valient attempts to recognize the needs of those on the higher functioning end of the spectrum - and people diagnosed in adulthood - many parents of traditionally autistic children don't want to see a change in the status quo.

September 16, 2013

Are you working at the moment?

What do you think of paid employment?

Have you found your ideal career yet?

1. Retired.

2. Wouldn't have considered any other - how else would I have survived?

3. I never did.

May 9, 2013

I have to see my Dr next week but am at a loss what to say.

Object, tell him what you said in this post:

"Its really hard communicating things to anyone. I just want someone to step in and help me - but I don't know what that would be, who it would be or how to go about that."

:

May 6, 2013

Unfortunately in my area of London the waiting time for ANY therapy/treatment tends to dominate one's thoughts and actions.

May 6, 2013

Therapists have to go through a very rigorous training experience and they have to be constantly examining themselves and their practice, being aware of themselves, their emotions, their thoughts, prejudices and the issues that their clients bring. When they are faced with an AS client it's like they're trying to relate to a different species which is almost impossible.

Lupuscandenti, do you have the same problems when faced with an NT client?

April 27, 2013

I've recently found myself in a similar situation. My GP arranged for me to "see someone" about my anxiety and depression, which has recently worsened as a result of mobility problems. During the first session I realised that what I was being offered was CBT. During the second session I said that I felt I needed someone who was familiar with AS and that continuing would not be productive. I think to a certain extent the therapist was relieved and she is arranging for me to see someone else in a different facility.

Like you, I felt it was maybe unwise to stop the therapy since it means going on another waiting list but I reasoned that any time and effort invested in therapy that's non-productive is a waste of both the patient's and the therapist's time - and the Health Service money.

So I think you've done exactly the right thing and I hope everything goes well for you.

April 20, 2013

Some years ago I had CBT in connexion with my difficulties in social situations and being away from home I didn't find that it had any long-term effect.

I can see it working in situations like Willow-Tree's problems with bullying at school, since that's something specific and you don't have to be on the spectrum to suffer from anxiety/depression because of bullying. I wonder, though, whether in the case of people with autism/AS the problems are so intrinsic to the condition that CBT won't be effective - unless the therapist concentrates on helping the patient to find ways of living with the basic problem rather than attempting to eradicate it.

February 10, 2013

Lucky girl. If I was a J, I would get much more work done. I am guessing, considering you don't have significant mental ailments, that you are ambitious, hard-working and you feel a need for closure which helps you to complete tasks and goals to a high standard.

Ambitious and hard-working? Mmm - it depends. However, I do always feel a need for closure and, as you say, that helps me to complete tasks and goals to a high standard.

February 9, 2013

INTJ

Introvert 78%; Intuitive 25%; Intuitive Thinking 75%; Judging 67%.

January 3, 2013

Apart from this one I belong to Wrong Planet, Aspies Central and the NAS forum. WP and Aspies Central are my favourites.

I also visit the IMDb boards regularly and some 'special interest' ones.

January 2, 2013

,,, For the last 2 years, I've tried to raise awareness about what autism is for people to understand how to relate to my little boy and for people to understand that it can be a 'hidden' disability and that us girls can have it too. I was too outspoken from the start. I was too enthusiastic. I thought I could challenge perceptions and stereotypes and that people in RL would actually listen. However, it's all backfired. I'm not believed...

I can understand how disheartening it is, Lyndalou, but try not to let it get to you.

After I received a diagnosis I was happy to tell a few close friends and relatives thinking that this would explain certain 'oddities' in my behaviour over the years but (with just one exception) I found I wasn't believed. The reply to any examples of AS I gave was "Well, I'm a bit like that" and "I'm sure most people feel the same way." The fact is that most people who have no personal experience of autism - either in themselves or in family/friends - believe it's just the latest fad; people wear Asperger's Syndrome in the same way they would acquire the latest fashion accessory as well as using it as an excuse for criminal/anti-social behaviour.

The problem with children is that the discovery of childhood autism unfortunately coincided with the growth of a 'child-centred philopsophy' with regard to their upbringing so that NT children are often permitted to behave in a way very similar to those who are genuinely on the spectrum, with the result that among the general public there is a large amount of sceptism about the condition itself.

I don't think trying to explain what it's like being on the spectrum works any more successfully than trying to describe the aura that accompanies some severe migraines to people who've never suffered the effects. I know that sounds negative but that's the way I've come to see it.

December 28, 2012

I'll cast my vote for ASW as Mod, since I believe he would do a very good job. Go for it ASW!

December 26, 2012

Hi Jackliejacob, good to meet you.

December 25, 2012

Happy Christmas everyone and best wishes for 2013.

December 20, 2012

Best wishes to you too, Ben, and everyone else who interacts on this board.

December 14, 2012

Yes, it is good, well done, but recognising facial exp<b></b>ressions when one has time to study them and select from a list of possibles is relatively easy, where in real life the list isn't there and one generally cannot study people's faces for long.

I did well on your test with only one wrong guess, but I draw and so for the purpose of makes faces more interesting I have discovered much of what people express can be seen around the eyes, but looking at people's eyes in real life is problematic for some of us.

And so with me I discern what I do by tone of voice.

I also only had one wrong guess (the baby) but I agree that in real life one doesn't have the time to study the face in the way one can with a picture.

December 12, 2012

Yeah that seems off to me.

It's interesting to read old threads like Lancslad said as the subjects are usually still valid. Finding answers is one of the reasons why I use this forum! I'm actually going through a thread on another forum from 2008 about ways to transport a cake

But I wouldn't suddenly post on a thread that's years old about something not related to it even tenuously.

Exactly. It makes me furious to go into a thread because I'm interested in it's subject-matter only to find the latest post is on something completely different.

December 10, 2012

I'd say 'yes' if the new post is on the same subject; 'no' if it's about something quite different.

December 5, 2012

... in my experience of working at the ASD social groups those who have self diagnosed are just as valuable as those who have a formal diagnosis.....

This is is a support forum and claiming that self diagnosed folk are likely to lie is plain insulting.

I've never thought that those who have self-diagnosed are consciously lying but I do think that one can't be completely objective about oneself. It needs a professional with experience of the condition to make the diagnosis as happens with other mental an physical conditions. It is, after all, quite normal to be convinced our symptoms mean we have a particular disease only to find out (with relief) we were worrying unnecessarily so this could quite easily be the case with someone who has self-diagnosed.

Also, self-diagnosis affects the creditibility of autism/AS in the eyes of the general public who too often view it as "flavour of the month".

December 4, 2012

Nobody has made the point that self-diagnosis for adults shouldn't be necessary. It should be possible to obtain a diagnosis in the way one would with other mental and physical illnesses but it's all a question of cost - not just the cost to the NHS of obtaining a dx but the amount of financial and other support that might then be expected to follow a positive diagnosis.

It seems crazy to me that parents of a child with autism aren't automatically tested, not just for their benefit but to give researchers more information about the way it occurs in families.

I personally don't agree with self-diagnosis; it's much too easy to be subjective when filling in a questionnaire. Joining a forum to ask questions and learn is one thing but to give opinions and advice when you don 't even know if you have the syndrome is another.

December 2, 2012

If you had to ask me in what area in life do I feel the least empowered and capable as an individual I would without doubt say it is on forums such as this and in the company of young people with ASD, their parents or professionals from within the sector. It is the one environment where I feel my experience, knowledge and skills are completly negated and neautralised and it is why I very rarely post on the forum these days. It is also why I don't get involved in my local AS group which is run by parents as I do not feel welcomed.

This needed saying LancsLad, and I admire your frankness.

I think one of the problems is that older people who come on boards like this one have learnt to come to terms with the NT world; which doesn't mean we don't still have a great many problems but we've managed to make a life for ourselves. To parents who are struggling with the day-to-day problems of sometimes quite severely autistic children it probably seems that people like us are more or less on a different planet. There's also the widespread belief held by both professionals and others that we are not "really on the spectrum" and have only obtained a diagnosis because the parameters have been altered.

December 2, 2012

Its so difficult not to get stressed out and angry towards him.

Maybe you SHOULD get angry towards him.

November 23, 2012

Test Result: 126 points.

Your result is broken down into various factors to give you some insight into your result.

Category: Difficulty Identifying Feelings: 23 Points <15 - 18>