lupuscandenti

Hullo Bluebottle, I came on here this morning to talk about my own issues but your post caught my eye. I'm not sure i can be of much help to what you are asking for but i have also heard of people in Suffolk discovering that there is no virtually no service for ASD diagnosis, support etc. especially for teenagers and adults. Perhaps i should give some more background info... I was diagnosed with AS last year (although obviously i was born with it) and have also just completed my PG Dip in person-centred counselling at the UEA, i also live in Norfolk. Now I am a newly qualified therapist (MBACP) I was really drawn to your comments about spending half of your time dealing with people affected by ASD and related issues. Because of my insight into such issues i am looking to develop my career as a therapist in this area and hopefully do some research on it when i come to do my MA in a couple of years. My personal experience of AS and my different way of thinking really helps me empathise with some of my AS clients and i feel that i have a unique perspective on therapy and ASD. I was wondering how you find the Human Givens Approach works for your clients on the spectrum? BTW i was not aware of this approach before i read your post but it sounds very very interesting. One of my classmates at UEA has a young teenage son she strongly suspects of being AS and she has also reported to me the lack of service in Suffolk, perhaps she might be able to do something to help, i'll email her the link to your post. I wish you the best of luck in setting up your new clinic.

Have just realised what a brilliant question you have just asked me. Thanks.

Hullo Indiscreet, I certainly have more trouble relating to my NT clients. I try to focus on their emotions and reflect this back to them even though i have no idea what it must be like to be going through what issues they're bringing to the session. My aim is to get as close as i can to my client's 'frame of reference' and it is just much easier for me to understand an AS point of view and the logic and process that backs this point of view up. I do, however, have a strong belief in humans (NT or AS) and try to concentrate on the similarities that we all experience as members of the human species. I appreciate the frustration of waiting times for therapy or treatment. Having an idealistic and pure idea of the good that therapy can do for people makes me feel sad that we live in a culture that is based around money not people's needs. I think i would be equally frustrated if i were in your position, i wish you luck in finding what you want.

Just another thought. Feels like a real shame that both Object and Indiscreet seem to have been more concerned with waiting lists and other practical non therapeutic issues. It's like you haven't been given the opportunity to relax in the therapy and really connect with the process over a longer period.

Object, I hope i'm not too late with this topic. I haven't been on here for a while. It might interest you to know that i am on the verge of becoming a qualified person-centred therapist. Yes a therapist that is diagnosed with AS. I have been practicing for about 4 months now and have counselled both AS and NT clients. I feel that i have done good work with most of my clients but have really felt a deep connection to the AS clients. No surprises there. I feel that i really get my AS clients where i feel that NT therapists will never get as close as i do to clients with AS. I have also been a client in various therapies myself over the years and have had similar experiences to you, they just didn't understand my way of thinking. In my humble opinion the NT therapist will never fully get you and i think we all know why, they simply cannot relate to your experiences and way of thinking, it's alien to them, they don't think in the same way. Don't get me wrong i'm not pointing the finger at NT therapists and saying there not doing it right, it's just the way it is. 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. Actually you probably know all this already, sorry got carried away with my own stuff........as usual. Perhaps what i'm trying to say to you is that i understand your feeling of frustration at the NT perspective of your CBT sessions and i wish i could provide some sessions of therapy for you as a fellow aspie and therapist.

If I can just survive and pass my first year at uni, that would be grand.

Cbt has been useful for me in the past. It is quite an objective kind of therapy, which makes it easier to understand for someone that has trouble connecting with their emotional side. I think the key thing is to see it as the start of a lifelong journey of learning about yourself and not to expect many huge revelations but a gradual shift to becoming a more rounded person and not as depressed. If you can get into the habit of filling in your thought journal or thought records this will really help you and don't forget to look back and note your achievements as you go along. Good luck with it.

Hullo Sa Skimrande, Wow, sounds like a real moment of clarity. What your describing sounds to me (and my person centred ways) like Carl Rogers actualising tendency. Rogers believed that every living entity has a sort of in built life force that drives organism forward to be the best that it can be in the environment that it finds itself in. I guess that this sort of philosophy is also present in many eastern cultures and religion.

trekster, Just read your post. Wow, thank you for articulating so clearly. It's funny (peculiar) how similar and how different we aspies are. Some of what you said really resonated with me especially the passively accepting things only to get frustrated and overloaded later on. I'm always doing this when i feel i 'should' do something because that 's what everyone else wants to do.

Thanks Darkshine and Sa Skimrande, Your words have had a positive impact on me and i'll be going into campus today with a shifted attitude and renewed vigour. thanks again.

Thanks Sa Skimrande, It was really good receiving your reply, i needed to know that someone had read my rant. thanks. I like your point about logic and i wish i could adhere it to this little problem. Unfortunately person centred counselling is not based on logic or fact and there is nothing measurable about it either. My main problem is relating to my peers on the course. I really like them all but i have major difficulties seeing other people's points of view. For example, i have a strong belief that i am special but it doesn't occur to me that other people might believe that about themselves too, it's come as a real jolt when they tell me this and i end up feeling stupid for not noticing or being aware. Maybe i've chosen the wrong subject to study because becoming a person centred counsellor is all about awareness. I'm definitely not giving up though, possibly to the annoyance of my peers right now. I'm determind to reach some sort of understanding and that means talking about it and possibly going through some painful relaisations.

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Hullo All, Been a while since the last posting as i have started my PG Dip at Uni. Wow it's really intense and have been struggling with a few things not least my ability to resist, deny or distort sudden changes. Part of my clinical diagnosis report said that i would find it difficult to change my view on something even in the light of new information. My question is: How do people react to sudden changes even if, deep down, you know there's nothing you can do about them? Even when i have thought i have known something (static fact) and then some additional information comes to light and this fact changes it can often take me months or even years to accept this change. It's annoying the hell out of peers at uni right now and because we sit around in circles for hours on end they have had opportunities to tell me this. I feel so confused because i thought i knew who i was and i now i haven't got a clue anymore, it really really hurts. Have had two major meltdowns in the last two weeks and my head aches from all the banging it against things. I really want to walk out of the course right now but something is keeping me going.......i wonder what it is?

Sugaring Season by Beth Orton