Elemental

From what I read, many AS - ASD people work in jobs that are far below their capabilities or qualifications level, for precisely the same reasons you cite here: the work colleague relationships. It seems to me that not a whole lot can be found out for free about UK law generally, unless you visit the Citizens Advice Bureau. Maybe you can find something out about this from searching on the web? Even in my blue collar manual jobs, I often had issues with people I worked with so eventually I chose solo-working jobs or used employment agencies so's I wasn't stuck in the same routine with the same people for over-long. I likely would disclose my ASD now anyways to an employer.

Well done getting to here; three years is an amazingly long time to have waited. Hope it all goes well for you & your son

Hi It's good to hear you've benefited from gaining & researching diagnosis. Many people say that it's when they can accept & acknowledge & then work to accommodate their AS - ASD that life becomes a bit more manageable. It's true that many adults get their diagnosis after an offspring has been assessed & there do seem to be familial clusters of AS - ASD affected folk. All the best!

Hi again, When I first lapsed after 6 months abstinence I felt a lot of guilt & fear maybe, in starting drinking again. I found a new local AA & somewhere to rent & stopped drinking again for 18 months but like I say, I was totally obsessed with playing that MMO game & I couldn't do that intoxicated as it was maths based & I'm numbers dyslexic.. Any new friends which I have made, generally aren't massive drinkers & also any visiting is mainly in the day anyways. I rarely go to a pub although I will for food like Sunday Lunch & then maybe I'll have one drink. Any drinking that I do now, is generally alone & at home because I isolate quite a lot although I'm not unhappy in this state. I keep basic rules: no daytime drinking & weekday evenings preferably not either. What has become obvious to me since I accepted & learned about my ASD diagnosis is that intoxication is a potentially vulnerable state & It is an undeniable fact that any trouble I might get into would occur if at all, under intoxication. I had accidents when drinking sometimes; my poor co-ordination & lack of balance would be further impaired if I drunk to excess; I have collateral damage to my neck from diving into the shallow end of a pool (whilst sober) to deal with anyways & I'm as cagey about taking prescribed painkillers as I am about any drinking tbh As I can get anxieties when going out, a lot of the time I don't I get a lot of my social "fix" from visiting sites like this & I also used to do part time voluntary work in a local shop; if I'm occupied I can't fret so much. I'm hoping to start that again because I can go days without leaving my home, currently. Jobs that I previsouly had were generally ones where I worked alone & often after hours, to minimize social interaction. I think I would like to abstain from alcohol again & I miss the people in my AA group since I stopped going; I'm admiring / envious of your meditation work; I bought & read Meditation For Aspies & would like to try practicing this more.

Hi Mark, I just read a book called Aspergers & Alcohol - Drinking To Cope which is written by a UK guy & I recommend it; there are a lot of Aspergers Syndrome & Autistic Spectrum Disorder people who try to self medicate through drinking. I used alcohol on & off to cope with confidence & anxiety issues for years, to the point of dependency at times. I was diagnosed ASD in 1998 but didn't understand & so ignored my diagnosis for seventeen years. I literally forgot about it; I think in counselling sometimes I would disclose my dyslexia but the autism kind of faded out my mind. The turning point for me was when I started reading about autistic spectrum disorder stuff, watching films about the subject & coming onto a couple of the dedicated online forum sites like this one. It was only then, that I started to understood how this condition exists for me in my daily living & how I am affected by this & also, to know that we are not alone in what we experience! I went to AA too, for about 10 months & it helped me a lot; not just with my abstinence but also with learning about ways to be kinder to myself & slow myself down. I did abstain but I then shifted all my attention onto playing an online-team computer game; it was as much as an addiction problem as anything else & I used an Online Gamers Anonymous site to help with this, when I seemed unable to stop & stay away from it; it took two or three attempts until I finally managed it. AA was the start of allowing myself thinking space I would say; in the time since I first contacted them, I made a lot of life changing decisions & acted on them, so that I am in a much better & happier place than I was before. Also, my ASD is chaotic enough already; if I drink these days I do so cautiously & with awareness

Hi Mark, I just read a book called Aspergers & Alcohol - Drinking To Cope which is written by a UK guy & I recommend it; there are a lot of Aspergers Syndrome & Autistic Spectrum Disorder people who try to self medicate through drinking. I used alcohol on & off to cope with confidence & anxiety issues for years, to the point of dependency at times. I was diagnosed ASD in 1998 but didn't understand & so ignored my diagnosis for seventeen years. I literally forgot about it; I think in counselling sometimes I would disclose my dyslexia but the autism kind of faded out my mind. The turning point for me was when I started reading about autistic spectrum disorder stuff, watching films about the subject & coming onto a couple of the dedicated online forum sites like this one. It was only then, that I started to understood how this condition exists for me in my daily living & how I am affected by this & also, to know that we are not alone in what we experience! I went to AA too, for about 10 months & it helped me a lot; not just with my abstinence but also with learning about ways to be kinder to myself & slow myself down. I did abstain but I then shifted all my attention onto playing an online-team computer game; it was as much as an addiction problem as anything else & I used an Online Gamers Anonymous site to help with this, when I seemed unable to stop & stay away from it; it took two or three attempts until I finally managed it. AA was the start of allowing myself thinking space I would say; in the time since I first contacted them, I made a lot of life changing decisions & acted on them, so that I am in a much better & happier place than I was before. Also, my ASD is chaotic enough already; if I drink these days I do so cautiously & with awareness

You need a referral to an Autistic Diagnostic Service in your area & the National Autistic Society UK holds a lot of information online about their local branches, support services etc. I sought re-assessment following my original diagnosis in 1998 by going to my GP & requesting it. I had stage one a few weeks ago, there is a preliminary interview before the actual assessment. I don't know how your NHS is there but I waited over 10 months & stage two is still pending because they are really short staffed for this stuff here