Who has been through adult diagnosis?

[Boy]

Lots of female autistics have no interest in make up and can be quite tomboyish, although some can have make up and fashion as special interests.

[Jannih]

I get the impression that it is quite common for females with ASD, not to be interested in make-up and wear "Tom-Boy clothes"

 

As for me. During the day and at work, I never wear make up, but I do like to look reasonably feminine. Until recently I used to wear loose, float, slightly eccentric but stylish clothes. As I have got older, I have started to wear clothes that show off my shape but are still comfortable, but nothing tarty.

 

If I go out anywhere nice in the evening, I do wear make up and enjoy dressing up.

[eco88 or joe]

Hi all, please bear with me as this is my second post, and I'm suffering from somelong standing formal thought disorder /and reduced mental faculty thing.

 

Firstly thanx to everyone who makes this site what it is, the site administrators, users, etc... I've already read many interesting things. I looked up MMR, and I concluded confidently with my good scientific background that there seems to be very, very little science suggesting the vaccine can causes ASDs.

 

Here follows a brief story about my very recent HFA diagnosis and a little background about me: I've been told I probably do have Higher Functioning Aspergers and "that the assessment does confirm you have difficulties as part of Aspergers syndrome". I now am 200 % positive, after researching HFA, that I have it.

I went to Winchester Assessment Clinic very recently, for a 3-4 hour assessment afternoon with a clinical psychologist. Beforehand after they'd received the referral I was sent a pack with questionnaires for me and someone like my Mum to do, which was my Mum. It also asked for a little written history from someone like a longstanding carer, like my mum, and that's what she did. It took her a week and a half to do her written piece, as she works hard, and she had to think really quite hard. A big reason she had to think so hard is because my Mum had a very small knowledge about Aspergers. I as well had next to no knowledge about Aspergers and therefore, I'd never associated the possibility of any of my difficulties and history, being to do with Aspergers. I'd never though about Aspergers properly. I now know that from the time Aspergers was first mentioned in my care, me and my mum should have started to read and research about it, as no one else I've known cpn, str workers, support workers, psychiatrist etc... would or could credibly and confidently say anything about it.

 

The clinic asked that someone like my mum/parent/carer come along to the assessment, which she did. The clinic is a small 70/80s house in a suburb just outside Winchester city centre, with non-contemporary decor, and no signage or official clinical paraphanalia anywhere in the house/clinic. It was a bit surprising, but it's a great environment for children to be assessed at.

 

End of Part 1 as my PC timed out last time

Edited January 26, 2011 by eco88 or joe

[eco88 or joe]

Part 2

 

The doctor who assessed me seemed profficient to me, and I know I have a good experience of deailing with service providers. She made us drinks straight away and didn't go immediately straight down to business.

 

She then asked me and my Mum questions about me: my very early speech development, mobility development, dexterity development, did I have any good friends in Infant School, how did i find infant school, how was/is my handwriting, ability to understand when people were/are upset, not acting really inappropiately to people relative to their emotional state (something like that), my toys, so wot type of toys did I play with, did I arrange/display my toys, how much I read, do i notice sounds or smells that other people don't or before they do, do I manage to look after myself and my home. What activities do I do at the moment, do i have any good friends at the moment, do I have many good friends, do I do rituals, do I feel compelled to do ritualistic type behaviour. She asked and we spoke about a fair bit more which I add in the future.

 

Me and my Mum often diverged from just giving direct answers to her questions, and we elaborated and spoke many different things to those that she was asking about. She didn't stop us and continued to make notes. I feel I mistakenly said things and ommitted many important things retrospectively after my recent thorough research of HFA, and the same for my Mum. The assessment was a catalyst to us finding out/learning/and figuring how HFA fitted in and helped explain things. So we learnt very little really about HFA from the clinical psychologist, so the assessments are all about getting a very conclusive report and negative or positive diagnosis, to be used by care and support service providers. So if you're about to go to an assessment I think you should starting reading up on your suspected condition. For me I firstly searched for the dictionary definition of Aspergers and Higher Functioning aspergers on google, which agve me a webpage with definitions from a medical encyclopedia, a few different types of dictionary, and a few source type defintions. I then just googled Aspergers and HFA and found out loads. Here's a couple links http://www.yourlittleprofessor.com/teen.html http://www.aspergerssyndrome.net/aspergers%20syndrome.htm[/b]

Edited January 26, 2011 by eco88 or joe

[eco88 or joe]

Part 3 My background in the following 3 paragraphs, slightly tedious but relevant. More thoughts on everything are to come.

 

I've always had social anxiety from an early age, I had no good friends in my early years of schooling, I was deemed intelligent and did well at schoolwork and had highly above average general knowledge, from an early age. I was averse to my domineering, dominating, demonstrative older brother (by 2 years). I was a mummy's boy, I had little interaction with my dad (he might've had HFA). I definitely had a below average level of wellbeing relative for my age, from an early age, which seemed to get worse and I guess did through my life.

 

I wasn't sporty but was fit and athletic enough to do okay at sports. My hand-eye co-ordination has alwys been bad though. Things carried on much the same in Junior school. Secondary school with the 1000 kids and 50 staff and big site was difficult from day one. Things again carried on the same until my brother shared a spliff with me when I was 13, I then progressed over that year to eventually smoking a spliff or 2 a day on average (low grade hash/low grade cannabis). I then tried to be cool, I often had a serious face, and my forehead would ache from this, partly as I didn't wear my glasses a lot, because I was worried about my appearance etc... Over the years i'd made many friends none of them good and moved from one group to another, and had spoken to 90% of my school years pupils at least a couple times many much more than that.

 

I only enjoyed cannabis for the first few months, and then I acted aversely on it, it would shut me up, make some weird anxious state, slight paranoia, relatively ever so slight dopiness in the classroom. I've never enjoyed one bit ever since, but continued to smoke it hen with friends as that's what they did, and focused on, not sports, booze, harder drugs, etc... I then started to suffer properly, continued to get above averqage grades, still called very intelligent by many people, and had a great general knowledge.

 

Sorry I'll be briefer. I felt like I was more an adult than a kid who could enjoy himself. I didn't follow the trends and talk about the things all my peers and age group did. I became depressed, became anxious and mentally inhibitted in my dads and brothers company. I dropped out of college, I was very anxious and mentally inhibited there so after a couple months I dropped out, and disappeared from the social radar. I stayed in my for 90% of the days for 3 weeks, I then saw gp then psychiatrist at 16, he diagnosed me with non-organic psychosis, he didn't notice my anxiety or anything else (ahhhh!). Put on anitpsychotic, made me feel weird so stopped takin it, then admitted to mental hospital, voluntary on PICU (for some reason) for a week, I asked them to leave. Watched TV and pottered about for a year, bmx (I was always bad at it, and fear the pain) and some friends. Then ran away to local buddhist monastery suicidal, they let me stay for 3 nights, took to buddhism very briefly wanted to become a monk. Felt better for couple days then same old.

 

Tried college and OU 3 more times dropped out of all. Pushed my mum and raised fist at her partner, which they saw as psychotic aggressive behaviour so, stayed with people and saw psychiatrist, antipsychotics, then I came on to my half sister (incestual), then a couple days later I went into hospital, upped the drug dose, 5 months, then council flat. Then college, dropped out, then hosptial, still no generalised anxiety diagnosis or anything other htan depression or psychosis being mentioned. 5 months in hospital 7 different drugs, then rehab/share home, then everyone was concluding i didn't have psychosis. put me on lithum.

 

By the way i never discerned any beneficial effect from any of the 14 medication drugs I've been on. And I lost weight whilst being plied with drugs, very rare, as I was focused on eating extremely healthy, they thought sign of possible OCD. Got fit as lived by gym and swimming pool, not big and muscly. Then was finally just on escitalipram (the most effective SSRI anitdepressant), then Generalised anxiety disorder, and Pregabalin (new epilepsy drug for GAD). Then struggled all year, regressing mental faculties getting worse, fatter, pressure sores, smoking, takeaways, reclusivity, strong irrational negativity towards mum. Then referral happened.I've always been negative about things and people, this progressively became worse. I was irrationally very frustrated and became critical of my mum, the only person I ever put any dependence on in a way.

 

A couple months on the night if my mum telling me about how she was thinking about splitting with her partner, I suddenly started to feel and get better, after years of being suicidal, hating myself, frustration at my mum, reclusivity, doing barely anything, It seem I was recovery progressively, and slowly every day. And have been since then, I feel the improvements happening progressively all the time. So now I just take 20mg of Fluoxetine both my choice everyday, still have a way to go before socialising more, doing family more, volunteering, exercising, DIY etc...

 

The link yourprofessor.com/teens has a list of problems aspie teens suffer with and i suffered with all of them, the sexuality one from an early age, never stalking type behaviour really though.

Edited January 26, 2011 by eco88 or joe