New person!

[Cathleigh]

Hi, my name's Catherine and I'm 20. I joined this ASD forum yesterday: today I'll write a little about myself.

 

I'm undiagnosed at the moment, but I'm on the waiting list for an assessment. My parents started getting me assessed when I was about 3: after a few months I'd started acting 'normally', however, and my brother was starting to present with strong signs of autism, so my parents stopped my assessment. I got reassessed when I was 9: my school sent a report saying that I was their top student and had friends (this is a complete lie: nobody accepted me into their social group until I was 12), so a psychologist said that if it weren't for that piece of evidence, she'd say that I was Aspie. With my brother's autism affecting our everyday lives so much, no more thought was given to getting me a diagnosis - I just stayed as being 'odd' and 'eccentric' until about three months ago, when I decided to get a diagnosis. When I started university, I made friends with a girl who'd been recently diagnosed. Sometimes when I talk with her, some of my Aspie traits come out (e.g. hand flapping, talking without having to think about whether or not my words and delivery are appropriate, my eyes drifting away from hers). We talked about her diagnosis, and about how I wondered if I was Aspie (it's been on my mind since I was 14). Shortly before the Easter holidays I decided to try again for an assessment, if anything to put my mind at rest a little.

 

So... that's where I am in terms of diagnosis. I hope that that wasn't too long to read!

 

Other things about me: I'm a university student, reading psychology. I love the subject, and I have really good friends here who accept me and my oddities. I really like university life, so far I'm coping without any problems. I lived in halls in first year - I didn't get on well with my hallmates, but I enjoyed having my own space and living my own life. This year I'm living in a house with three friends, and next academic year I'll be living in a different house with three other friends. It's nice having them there, although it's also nice to have the house to myself when they're out.

 

With regard to relationships, I have people that I get on with, a few who I don't, good friends, and really close friends. I did have a brief romantic relationship, but that fell apart (it took me a month to tell him how I felt, he left me for someone else after a week - it took me a long time to get over that). I love my friends dearly, but I can't handle them all at the same time - one-on-one social situations are brilliant, when there are two or more I tend to get flustered and unsure, even if they're both good friends. That said, I like being with groups of friends, although even then I tend to talk to them individually.

 

I'm fairly noise-sensitive: I can hear things from a fair distance away, and noises nearby hurt my ears - I often have to (or am sorely tempted to) stick my fingers in my ears when I flush the toilet or turn on a hand drier. I bought a new camera the other day, I nearly dropped it when the noise of the lens zooming in and out was too loud for me. I'm fairly touch-sensitive too: if people touch me unexpectedly, it feels intensely unpleasant. My mum used to do massage on me: when I started involuntarily spasming and crying from the 'not-pain', she eventually gave up. That said, I love hugs - the tighter the better.

 

I think that's all I'll say for now, I hope that that wasn't too boring to read. Thank you for reading!

[smiley1590]

hey cath

 

im 21 year old female i was officially diagnosed at 14 years old with A.S i can relate you as sensory issues hearing noises far away bother irrate you even though in the distance it annoys you and can't block out or shut down the noise completely noises are painful like pins in your ears drums beating in youe ears that won't go away or shift no matter what you do no matter how small the noise it so loud to our ears .

 

odd and eccentric are often words used to explain how we come across in society to the 'norms' in their world when you explain how much you dislike unexpected touch on your body i'm exactly the same too i can manage or cope if i am one to do it! i think your on the right path /direction with assessment for A.S! alot of what you've explain socially not being 'accepted' sensory issues with noises and touch which also sensory issues are VERY A.S connected /linked and common so good on you for plunking up the courage to go back 2nd time for assessment! takes alot of bravery to come forward again!

 

with your brother having autism it's higher possibility you have A.S.D lurking in the background hidden ( genetic factor of A.S.D) and has been skipped past missed which common situation early teens is when things start to become more noticable and problematic as puberty and other stuff starts rising it ugly head and realise more and more how 'different' you are to your peer group and others around you! that's hard face head on which why i think you brave courageous!

 

have you read any books written by people with A.S? has your unviersity noticed any struggles /difficulties? do your parents get any support with your brother's autism? does your brother have severe autism? what age was he officially diagnosed?

 

XKLX

[RainbowsButterflies]

Hi and welcome

[Cathleigh]

Thanks! Earlier I was helping a friend in a psychology study and he got me to listen to beeping sounds and rate how annoying they were - I found them much less annoying when they were presented one after the other, and I could feel a soft pattern to them. The other person doing the experiment at the same time just said that the noises were annoying. Maybe he didn't detect a pattern?

 

I remember being about 11 and reading an autobiography by someone with AS - I think it was called 'An Alien in the Playground' or something similar - about 20 pages in I realised that I was just like this person, and I felt really mixed up and frustrated and refused to read any more. I think I knew that I was different, but didn't want to admit that. Even when I did start seriously wondering if I had AS, I denied it quite a few times when my Mum went anywhere near the subject. It felt to me like I wasn't normal and therefore good enough. I'm overcoming this, though - having a close Aspie friend has certainly helped!

 

My university hasn't picked up on anything, but that said we have very few contact hours, and I manage to get my essays and reports handed in on time. One teacher at school when I was about 12 mentioned to my mum that there was something 'different' about me in that I stared too intensely, but nothing ever came from this.

 

My brother's 18 now: he was diagnosed when he was 2 and a half. My parents started noticing that there was something different about him when he got to about 14 months and started regressing (eating plants, no longer making eye contact, spinning things): some doctors said that he was deaf, some said that my parents had isolated him and made him this way, and even when autism was suggested, some said that my parents 'wanted' him to be autistic. We did get some support as a family: a support worker took him for an hour each week, and from the age of 6 we'd get one night a week's respite care. Since he was 12 and I was 14, he's been attending boarding school: he comes home every 10 days, stays with my parents for 4 days, then goes back. It works well for all of us. I used to feel guilty about him not being with us all of the time, but his behaviour's improved since he attended the school, and Mum, Dad and I could be 'people' rather than constantly being 'parents-and-sister', if that makes sense.

[Kathryn]

Hi Catherine

 

Welcome to the forum. I hope you find it a useful and friendly place to be.

 

It's interesting to hear about your university experiences as my own daughter is about to start next year and I worry about how she'll manage, especially making friends, finding people to share a house with etc. It's good to hear that you've coped well and been happy by the sound of things.

 

K x

Edited June 10, 2011 by Kathryn

[Aeolienne]

I remember being about 11 and reading an autobiography by someone with AS - I think it was called 'An Alien in the Playground' or something similar - about 20 pages in I realised that I was just like this person, and I felt really mixed up and frustrated and refused to read any more.

That would be Martian in the Playground by Clare Sainsbury.

And yes, she is related to the supermarket chain. This is her father.