hi, new here

[merman]

Not 100% sure I've got Aspergers just highly convinced

[philipo]

Not 100% sure I've got Aspergers just highly convinced

forget the aspergers label to start with.Examine the general and clear physical symptoms of autisim/asd/aspergers.Pay attention to dietary problems and types of learning difficulty.Most people with asd have a unique mix of symptoms that vary from any 'norm' for the disability.The general awareness of the disability is very low and until the last few years.Try and be as objective as you can,examine your reactions to light and sound,insomnia,anxiety.Most of the singular symptoms of asd can easily be misinterpreted as mental illnessnes and so you should be very cautious.Unfortunatley the nhs is abysmal at understanding asd so you'll have to take your time.This website is probably the best fountain of knowledge on the subject but remember that awareness is still in its early days so unless you are non verbal and screaming at noises or running around like a headless chicken flapping your hands then theres little chance the nhs will help you.If the nhs do decide to help you then you face a mountanous struggle against so called specialists who are indoctrinated with very ancient interpretations and definitions of asd,like autisim and aspergers.Remember this is the best place to understand asd so take your time and hold back on any self diagnosis.It may be worthwhile looking at general mental illnesses to keep a balanced veiw .Fill in your profile a bit more as there as certain clear common interests/hobbies/obsessions with asd.keep happy.

[Keimeren]

Not 100% sure I've got Aspergers just highly convinced

 

 

Hello I have just joined this forum as well I was diagnosed on wednesday this week I had noticed some similarities between aspergers and myself after watching a tv episode of Embarresing Bodies and I followed thier advice by trying out a aperger test on thier webstie which is still there now, I went to my gp and explained the result and also we looked at my past history with agorophobia and anxiety and panic attacks, he wrote a referral letter for me and a few month later I was seen by a specialist.

 

I would recommend trying a few of the recognised tests which you can find by going to the net and searching for them and take you time to be honest with the test and even if its an answer you dont feel like admitting to yourself be honest and fill it in.

 

Go to your gp and discuss it with them and explain what issues you have had in the past and see what the gp suggests, I found that my GP was more open to the idea when I explained issues I had with social skills, and described my childhood if you go armed with the right sort of information and evidence you will get taken seriously rather than some GP's can be quiet obtuse and reluctant to a paitient telling them what they need and require, normally the younger the Doctor the easier it is to get your point accross.

 

Its well worth it knowing and being able to accept the reason behind some of your actions, than the doubt and self critisism that can go hand in hand with Aspergers I was dianosed at 34 and have been living with the problems and social awkwardness of Aspergers which has taken me over 17 years to get diagnosed, I always knew there was something different/wrong with me, and now I feel relieved, a little confused still as I have questions but I have to wait for a few Asperger groups and specialists to now make contact with me, but know there is a reason now I can accept things that trigger effects like Anxiety and panic rather than feeling ashamed and alone.

[philipo]

Hi you've done very well at understanding your asd and can really reap the beautifull rewards.I 'm glad your gp was understanding and up to date with his/her understanding of asd,unfortunatly most NHS trusts are in the dark ages are far more inclined to treat undiagnosed asd as anxiety/depressive/inferioty complex style disorders.I only found out and realised my asd last autumn at 48 years ,depite repeatly complaining about the strong symptoms to my gp for thirty odd years,but I do live in the crapualnt north where the best place for help seems to be sheffeild,certainly not Manchester,Rochdale or West Yorkshire,its not even a postcode lottery for diagnosis its all about how much a local NHS trust(sick)is prepared to spend,at least in a postcode lottery you could get a winning ticket after 30 years.Congratulations to you getting help and to your gp for showing such perception and insight and welcome to this amazing site that is the pinnacle of progrees in the subject of asd's.Well done and don't be afraid of anymore big challenges in your life.

p.s.dont wait around for others to contact you(a typical apathetic response after years of being dismissed by the so called proffesional)if you want to ask anything ask it on this site,its the best!!!good luck.

Edited June 17, 2011 by philipo

[charlotte]

welcome all

[Keimeren]

Thanks Philipo,

 

I will give them the 10 days or so do send the letters to me and my GP but I will chase them, I respect what you say about budgets and postcodes but the gp I have contacted thier partners trust and actually paid for me to go to a different NHS region for me to be assessed, unfortunately I have since managed to track down a few reports regarding the established care system inplace for people with ASD in my city, its a bit concerning but there are little to no funds made available for adults here it the section I found so far

 

"Current Service Issues

People with Asperger Syndrome without significant psychiatric co-morbidity are currently excluded from accessing mental health/learning disability services. This means that not only are people unable to access diagnostic assessment, if they do

experience problems, they are also unable to receive prompt, timely intervention. The consequence being that services are typically only available at the point of crisis, which is both unhelpful and expensive.

 

If people with ASC do manage to access mainstream health and social care provision, due to a widespread lack of specialist training and expertise with regard to autism amongst frontline staff, their needs are poorly understood, leading to them receiving services which can be ineffective, inappropriate, and potentially harmful.

 

Due to various recent policy initiatives (including the Autism Act, the National Autism Strategy and the statutory guidance), this situation is becoming increasingly untenable.

 

However, the lack of additional investment from central Government means that any solution will have to be low-cost and sustainable. This means that for the most part, the needs of adults with ASC should be met within existing services.

 

• However, two problems remain:

• Significant competency gap amongst frontline staff with regard to how to work effectively and efficiently with people with autism.

• Existing services will not be able to offer diagnostic assessment and preventative treatment, accessible from primary care

• This care pathway attempts to solve these problems by recommending the creation of small, multi-agency, jointly commissioned specialist ASC teams, with a remit to provide two broad areas of activity:

 

i) Workforce support to agencies across the care pathway (including health, social care and voluntary sector organisations) involved in providing services to people with ASC, via:

• Supervision clinic to enable professionals in secondary mental health/learning disability services to properly diagnose & manage people with ASC

• Provision of comprehensive, ongoing programme of training and awareness-raising to front-line staff across care pathway, targeted to meet the specific training needs of different organisations

• Consultation/liaison service to local social care & voluntary sector agencies working with people with ASC, to enable them to obtain:

• Ongoing, specialist advice about specific cases

• Support to adapt their services to enable them to be more appropriate and accessible to people with ASC

• Partnership working with relevant stakeholders to develop and implement a range of local initiatives to improve the quality of life of people with ASC, and reduce levels of social exclusion.

 

ii) Direct work with people with ASC who are not able to access existing provision due to the absence of significant psychiatric co-morbidity and/or learning disability, including:

• Diagnostic service, accessible from primary care

• Comprehensive package of post-diagnostic support for people with ASC and their

families/carers"

 

obviously since this full report on autism support was issued "only included ASC above" I have been able to be seen, and have just to wait for the paperwork to filter through re the contact from support workers and a few autism groups that are catering for people with Aspergers by trying to incorperate them into exsisting groups and programs

[philipo]

thanks for your hard work digging that statement out Kiermeran.To me It just reinforces what probation and mental health workers have know for years which is as long as the sufferer is not causing any social problems for the normal people then they really could'nt be bothererd if the sufferers and their families endure more discrimination .It does reinforce a veiw that its a biological war and that very little will be done unless asd'rs (mostly undiagnosed) start going postal in shopping malls.It may seem a bit extreme and as a parent I fully agree that the young should have priority , but after 30 years of this c)))p my patience is sorely tried and I don't think anything will realistically be done.I've been waiting for 6 months for an appointment with a congnitive shrink ,everytime my care worker rings the nhs they come out with extra bull about why its going to take an extra month.I wonder how many undiagnosed asd'rs have commited suicide?The nhs would say none,they all were suffering from extreme depression and 'suicidal mania',just to keep their pr and statistics machines going . I'm giving the great 'society' till christmas 2012 then i will disappear off the face of the map .last year as a result of a motorbike accident where i received spinal and head injuries and a crushed left lung (thank you Dr Porter you are the main actor in your own experiment!)(as well as dumping my intellectually challenged ex) I ended up killing fish and rabbits and living in the woods for three months to survive without money ,sleeping bag or a basic daily diet,and all because i can't understand forms with boxes or days of the week.i lived out again most of the last winter in sub zero temperatures because i had to stay away from the vampirish junkies at the 'homless 'hostel' and was treated as a suspect junkie/alkie by the health service ,who concluded since i was homeless i must be asking for medication for a drug habit.i did'nt recive my planned physio or mri scan ,despite what is obviously damage to the brachius nerves in my neck .LUCKILY asd'rs diagnosed or otherwise are capable of enduring extreme physically and mental pain and when push comes to shove are capable of hunting and killing and stalking using their excellent low light skills and extreme sensitivity to sound to great advantage.I am still suffering svere pain in my neck and breathing difficulties but am obviously completly untrusting of the nhs even though I've been ambalaunced to hospital twice with breathing problems in the last 6 months.Learning to be pragmatic I have been burying stockpiling food and materials for my future survival since november last year so whatever happens I'll be able to live for at least three months without getting too thin.Whats more is I LOVE IT,living in the woods on my own not talking to no one for weeks setting snares and traps ,stalking and using a throwing stick and homade bow and arrow to clobber big fat wood pigeons.Is this whats called co morbidity? or is it just the result of a biological war against asd'rs .Anyway lets wait for the nhs jobsworths .I think the queen should give me a gong for being so patient and not killing a doctor. The future is pretty much like the past and unless asd'rs create a massive stink then we'll all be sat here next year stuck in the nearly same position and thw widespread holocaust of asd will continue.Come next year I will introducing some policy initives of my own if I get no practical help.But until then I must be positive as I am basically a very nice talented and loving warm person and now I understand I have asd I'm a hundred times more deadlyer than I ever was,shame about understanding time and days of the week and reading text with boxes in it!I have even less need for these skills thesedays.But above all this terrible time for me I'm so glad and gratefull for this website and will continue to put my penneth of experience on the pile as long as it helps others.For the literary minded compare the NHS paperwork machine with the 'norm setters' in the russian Soldyanitzens 'Gualg Archeopelo'.

[Keimeren]

This sounds like a very experience filled life you have had, I can respect the whole survival thing but living in the wild and being so independant isn't something I would ever be able to deal with but then I think we all develope coping strategies in different stressfull situations.

 

You mentioned that you ended a relationship you had had but do you have a network of family near to you ?, my family are extremely self obsessed and useless and ironically it me that has to organise and sort them out all the time although I am emotionally unsupportive I can sort out forms paperwork and day to day administration and deal with stressful things they can't cope with as I have the orginisational skills of a facist dictator as I have adapted in some ways with my Aspergers but struggle more than other people with AS in other areas.

 

I have had a few issues with my life and my past ranging from a emotionally abusive childhood where I was regulary told I was a disappointment not planned and not wanted as my father was divorced before he met my mother and had custody of his 4 children when she moved in with them, my birthday is 3 months after thier wedding aniversary. and if it wasn't for my mothers father threatening to shoot him unless he married her he was planning to tell everyone I wasn't his and where we live in our village my mother seeing a divorcee was unacceptable, since then there have been a few other things I wont discuss in a forum as they are inappropriate due to not know the ages of people who my be able to read it.

 

I had a nasty car crash in my mid 20's and ended up battling a Oxycontin/Oxycodone addiction, and since 22 I have been taking numerous meds to cope with my Anxiety and panic disorders I can list about 12 different meds everything from Citalopram to Sertraline beta blockers, sedatives which have had side effects from waking up screaming int he middle of the night and punching the walls in my sleep to suicidal tendancies and self harm, when not walking around like a heavily medicated Zombie.

 

During this time my life was touched with 3 suicides and my sisters death from cancer "which my dad didn't tell us about until after her funeral to give you a idea what type of animal he was" Years later my mother went through a dramatic change in her life and she pulled out of the low depression she was in and got the strength to leave my father and a few years back they seperated this effected one of my brothers who was a recovering heroin addict who saw his parents divorce as a trigger to his addiction, he and I had a huge argument over the telephone and then killed himself which I still havent come to terms with.

 

Now I live alone and rarely see anyone anymore in a house thats too big for me and my dog its 4 bedrooms and the lounge I am sat in typing this is 35ft and amplifies the feelings of lonelyness and as its our old family home its full of memories I don't want or need.

 

But I am am also coping barely with everything and I know that as I haven't done anything silly re suicide attempts althong if I hadn't had people in my life who had already done this I am sure I would of by now, I would like to sort of try to bond with others out there who are struggling to let them know its not all doom and gloom and it deeply concerns me that people feel like there is no one else out there who understands

[Tanya52]

Dear everyone,

 

Welcome and nice to meet all of you.

 

Hello Keimeren. You are not along. Now you have us. Please do tell about your dog.

 

Many years ago I used to have a puppy, Irish terrier, which had a babylike scented breath. Truly! He loved to slip in my bed and his head was on a pillow next to mine. I remember his scent very well. People never liked me on the same way as that puppy, thought I was very lucky to meet some wonderful people.

[Keimeren]

Not 100% sure I've got Aspergers just highly convinced

 

 

Hello Tanya

 

shes a cocker spaniel we have had cockers since 1981 we have had as many as 5 in our family but now I live alone in our family home I missed having a dog of my own so I was given her by a friend of the family, shes orange roan and is as daft as a brush, she constantly bosses me around and tell me off when supper is late, ahe also has 3" eyelashes !!

[Tanya52]

Hi Keimeren,

 

So she is a something else, yeah?

 

I’m glad you have her. I remember hot summer days, many years ago, when I grabbed my little family of two – my little son and my puppy and we sat for an adventure in the nearest forest. Played all day long, chased dragonflies and butterflies and bought raspberries from local ladies. Dear Lord, it was so good!

[Keimeren]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45413886@N02/

 

here are some of our puppies

[Tanya52]

Dogs' children!

 

All children are cute.

[Aeolienne]

Pay attention to dietary problems and types of learning difficulty.

What learning difficulty? I thought that was ruled out by an Asperger's diagnosis.

[matzoball]

Hi Merman and Keimeran - nice to meet you both