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fkfkj

I'm a young adult and think I have Aspergers...

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Hey everyone,

 

I study psychology at university, and after having a lecture on the autism spectrum, something clicked. THIS is what I have been experiencing all my life. It's not the anxiety and depression I have been officially diagnosed with. It all suddenly made sense to me. All of my interpersonal issues fit very neatly into it.

 

 

Here's a little overview of my symptoms:

 

I have real trouble knowing what is the right thing to say, when to say it, constantly struggling to maintain conversations and personal relationships. I have had sexual relationships in the past, but I really struggle with this. I just DON'T know what to do or how to act. This gives me the greatest trouble of all of my symptoms.

 

I was always a very quiet child due to the above reasons, was predicted to get mainly D's and C's in school but came out mainly with straight A's. I loved computers and technology.

 

I often get fixated on a specific subject. This can be anything. Psychology is one, space and physics is another, and jazz music is another. My current friends always laugh at me as it's always me coming out with little facts which I have picked up lol.

 

I'm VERY sensitive to sound, which I think is also why I love music so much. I notice the little tiny things that others don't. But this also means that some noises drive me insane!!!

 

I don't think I have any problems with language itself, but I still have problems with interpersonal issues.

 

 

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I'm 21 in April, and my doctor has no idea about these symptoms. All my life I just thought I was 'different' but now it makes sense.

 

I want to visit my GP and tell them about this, but they always have a go at me when I've been 'googling' stuff (which is a very fair point), but this is different!

 

What do I do? How do I approach the subject? What's your story?

Edited by fkfkj

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Hello fkfkj (if that really is your name!!!),

 

Welcome to the forum. It can be a but slow going on here, so don't get despondent if you don't get quick replies.

 

I was lucky to have the chance to speak to an autism charity worker for an hour to discuss requesting an assessment. You have set out relevant points very clearly in your message. If you find it difficult in the moment to explain yourself, you could have the above points as notes in case you get stuck. For me, one of the most helpful things that the autism charity worker suggested to me was what to say as an opening sentence - something like "I think I may be on the autism spectrum and would like to be referred for assessment". It is reasonable to anticipate that the GP would then ask questions along the lines of "what makes you think you may be on the autism spectrum?" and "how long have you felt like this?" That's where you can explain your above points. Another possible question is "why do you want to be diagnosed?" - in other words, would it actually make a difference to your life, rather than just being a label that you acquire. By the time you've outlined EH6 you think you may be on the autistic spectrum, the answer to the latter question may already be clear. The only other thing is if you have done the AQ10 or AQ50 test, in which case you could say what score you got. I think doctors can be wary of people doing online tests, so maybe worth saying that you realise it's not a diagnosis, but is an indication and that, in light of your difficulties, you would like to be assessed. (Also, depending on where you live, one or the AQ tests may be something suggested for GPs to do. I know it is suggested in my area.)

 

Your GP may not know the referral route for your area. For me it was helpful that I knew the local referral process - it's in a publicly available website with various guidelines for GPs making referrals (in my area) and I took the doctor through the steps on the website to see the information for himself, after he said it wasn't on the website! But don't stress or delay going to your GP by spending to much time trying to search for this information - if you go and they say they don't know where to refer you, you can suggest coming back for another appointment to give time for them to find out (then you could use that time to look it up, in case they don't find the information).

 

There is also a possibility that a GP might say something dismissive like "we're all somewhere on the spectrum". That is still an opening to explain why you consider your difficulties are significant enough to be assessed. You could possibly then explain that, even if it turns out that your difficulties are due to another reason, you would still like to be assessed so that you can better understand them and get some support, because just persevering through life hasn't resolved them - you've got as far as you can on your own and with the information you have available to you, so you would like the next step to be a referral for an assessment.

 

I'm sure that's plenty for now. Clearly, I find it more difficult to be concise than you do - that will surely be a useful skill when speaking to your GP.

 

All the best.

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While I'm sitting here stuck on the waiting list for a diagnosis, I've been reading some books on Aspergers. From what I've learned from them, and from the internet, I've been trying to change the way I do things, by assuming I have Aspergers, and following various bits of advice I've picked up. And it seems to be working. I've been dealing particularly with my problems with Executive Function, and in the areas I'm dealing with I've achieved far more in the last few months by assuming I'm an Aspie, than I have for years assuming I'm "normal". Maybe that's something you might be able to try, and if it works then tell your GP that applying Aspie ways of dealing with things works better for you than the "normal" way. If it doesn't get you on the waiting list, at least you'll have a solution to part of your problem, that you've worked out for yourself.

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