3 ms·
Haven't got a diagnosis myself but I tick a lot of boxes for mild autism and a few articles I read about it 5 years ago (31 at that time) made me realize it's a
by TomK32 9y ago
Haven't got a diagnosis myself but I tick a lot of boxes for mild autism and a few articles I read about it 5 years ago (31 at that time) made me realize it's a pretty good explanation for me.
I'm not surprised that women are diagnosed less, they are integrated into the social web of family and friends a lot better and from early on. I'm pretty sure I didn't have even a 10th of the social interactions my little daughter has. If only I could remember more than 10 things from my childhood.
On quote from the article that I find heartbreaking is this one:
> I’ve watched people carefully and studied psychology to degree level to get me to the point where I can now act quite naturally.
Acting to appear normal, I can do this for a few hours (assuming they serve a social lubricant ;), but put me in a room with small kids, parents and bad acoustic and I need to get out after an hour.
My wife's not helping in such situations, actually is embarrassed by my reserved behaviour and inability to connect. She knows that I think I'm an aspie but held it against me so often, that I wish I hadn't told her. She even complains about me not looking in her eyes when she talks, despite know that I'm not wired to do that. On the other hand, no one before pointed that out to me.
What's the point of a diagnosis at 36 when all I'd do with it is show it people who wouldn't believe me otherwise?
- dandersh 9y agoI'm really sorry for you to have to go through this. Struggling with social interactions and the fallout is not easy, and it does not sound like you have the support you need. Have you tried talking to your wife and explaining that social situations are like other life experiences where some people enjoy/excel at them while others do not? Not everyone enjoys video games, sports, reading, etc. Not everyone is a social butterfly, and those who are not shouldn't have to feel embarrassed because of it.
- cryptonector 9y agoIf you're a high-functioning adult, a diagnosis won't do much good -- you've already figured out what you needed to at least unconsciously. But suppose now that you have children. And one of your children is on the spectrum. If you know what to look for, you might save them and yourself a ton of stress.
- TomK32 9y agoAlready have one, perfect child, active, social, caring, chatty, curious, definitely nowhere near the spectrum. Which is a relief because on her mother's side there's a brother on the spectrum. But I'm able to spend a lot of time with my little family, so that makes it easy for me to grow with our child, make sure she doesn't feel rejected because I'm a weird guy.