Who here was officially diagnosed with autism or Asperger's?

There are multiple terms to use.

"Neurotypical" may be contentious, because is someone with depression "neurotypical"? How about someone with Downs? Someone with schizophrenia? An eccentric?

"Non-autistic" is the most easily understood.

"Allistic" is another term (pronounced as in "alligator"), but many people are unfamiliar with it.

I've seen another autistic say that having their head loaded with social rules has made them both more able to follow said rules, and at the same time, less creative, artistic, and fast-thinking in other ways. They felt like they traded ability to survive in mainstream society in exchange for their former uniqueness and individuality. I think that's a terrible tradeoff to have to make.

That's why I'm glad that we're seeing people like Steve Silberman and his book Neurotribes, and more recently there was another non-autistic author (forget his name), coming to the conclusion that many of us autistics have been making: that we need to be accepted for who and what we are, and not forced to fake being something we're not just to be accepted. (Besides, for many autistics, it's impossible to fake it long enough and well enough)

I think Allistic would be ideal if people would help it catch on.

Edited by IsaacTheRed on Aug 1st 2023 at 10:47:25 AM

I have been diagnosed with both OCD and asperger's syndrome.

I was diagnosed with Aspergers as an adult. Everything seemed to fit a bit more into place when that happened. Just too bad i had to go through a depression before i finally got it all out. Now i feel almost like a contributing member of society

My dad pretty much confirmed to me that I had autism last night (he asked me to look it up after getting annoyed by my constant erasing/rewriting). I've had my suspicions for a while now but didn't know whether it was my brother, me, or both (my mom was in a Facebook group for parents with autistic kids). They've probably known about this ever since I went for a brain scan for this mind empowerment class late last year.

What made you suspect it might be your brother?

So, your dad wanted you to look up autism because he was annoyed about something you did?

Professionally diagnosed with Asperger's here!

Got officially diagnosed approx 3 years ago, but was partially diagnosed a few years before that too (although I decided not to continue with the diagnosis that time. I was still in school and anyone finding that out would have been a death sentence for me at that place. Was already considered an acceptable target there. Didn't need to supply them with more ammo).

Tbh, while the autism doesn't affect me that much (lived with it so long that it is just the part of my personality people mostly know), the OCD that came alongside it is an absolute nightmare. Also wish I could ditch the worrying and social anxiety too. That worrying has stopped me doing many things I have wanted to do :/ .

My brother went for the same brain scan I did, which got him diagnosed with ADD (I saw my father borrowing a library book about it and got him to confess). After those brain scans, the head of the brain empowerment centre told my parents that we both had Pervasive Developmental Disorder. Which was related to autism, I later discovered.

And yes, my father's super annoyed with that habit of mine. He told me to control my OCD, and I asked him if he really knew that I had OCD. It was then he told me to look up autism.

edited 2nd Nov '15 1:34:11 AM by RandomAdventure

There are a lot of people who think of autistic traits as something you can just control. There are people who don't believe the condition exists, or think it's just an excuse to be lazy or whatever.

Anyone here have that problem?

Yeah, all the time.

I tend to spastically skip around my room due to Asperger's, and my parents always chastise me for it when they hear it from downstairs.

When I tried telling my dad it's because of Asperger's, he told me to "break the trend". T.T

I tend to spastically skip around my room

Does that mean "cannot stand still"? I am asking because to me "spasticity" has a specific meaning.

If you're the parent of someone on the autism spectrum, you owe it to yourself and them to learn as much about the condition as you possibly can. To do otherwise is laziness and neglect.

I mean that I gallop and flail around is a spastic manner.

edited 24th Nov '15 1:46:59 PM by Konkfan7

"Gallop" as in run around and can't stand still? That I am familiar with.

Well, like I said, it's less of a run and more of a series of short, side-stepped hops.

Sounds like me as well. Point being, always moving something - limbs or body.

Yeah. Even when I seem still, at least my fingers are still moving a little.

Also, worth noting that for me this hyperactive pattern seems to have become worse since the end of my teenage years when it had died down a bit. Unlike regular ADHD which if memory serves tends to abate earlier.

I was.

We got a big advocate amongst the neurotypicals. Ever hear of the book NeuroTribes? It was written by a non-autistic, but, well, check out the works page for it! I think you might be impressed by what this guy's written about and what he's discovered.

Anyone ever read Look Me In The Eye? I was a memoir about a boy's life with Asperger's that I never fully read, but was really good.

I might have gotten the title wrong.

edited 11th Dec '15 6:54:09 PM by Konkfan7

The title is correct. The guy's dad didn't know he had it, IIRC. And really, that's a huge problem. How many autistics have been punished again and again for their natural tendencies, oftentimes not understanding what they're being told to do?

Yeah.

It takes palce a time before Asperger's was even officially diagnosed.