What made you first wonder if you could be Autistic?

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I was studying A-levels back in 2005 and several people in my sixth form questioned whether I had Autism. I didn't really know what it was at the beginning but soon found & and by 2009 I considered myself Autistic.

I noticed the lead character in the American TV series Bones was a lot like me. I also read a number of times that she had traits of Aspergers Syndrome. I said to myself "I'm probably autistic" . That was as far as it went. It was a curiosity, nothing more. I had no idea the importance of it.

I never thought it was all until I learned about Prosopagnosia and how it is often found among the Autistic.

Then one day, the son of someone I knew came by the office and while talking, he asked me if I'm Autistic. I normally wouldn't have even considered the question, but his job was working with Autistic children. I don't know what he saw that made him ask the question.

As of yet, I'm far from convinced that I actually am Autistic.

Hi, this is my first post here.
Sorry for the sure and possible translation errors.
2010, in a generalist Forum.
They were almost all neurotypical and I wrote atypically for them.
I had settled in well.
There were two diagnosed Aspergers on the forum.
One of them wrote to me publicly that he thought I was.
I was registered in the Forum as a psychology enthusiast: I thought I was a different person, I was sure of this from my 4 years of age.
I did not know why. This boy was brilliant, among other things until then he had studied 200 psychology books published in the world (he knew 5 languages).
He wrote me that I didn't have social phobia but something else.
We were almost mirror images in our writing there.
Also in the reactions: others brought us together and I didn't understand why this was.
in Italy after the age of 18 you end up losing the diagnosis, and there is little in some regions.
I got it thanks to a group of scientific researchers with active publications.
This was in 2018, but I would say that informally other medical executives from 2012 onwards also understood, only that without a diagnosis written by qualified people, for me they were just words with no valid medical meaning.
In the registration form I wrote with diagnosis, and I have 5 all public, Healthcare is public but it is difficult to issue diagnoses, now things are improving.
I have 4 from DSM4th and 1 from DSM5th.

Therefore 4 Aspergers and 1 HFA level 2 APC (High Cognitive Potential).
Diagnoses are ok, but in public health it does not consider adults Asperger's. Private health care is very expensive both for diagnoses and for sessions, which are useless to me.
I'm not responsive.
Sorry I wrote so much and took up space.

Da_Zero_A_Dieci, welcome to WP!

Thanks temp 1234, it's a pleasure for me to be here with all of you!

A lot of people think of the bar being really high in terms of impairment, or somebody having to look Autistic to be considered such.

If people are asking if you are Autistic, particularly if they work with Autistic folk, then there's a reasonable chance you might be. Usually people don't make such speculations for no reason.

that i never got very far in life compared to my NT peers, that was the first clue. an army social worker early in 1985 came right out and told me i was autistic. it took me a long time to understand that, many decades later i figured it out enough to seek a DX from a psychiatrist.

Pretty amazing that a social worker figured you out in 1985 because
1. Only the most severe autism was recognized at the time(Rain man was described a high functioning in the movie).

2. The person was not a psychologist or psychiatrist.

psychiatric social worker. one of my waivers was from my shrink [a waiver is a permission to admit somebody into the military that has a normally disqualifying condition such as autism].

Hi, the autistic spectrum is very broad and includes various degrees.

I agree with the answer, if someone has guessed your condition you could ask for a professional evaluation by specialized people.

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There are people who are considered subclinical cases.

So a cross between NT people and ND people

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Excuse me if I misinterpreted, but I partly understand English, partly I translate it so I can easily misunderstand.

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I would say that from the 1994 APA the Asperger Diagnoses are assessable and then from the subsequent DSM° but we go to 2013.

The 1985 reference is not clear to me because, yes, Lorna WIng effectively resumed working on it many years earlier, and officially at least since 1981.


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Now, the categories of severity as already written before me, imply degrees of severity ranging from 1 to 3.

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In any case, it is necessary to understand which one falls within.

Provided that for the person who is within the nosography of one of the two DSMs, he perceives the need for it.

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I don't know if they are also valid outside Italy, but in Us it is the faculty of the psychiatrist to use a Manual that he deems relevant.

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In my case I find myself diagnosed with both diagnostic manuals.

I recognize myself in Asperger's, some particularities in me are more related to Asperger's syndrome than to the last Nosographic definition of the 5th manual.

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Excuse the comparison on me.

I think it is important to have feedback on others to better relate to understanding

Very interesting that year mentioned 1985.
Statement 1: it is the one that we too would have obtained, therefore with low functioning, but from what he writes, it does not fall within that nosography, even his IQ appears high to me, more from high functioning.
Statement 2: I understand what you mean, literally and in nosography.
Psychologists and psychiatrists have to stick to the manuals that didn't contemplate it at the time.

Perhaps it was a feeling/intuition that was ahead of its time

A co-worker flatly asked if I was autistic, which planted a very small seed in my mind.
I told a very close friend what I was asked, and they told me to watch a TV programme on autism, the seed was germinated after watching that.
Dr Google was the perfect nutrient for the new seedling.
Autism forums promoted new growth and buds were forming.
Youtube was a bud enhancer and the buds were getting bigger and fatter, but ultimate proof would be in the flavour.
After a formal diagnosis, the plant was in its finishing stage, putting all its energy into the buds.
Dankest buds I've ever tasted

Was driving home one night around 2013 and put on some kind of talk radio phone in show. It blew my mind how much they were just describing me.

3 years of research and thinking followed, along with my doctor recommending I go for assessment, and then me not turning up, then I went back and asked again, went in 2016 for assessment and received diagnosis then

I always knew I was different from others, but could not exactly put my finger on why. In third grade, my class was tested and I found out that I was in the highly to exceptionally gifted category. At that school, there was no one like me before, so they let me work through their gifted materials that they had. I went through them in two years, what should have taken at least several more years to do. My classmates treated me just the same as everyone else. However, life took a turn for the worse when we moved out of state.

At my new school, I could not find a way to fit in. Over the next few years, I was constantly bullied. It really sucks to have to hide your intelligence from your classmates. I could not be me, I had to dumb it down to survive there. It only ended when we moved to a different town when I was 16. Even there, I did not fit in, but I could hide in plain sight. I only had a few friends at the time.

Fast forward thirty or so years and I still do not fit into an average life. I simply cannot relate to most people in social settings, so I tend to live in my head most of the time. My social life has been dead since high school. I have no kids nor wife. I do not own a home. At my age, my former classmates are always discussing their grandchildren. They think I am stupid that I could not do what they did. I saw no other way to proceed on my path.

What amazes me is the frequency that NTs will outright ask if someone is autistic. This would be considered a blunt move. It's like an autistic outright asking an NT how much they weigh or if they have difficulty with intimacy or something like that. Nobody has ever asked me if I was autistic, but a LOT of people surely thought I was odd, strange, different, rude, quirky, weird, etc. Of course, I don't know what they were THINKING. It's possible they thought I'd snap at them if they asked if I was autistic. Maybe the people who are being asked if they're autistic are very mellow and easygoing, and thus, the curious NT feels more comfortable being so direct.