STATUS

So today I was diagnosed with autism. Still not sure what to make of it. I told my friends I'm not too upset by it, but... It is a bit of a shock.

Posts

Pages: 1
it's a great season. there's nothing to be ashamed by that!

(it's a spectrum, and it can vary a lot from person to person)

Strengths and abilities may include:

Having above-average intelligence – the CDC reports 46% of ASD children have above average intelligence
Being able to learn things in detail and remember information for long periods of time
Being strong visual and auditory learners
Exceling in math, science, music, or art.
Being awesome at making RPGs
Just think of it as putting a name to the face and nothing more.
Yeah, you're right. I guess one thing that does irritate me is it took this long to get a diagnosis (I'm 28). I mean I am glad that I finally know, and it explains my behaviour.
Is it really such a big deal?
I mean, you already know who you are. You know your own strengths and weaknesses. You know what you're capable of and what you're better off avoiding.

What difference does it really make? I imagine doctors and therapists will try to weasel money out of you with various drugs and visitations to "treat" you, but does this sudden diagnosis really change much? Did you even need to be diagnosed in the first place, or could you have gone through life blissfully unaware?
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
author=Dyhalto
Is it really such a big deal?
I mean, you already know who you are. You know your own strengths and weaknesses. You know what you're capable of and what you're better off avoiding.


Came here to say basically this.

What difference does it really make? I imagine doctors and therapists will try to weasel money out of you with various drugs and visitations to "treat" you


There aren't any pharmaceuticals to treat autism, and there are various behavioral therapies that can help autistic people who don't otherwise have coping skills deal with a society that's full of allistic people.
Yep, what everyone else said. Glad you have a diagnosis, however belated it was. (In case that sounds glib, I wasn't formally diagnosed with a developmental disorder until my mid-twenties.)

@Dyhalto getting the correct diagnosis can be really helpful and positive, for some people. From what I gather, it's more like the stigma around neurodivergence and disability that would bring any negativity to a given condition (which includes systemic ableism that's perpetuated by some doctors/therapists, but of course not everybody).







It's not so much a big deal, but I have other mental health problems, so my cpn (community practice nurse) needs to tailor my therapy to accomodate this new development. Luckily no one will try and sell me shit because I live in England and we have the nhs.

And cheesedreams is right. I'm better off knowing than I was not knowing, because I over worry about everything so until yesterday it was eating at me.
author=Sooz
There aren't any pharmaceuticals to treat autism, and there are various behavioral therapies that can help autistic people who don't otherwise have coping skills deal with a society that's full of allistic people.

are there any behavioral therapies that can help people develop coping skills for a society that's full of assholic people?
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
author=kentona
are there any behavioral therapies that can help people develop coping skills for a society that's full of assholic people?


I know you're being facetious, but yes, talk therapy in general is all about developing coping skills that you couldn't figure out on your own. It's an extremely valuable profession and I wish more people understood that and treated it as something essential to everyone. :(
more and more I am being to realize that *I* am the asshole that people have to deal with
author=Pyramid_Head
Luckily no one will try and sell me shit because I live in England and we have the nhs.

That doesn't mean anything. The only difference is that they're billing the state, not you personally, though you could still argue that they're consuming your precious time.

Still. This is knowledge that would directly help parents who don't understand their child's behavior. But for someone in their 20s, as thoughtful and articulate as you (and suzy too), the whole revelation seems to be as meaningless as being told you're a thrice-removed descendant of Genghis Khan. But if you think it's valuable knowledge, then, well, you get what you get from it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
I'm glad you seem to be handling it well!

I agree that it's helpful to have a name to help mentally grapple with your own behaviors. I work with a number of students with autism, and I have a co-worker at my outdoor rec job who was also recently diagnosed (at 24!). My professional advice is, when you encounter an issue or mental block, start analyzing where the behavior is coming from. You seem very aware of yourself, so I'm assuming you think about this already in some fashion! My internet forum ally advice is to keep making games using your unique perspective.

Karsuman (who is very close to a person with autism) and I are trying to write a few characters on the spectrum in our current game. The more we, you, and others can integrate virtually, hopefully the more open the outside world gets!
Well thank you for all the positive comments guys. It's kind of been a weird week for me because the UK has been having adverse weather, as in north of the wall, winter is coming kind of weather, so I've been snowed in. And the most dangerous thing to me is myself when left alone for too long, so I've been ruminating on a lot of things this week.
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
author=Pyramid_Head
And the most dangerous thing to me is myself when left alone for too long, so I've been ruminating on a lot of things this week.


You should play more video games!
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
You're taking this really well! Craze gave some really helpful advice, so there's no much else I can add. I agree that you're better off knowing than not knowing since you can make the necessary adjustments to make your life easier.

author=suzy_cheesedreams
@Dyhalto getting the correct diagnosis can be really helpful and positive, for some people. From what I gather, it's more like the stigma around neurodivergence and disability that would bring any negativity to a given condition (which includes systemic ableism that's perpetuated by some doctors/therapists, but of course not everybody).

This is pretty accurate. I can't tell you how many times I've been laughed at for my own issues ("Lol ADHD doesn't exist. You're just lazy. Fuck off." -actual quote from an actual person), but the diagnosis and meds help, so those people don't bother me anymore. If anything, I can use this as a point of pride since coding and game dev are the exact sort of things ADHD inhibits.

I'm not sure how much (if any) of that can help you, but the point is that this is an overall positive development, despite what anyone says.
Pages: 1