Autism Spectrum Disorder

[Edwardo Piet]

Non-verbals might disagree with you. I'm sure they would enjoy being able to speak. It's all about personal preference, like how some deaf people prefer to stay deaf.

True. I still dunno if the world would be better if it was entirely neurotypical though. Even the average person is definitely not entirely neurotypical, so to remove autism completely would certainly change things a lot, and I am not sure if that would be for the better or not.

The more severe autism gets, the less shocked I would be at the idea of having it removed. But again, I'm sure there are some good points to the neurodiverse side of things, and I'm not sure that a word of entire neurotypicality would be a good thing.

But then, I'm biased. As I tend to find most people boring and annoying lol. Perhaps partly because of my autism lol.

[downbeatplumb]

A few hours ago I officially got a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. I just got home.

I was told it's definitive and I wouldn't have received the diagnosis unless they were absolutely certain that I'm autistic, and it's not going to be like what happened to me when I got misdiagnosed with bipolar, I have this for life and there's a lot of understanding about it, I'll be getting support and I can breathe a big sigh of relief.

I don't know what else to say really. For whoever likes me or is interested or wants to know on AF, any friends I have here, here's the info. I got a big bunch of personalized paperwork including my personal details, that goes into detail about the areas in which autism affects me specifically, and I got a bunch of phone numbers about local autism services and a list of books about more info on it and stuff.... I was intendeding to go into more detail about it but I feel rather overwhelmed because there's still lots of stuff I need to read up on. Some of the ways I struggle make sense of things I'd never even thought about, and it's like the professionals are aware of aspects that I'm not even aware of in myself. I was told that over 50% of people with autism also have an underlying mental health condition, and they noticed that I come across as very emotionally disconnected when I talk about childhood trauma involving my dad, and I'd never even thought about that before and now that I think about it maybe that explains why I sometimes find myself crying when I talk about it but I don't feel sad and I ask myself why I'm crying because it's in the past and my eyes may water but I really don't feel sad about it. I was told that autism already makes me disconnected from my emotions, or disassociated to be more specific, but childhood trauma may have exacerbated it further.

So, I was here expecting I might get this certificate that said I have autism and I'd get support and that would be that. But the amount of information I have been given is both extremely relieving and reassuring and also a little overwhelming.

Above all I'm extremely relieved to finally understand why I've struggled my whole life so much socially, pragmatically and emotionally.... and why I feel like I need to spend so much time alone.

I was told that I'm right to not push myself to do things before I feel ready. As doing so may indeed cause me to have meltdowns like I have had in the past... and it's not good for me.

But I have also been given a bunch of different information about support I can get when I feel ready. And I feel encouraged to go ahead and get what I can. Plus there's local autism groups and I can meet other autistic people.... and hey, I might actually make some friends in real life!.... before going back home and hiding in my room again a few hours later hehe.

That's it I guess. I've probably rambled too much already. I'm sorry if this is all TL;DR.

[Edwardo Piet]

I don't watch that show because I find it cringe. But I've seen that clip before and it is funny.

[WinterHold]

I honestly thought it's a sickness in the bones; IDK why.
But I read about it after your post and I'm sorry for your diagnosis.

Brain and psychological stuff are tricky to manage; first thing I noticed when I read about ADS is that it is complicated. And complicated means more load. So stay strong; man. Read about it daily; but don't let depression eat you by mistake as it's the case with most chronic illness.

That's all I can say.

[Edwardo Piet]

So stay strong; man. Read about it daily; but don't let depression eat you by mistake as it's the case with most chronic illness.

Don't worry! I'm not depressed. I'll stay as strong as ever. I've always been like this but now I have an explanation for it. It's definitely 100% good news not bad! I haven't contracted autism or anything like that. Doesn't work like that haha! It's just a diagnosis and an explanation for how I've always struggled! It's a step forward for sure!

[mlmooney89]

Best damn wrote ever written is from 1984 and even Marilyn Manson uses it.

"Rebel from the waist down"

Also I fucking love The IT Crowd!

[Rev. Rye]

Best damn wrote ever written is from 1984 and even Marilyn Manson uses it.

"Rebel from the waist down"

Also I fucking love The IT Crowd!

Remember I myself posted a clip of it in Post 19 of this very thread.

Of course, that said, I wasn't a big fan of Roy's autism subplot from "The Internet is Coming," mostly because it always seemed like Moss was the real autist in the main cast:

[Edwardo Piet]

Personally, I've always been able to relate to Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory. The way he talks to and about other people and just his own personality in general... he practically says some of the things I'm thinking lol.

And without him I wouldn't enjoy that show!

[Shell B]

IT Crowd is way better than The Big Bang Theory. I like both, but come on.

[Foxaèr]

IT Crowd was okay, but not enough to keep my attention. Then, TBBT isn't quite my cup of tea either.