I'm an old man now, but I suspect that I have ASD. I'd like to know for sure, but it seems that diagnosis and treatment are not available for people my age. I live in Kansas, where mental health services are thin, and such issues are still minimized or dismissed.
I'd like to know so I might better understand myself and the unusual struggles I've had in life. I also wonder if such a diagnosis might aid in getting coverage for assistance that I will surely need as I become less able to live alone.
Does anyone here know someone who was diagnosed with ASD or Asperger's as an adult?
I saw a shrink at the VA about 10 years ago and even though I wasn't officially diagnosed, it was implied that I have Aspergers.
After researching it, I was able to understand my weird adolescence, why I think the way I do, and now I embrace having it.
Now that I understand it I feel like I have a superpower.
I don't need an official diagnosis, since it sounds like that won't help me with any coverage of health care services, but I would like to informally confirm my strong suspicion. I don't expect to discover any superpowers, but I would like to understand why I had to struggle so hard to do things that seem to come naturally for normal humans.
I think I'll pursue a path much like yours. I'm going to try and find a good shrink to help me with my depression, which I believe is situational, and see if it comes up. If not, I'll continue to seek that confirmation through interactions in groups like this.
Hey Dave, has it caused a lot of struggles in your life? I'm curious where I stand compared to other autistics diagnosed as an adult.
I stumbled across my symptoms as being on the spectrum at 59. I don't have a definite diagnosis. (My mistake was going thru the VA and having an old male doctor do the exam, but that's another story. )
If you are functioning now, you're not going to get any special treatment. As far as declining as you age, I would mention the concerns to your primary care physician. It's your mental state that will qualify you for help no matter what the cause is.
There is a group on Facebook of ASD people to which I belong. (There are several such groups. ) PM me if you want the name and link. It's a private group, though fairly large.
I was born in 1930 and was in my early twenties (the early 1950s) when my mother told me I didn’t talk until I was four. For info, do a search on “autism timeline”.
By the late 1970s, when I was nearing fifty, I knew the word “autism” and wss living in San Francisco when I heard that the city was starting a study to learn how a city agency might treat autistic clients. The study was looking for volunteer workers and I figured how better to learn about autism than to volunteer. i was interviewed but must have flunked because the interviewing panel seemed in a hurry to get me out of their office.
In 2013 I learned the reason both of my long-deceased parents seldom spoke and realized that my not talking until I was four might have resulted from not hearing words I could mimic. I’m now 89 and have decided to ignore the whole thing.
I know a person who may know useful information for you. I'll let her know about you and she is a member of this site.
Thank you!
About 15 yrs ago, when I was 50, I was being treated for depression, and the shrink strongly implied I had Aspergers, but wouldn't actually diagnose it. I researched it online, took an online Aspy test, and yes, I'm an Aspy! And I suddenly realized why Mr Spock was always my favorite Star Trek character! Why woudn't the shrink diagnose it? I don't know. I think she wanted to encourage me to research it myself, for whatever reason.
I'm 68. The two places I could find that serve ASD adults both said I was over their age limit. I talked to a therapist on the phone that said she could work with me after I was diagnosed. She talked one of the places into accepting me, but they want $1500 for the diagnostic session, and there's apparently no coverage for me under Medicare or my supplemental plan. I took an aspie test online (likely the same one you did) and got a score of 137 out of 200. That score would probably be even higher, but I think I have a black belt in masking. I've likely been doing it my whole, long life, and I don't think I'm conscious of it most of the time.
If I thought it would help me pay for some in-home help, I would spend the money, but if I'm only going to get the personal benefit of knowing myself better, I can probably get that benefit without the high cost. That's my dilemma...
Posted by nifaunWhy fit in when you was born to stand out?
Posted by altschmerzI was diagnosed with autism by a psychologist after a day of testing, but my current therapist keeps saying she doesn't think I have it (or I'm a "little bit" autistic).
Posted by altschmerzI was diagnosed with autism by a psychologist after a day of testing, but my current therapist keeps saying she doesn't think I have it (or I'm a "little bit" autistic).
Posted by altschmerzI was diagnosed with autism by a psychologist after a day of testing, but my current therapist keeps saying she doesn't think I have it (or I'm a "little bit" autistic).
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