Been told I *may* have very mild aspergers. Advice please

luxor4t

You are protected by the Disability Discrimination Act should your employer start treating you ...um...differently.

Zziggi

Irish_Cailin wrote: »

If you went privately for an assessment/diagnosis would that still mean you would be obliged to inform your employer.

But how do you go about getting an adult diagnosis (private or otherwise)?

RAGSTORICHES

Someone I know with Aspergers has the following symptoms.
Will talk for hours on their own interests but do not want to listen to anyone elses.
Want to make friends but never seem to get accepted.
Do not like change and everything (i.e. books on a shelf) have to be in a certain order.
Usually have a memory skill such as remembering names of 100's of items e.g. names of lighthouses, castles etc.
Very good at drawing especially copying.
Doesn't get or tell jokes.
Doesn't follow fashion and has favourite items of clothes that to me look odd.
But we love them! What a boring world if we were all the same.

Lollypop75

Hi,

I just wanted to echo some of what has been said already. Firstly, you will not be sectioned. From what you've said you're functioning fine, so really don't worry about that. I had 3 suicide attempts in just over a year, and I had one violent incident in that time and they didn't section me (actually they didn't do much at all) so on that count you'll be fine.

Secondly, I don't know about having to let HR know, but you would be protected under the DDA, whatever the diagnosis is.

If you decide to get a diagnosis, come back afterwards and people may be able to give you more helpful advice!

seven-day-weekend

It may also interest the OP to know that many very high-flying people have Aspergers. Because Aspies are so focussed on their own interests, and are usually very meticulous, they quite often succeed well in the sciences , maths or IT if that happens to be their interest.

One of the most famous high-flying Aspies is Bill Gates.



FYI, my son is on the Autistic spectrum as high-functioning Aspergers (although not formally diagnosed), and so is his girlfriend (diagnosed at University). My son especially has learned various coping stategies like allowing himself two hours to get ready for work instead of the twenty minutes it takes other people, because of his poor organisational and sequencing skills. He also allows himself loads of time to get somewhere he has never been before as he knows he will get lost. He is also a lot better than he used to be about inflicting his obsessions on other people (he can now accept they are not interested, although he can't understand why!).

My son's girlfriend gets DLA Lower rate Mobility and Care for her condition as she needs help and support with certain things. She also works thirty hours a week.

To the OP have your diagnosis if that is what you want; however I believe it is quite hard for adults to get a formal diagnosis. I would not bother telling your employers because you have not had a change in your health, it has just had a label put on it.

Good luck whatever you decide.

di3004

RAGSTORICHES wrote: »

Someone I know with Aspergers has the following symptoms.
Will talk for hours on their own interests but do not want to listen to anyone elses.
Want to make friends but never seem to get accepted.
Do not like change and everything (i.e. books on a shelf) have to be in a certain order.
Usually have a memory skill such as remembering names of 100's of items e.g. names of lighthouses, castles etc.
Very good at drawing especially copying.
Doesn't get or tell jokes.
Doesn't follow fashion and has favourite items of clothes that to me look odd.
But we love them! What a boring world if we were all the same.

Yes your right, my son age 14 has aspergers, and everything you have listed above is him, even though they will vary from one to another, but he has the main of what you stated, plus anxiety disorders etc, he cannot cope with any sort of interaction.
He used to chew his clothes through anxiety, and another thing is labels on clothes, they have to be cut off before he wears them.

His art is amazing and copies everything to a Tee, especially cartoon characters, such as the Simpsons, Futurama, Scooby doo etc.;)

BillyMansell

Zziggi wrote: »

But how do you go about getting an adult diagnosis (private or otherwise)?

There is no one way to get an adult diagnosis, so this is roughly the approach I took;

The advantage of being an adult is that you have plenty of material for self-reflection (and are able to refer it to the old triad of impairments as a rule of thumb).

If after self-reflection you feel that you'd want to investigate further you could do a self-assessment online for AS that questions the traits associated with the old triad of impairments and you score yourself on a Leickart scale.

If after such a test you score a high probability of AS (and a high score is no guarantee they someone has AS) then you should reflect again on the questions and add some qualitative data, evidencing and reasoning for your belief in having AS.

I'd then suggest going to your GP (or direct to a specialist if you can) with the information you've collated and request further assessment or referral to appropriate services for further assessment...and don't give up.


One of the difficulties with gaining an adult assessment is that most people's point of entry to assessment will be through their GP as GPs are often the gatekeepers to specialist services but GPs by definition are not specialised in recognising AS (as evidenced in a recent National Audit Office report). Add to that that adult diagnosis of AS is relatively new means that traits of AS in adults can be diagnosed as mental health problems with misdiagnosis leading to mistreatment, which is what happened to me for nearly twenty years.

LittleMissAspie

13000 wrote: »

I have councilling on and off for the last 10 years. I bounce between extreme happyness and extreme depression. I threatened my own mate with violence because I didn't like his girlfriend Thats what triggered my first flirtation with counselling, on an emergency appointment.

Exceptional mood swings. I once went to throw a monitor at someone, but managed to catch it (the impulse) in time. I had literally picked it up that violently that the ports got ripped out the back.

Swinging between extreme happiness and extreme depression isn't an autism symptom. I would be more worried about this than any of the other symptoms if I were you. Have you had any medication for it? I mean, if you are bi-polar then perhaps medication would keep the mood swings in check.

Breast_Cancer_Survivor

13000 wrote: »

It has come as a relief to me in a way. I have always been a bit different to most people. I just put it down to me being a computer geek. I have an affinity with technology. It isn't confirmed yet, I am awaiting a meeting with the psych person.

However I went on a stress management course a few weeks back and we had a test that gave personality types. I apparently scored off the scale in lack of impulse control.

The tutor (who by chance specialises in this field with a PHD in the field, ours was a side gig ifyswim) asked me to stay behind. She had never seen such a score in years of doing this day tut.

We chatted and I explained a few things that happen to me. Some of the points we spoke about included:

I am, by all accounts very introverted
I do not do crowds whatsoever. I get anxious and get worried if it is a crowd of strangers.
I compulsively check that I have things on me, several times a day, although I know they are there. Wallet, keys, train pass for example.
I have councilling on and off for the last 10 years. I bounce between extreme happyness and extreme depression. I threatened my own mate with violence because I didn't like his girlfriend Thats what triggered my first flirtation with counselling, on an emergency appointment.
Compulsive, obssessive actions.
I don't do eye contact or small talk
Lack of patience, and seeing the need to talk or discuss things. Pleasentries I suppose you would call them.
I don't even do communication with my other half much. She just accepts its the way it is.
Exceptional mood swings. I once went to throw a monitor at someone, but managed to catch it (the impulse) in time. I had literally picked it up that violently that the ports got ripped out the back.

However the worse parts of it include:

An obsession with death, ruminations. I obsess about how many more seconds I will live. How it will end and such like. I even confessed that I often wondered what it would be like to jump under a train as it comes into the station (I get the train to work every day) I have the impulse control to resist it, but never thought of it as suicudal thoughts.

Exceptionally violent thoughts (never acted out I may add). I mean it even crossed my mind to cut my fingers off with garden bush trimmers, because I was using them. Again, to my mind, it was just a random thought. No rhyme or reason for it.

I was told by the lecturer/tutor person to see the Dr. I did and she asked some really bad (to my mind) questions. Including, violence towards people I live with. Did I have children etc. I was kind of offended.

Other things that make me think it is this is the fact that although I was never a troubled teenager, in junior school I had to have help. The work just didn't interest me. As a two year old I would take phones to pieces to just to see how they worked.

She referred to me to the psych department at local hospital. However as a close friend works in the "special person" ward (Don't know what to call it really). I am scared that once I talk to them they will put me on a section 3 or similar.

I hold down a good job and have a lot of responsability including staff and budgets and do so quite well on the whole. What I guess i am trying to say is that I want help, but it could be carear limiting.

I would like a diagnosis, but I am then obliged to tell my employer, and in my field, it would signal the creation of a glass ceiling I suspect.

Also part of the reason I wrote this was to see if there are any similar people on here, that can identify with this. What are the coping mechanisms you use ?

Thanks (if your still reading!)

13000

I suffered from depression & anxiety for 8 yrs, my pyschiatrist even claimed I had a personality disorder before I finally received my diagnosis of Asperger's in 2006.

There is an online test you can do which will give you an indication of whether you may have it.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html

I really feel for you, it's awful knowing you are different from everyone else but not understanding why.

It hasn't necessarily made me feel better having my diagnosis but it does help having a name to put to it when you try to claim benefits.

If you want to know anything about my experiences don't hestitate to ask.

sad_dog_lady

try contacting dr murphy at kings college on 07958040384 she is often running brain scan diagnosis and comprehensive reports sent to doctors also she re imburses transport costs, in return she will use your scan results in her ongoing studies