[Checklist] Are you autistic? Autism signs and symptoms in adults

Terry Brpwn

Terry Brown i hear everything you wrote. I’ve tried all i know to be included in family and friends circles and felt excluded every. Time . the desire to be excepted by these groupd doesn’t seem to pierce the bubble i seem to be held in. Understanding. My separation from them doesn’t help with the isolation Ifeel.

Ciara Quigley

Hi
I live in Galway in Ireland and would like to see if any other Irish person in this blog community knows of a clinician anywhere in Ireland who is qualified to diagnose autism “spectrum” disorders?
I share many of the symptoms that people have described in this blog, but would like an official diagnosis, just to find out whether I am in the “spectrum” or not.
I have had developmental difficulties since childhood. I have communication problems plus difficulty picking up the correct information on a daily basis. Sometimes when I try very hard to understand or pick up information, I get a tension headache from the effort in trying to process it. It means that I cannot be relied upon to go to a meeting in work and disseminate the information to colleagues who couldn’t be present at the meeting. It also means that minute-taking would be impossible for me to do. Highly embarrassing, frustrating and mind-boggling at the same time.
Sadly I found that I was not a suitable candidate for university or third-level study, due to my inabity to pick up on information and learn. Consequently I feel I have missed out, by not having a qualification of any kind. It makes me feel very “left out” compared to other people who are well educated and got good jobs as a result. This to me feels very odd, as I do have an interest in certain subjects such as physics, maths, art and creative writing, that people do study at third level.
At primary school I was described as “backward” by a teacher. I certainly felt that way sometimes, but at the opposite end, at other times. It was a bit like being in a parallel universe, I suppose.
I had a mental breakdown of sorts when I changed from primary school to secondary school. My parents then sent me to another secondary school and that made a huge difference. However I eventually succumbed to communication difficulties and found I wasn’t able to make friends. Luckily for me, my classmates were friendly and relaxed about it. But the odd feeling of isolation led to learning difficulties and bad exam performances.
I find that I am always aware of myself, somehow. That, I know, sounds odd. But it stems from a deep feeling of insecurity that I have about myself all the time. I am not the confident, mature person that I know I should be.

Liam

Here are some links I found with info about being tested in Ireland which may be helpful. Sorry I don’t have a specific organization to refer to – I live in the US.

http://www.aspireireland.ie/cmsWP/whatisaspergersyndrome/adult-diagnosis/

https://autismireland.ie/good-to-know/assessment-information/

https://www.google.com/search?q=testing+for+adult+adult+autism+ireland&oq=testing+for+adult+adult+autism+ireland&aqs=chrome..69i57.19271j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Jan S.

Hello, I am glad I found your website. I was diagnosed as a child with autism. I always felt different than other children. Had only a few friends in early grade school. I tended to stay to myself a lot even in junior high and high school. When I played with toys as a child (dolls) I tended to focus on organizing their accessories rather than actual imaginary play activity. At some point I was evaluated again. I was not told I have Asperger’s until I was 20 years old. My grandmother did not want me to marry or have children because of it. I did marry and had one daughter. I have 2 grandchildren. I am 58 years old.

When I moved to a different state I encountered more difficulties with social things than I had ever encountered in my life, finding that many people in South Carolina despise children, teens, and adults who are autistic. I told someone I thought was a friend here in conversation, however she had noticed certain mannerisms and suspected. This revealed fact though in confidence resulted in widespread gossip. I could no longer attend worship. I wasn’t welcome in one other activity I had participated and contributed greatly to (I had been in that activity for several years time). This has affected me greatly. I don’t walk as much any more (for exercise). I stopped associating with my neighbors. People did not know what I was, but they do now. They treated me normally when they did not know about Asperger’s. They used to be kind and friendly to me. I go to counseling now for what good that will do. Neighbors that now “know,” some speak to me now as though I am deaf or they avoid me when I am walking instead of waving as they used to do.

When this gossip occurred my relationship got a little more difficult because I was kind of being bothered by all this and got depressed. I think I am doing all I can do to get over this hurt.

The newspaper I used to write for (volunteer writing articles for community talent) after one or two people heard, they began to put reprint articles depicting Asperger’s adults as annoying, harassing and even dangerous. Then the media went further with all the shootings when one reporter reported that one of the shooters of the past few months was either autistic or had Asperger’s.

The state where I came from has a lot bigger towns and suburban areas so I never felt a lot of hatred there. Of course I told very few people. I feel stupid for divulging this. I have earned two degrees and a few certifications. I have owned 3 businesses (one of them registered with Dun and Bradstreet) in the past. I am almost sorry that my grandmother worked so hard with me to help me to talk. It made me reach out socially to have a friend and it caused trouble. I caused it. Bad choice to reveal accomplishment to someone who was not kind enough to understand and accept.

I just want more people to know that not all of us are mean. I’ve never been a criminal. If someone is unkind I back off because my grandmother taught me that others are more important than whatever fear or sad feelings I get now and then. No one who took the time to actually know me would say I am annoying or harassing or rude, although when others began to publicly be unkind, I would get agitated and I would just turn around and leave.

The people who raised me died because they were old (my grandparents). I feel they did a good job with me. I wish there was another way to learn besides making mistakes.

Ashley

I’m kind of wondering if I have mild autism. A lot of that social stuff applies to me. People often think I am rude even though I’m really trying hard not to be. Most of the time I am trying to be polite but I am extremely nervous in social situations. I repeat the same thing when I am nervous as well. I can’t see things from other peoples perspectives either. I have no friends, but when I did, I couldn’t maintain them because I can’t function in social situations. I do have social anxiety, but I think it goes beyond that because I’ve been like this since I was a kid. I am overly sensitive and I can’t tell the difference between humour or sarcasm. I got offended when a co-worker told me that I didn’t need to go home when we had mandatory because I don’t have kids but she does, and so I can’t get upset over being mandated. So I took that the wrong way, but she said she wasn’t trying to be mean, and I got offended for no reason. So I take offense to things I don’t need to. People have also found to be really weird too, and that goes all the way back to Kindergarten when kids don’t really notice things. I’ve always been bullied and I am going to be 32 soon. I am clumsy, and I have depression as well as anxiety. I’m not overly smart or anything though. I’m actually quite stupid, and I’m not good at anything either, like I don’t have any talents. So I think if I have it’s mild. I could be super wrong though, but I feel like most of the social and some of the miscellaneous stuff applies to me.