I am suspected autistic

bluefox

Hello all,

My GP suspects I may have autism. My crisis team believe I have autistic traits but it doesn’t always lead to a diagnosis. 

What is your experience?

Tori_Scope

I haven't been diagnosed with autism, but I just wanted to wish you well with looking into whether a diagnosis would be right for you @sierrafox There can be a reasonable amount of crossover with symptoms between different conditions sometimes, so it's worth looking into what causes you to have these traits. How would you feel if you were to be diagnosed with autism?

L_Volunteer

Hello @sierrafox

Not completely sure about my experience! I was diagnosed when I was much younger.

How are you feeling about what you are experiencing at the moment? 

bluefox

L_Volunteer said:

Hello @sierrafox

Not completely sure about my experience! I was diagnosed when I was much younger.

How are you feeling about what you are experiencing at the moment? 

I think I’ve defo got autistic traits. 

There’s a lot of my friends that think I’m autistic or have done over the years. 

I’ve been told by a health professional though that autistic people don’t have many friends. 

So I don’t know if that throws it into doubt. I do lose friends easily though when I start to withdraw and isolate myself. 

L_Volunteer

I can hear how you think you have autistic traits @sierrafox. Your thoughts seem to be supported by your GP and crisis team too.

May I please challenge one thing?

"I've been told by a health professional though that autistic people don't have many friends."

Whilst autistic people struggle with social interaction and communication, they can have just as many friends as someone who is not autistic.

Autism also presents differently in females who are even more likely to have just as many friends! If you are interested in exploring this further, you might find this link useful.

It sounds like you lose friends easily when you start to withdraw and isolate yourself. How does this make you feel?

bluefox

L_Volunteer said:

I can hear how you think you have autistic traits @sierrafox. Your thoughts seem to be supported by your GP and crisis team too.

May I please challenge one thing?

"I've been told by a health professional though that autistic people don't have many friends."

Whilst autistic people struggle with social interaction and communication, they can have just as many friends as someone who is not autistic.

Autism also presents differently in females who are even more likely to have just as many friends! If you are interested in exploring this further, you might find this link useful.

It sounds like you lose friends easily when you start to withdraw and isolate yourself. How does this make you feel?

Thank you for the link. 

Well I’m a gay man myself so I guess I’m not your average man. 

It makes me feel okay tbh. I mean, I’m quite happy to be on my own sometimes. I do like to have friends but I spent a lot of time alone when I need to. When I’m burnt out. 

Alex_Alumni

I do like to have friends but I spent a lot of time alone when I need to. When I’m burnt out. 

I think that's very healthy @sierrafox we need to look after our wellbeing, and have space to ourselves. It's especially important when we are feeling burnt out, that we do what helps us recover. 

In the same way you have a plaster cast for a broken leg, you can have time and space alone when you're mentally burnt out. It all helps

L_Volunteer

I hope it helps but please don't hesitate to let us know if you need anything else or want to talk things through further. I like to call what you have described "peopled out" @bluefox!

"Peopled out" lets me recognise that it is okay to have time to myself. Just as @Alex_Scope said, it recharges and helps recovery.

It sounds like you are feeling okay with the balance you have which is really positive to hear 

leeCal

Oddly I scored quite highly on an autistic test myself once. 🙂