Autism Asperger testing

Thanks for sharing @Apple2, and welcome to the forums!

Sorry to say that I don't have any useful info for you, but I still wanted to send you a quick hello and make you feel welcomed.

I'm sure someone from our community will be along shortly to provide you with some useful info 🙂

Good question @Apple2

Give me a sec.

@Jynx have you got any reading resource recommendations for @Apple2

@Apple2 wrote: I consulted a psychiatrist last week so I could discuss my MH concerns. The psychiatrist suggested changing my current medications and doing an online testing for autism Asperger's. Freaky to hear about a potential dx at the age of 51. Any useful resources I can read up on to gain insight?

Oh of course @Glisten @Apple2 let me rustle some up and I'll share em shortly!!

Okay @Glisten @Apple2 found some stuff!

First off, one of the biggest hurdles I see is in how men vs women are diagnosed with ASD. I think stigma can play a big role, and because of differences in brain structure and especially in how we're socialised, it often means women and folks assigned female at birth go under the radar. You can read more here! Not sure if this is relevant to you but worth mentioning.

I found this little guide to help figure out some online tests if you wanted to do some of those. It isn't always obvious when a symptom is present though, because often masking becomes unconscious!! The amount of times I have had a friend say 'Oh but that symptom doesn't effect me, because I have A System!' and yes that is super autistic of us apparently!

Remember also always that humans are funny little creatures who comes in all sorts of fun flavours! No two neurodiverse people are exactly alike or experience the exact same form of challenges, even if they have identical diagnoses. If the support you're receiving feels invalidating or dismissive of your experiences, you can always go out and seek someone else... painfully expensive as it can be!

Oh and please avoid the organisation 'Autism Speaks' - they're nasty. Their whole shtick is basically trying to 'cure' autism and force everyone to fit into the neurotypical mold. We're stronger when we have all sorts of neurotypes helping society along!

If there's any other kinds of info or resources you think you'd want to take a poke at let me know and I might be able to help. Hope the journey is enlightening, and not too stressful for you 💜

@Jynx @Apple2

That Autism Speaks organisation sounds horrible 😱

Yeah pretty awful @Glisten @Apple2 and also if anyone ever offers you ABA therapy (applied behaviour analysis) run like the wind cos that's pretty much the same deal.

@Jynx how do organisations and individuals get away with this stuff?

Sounds like abuse to me.

Yeah it sucks hey @Glisten like the louder and longer you shout, apparently the more people listen, no matter how harmful your words are.

I reckon it's also that stigma coming through, this nonsense idea that there's only one way to live a 'correct' life. So dumb.

And so boring @Jynx

On Saturday night I was out with a chick mate.

Get this, Rainbow Pride people don’t care what our relationship is. It was only straight people that asked me if we were “together”.

Once again you got self entitled Mainstream asking us to define ourselves.

Is it 2024 or 1924. Makes me so angry I want to throw a brick Banksy style.

Actually I think life was pretty wild in the 1920s (?)

You get my point.