Anyone else here understand what life is like with autism?

[Ben_L]

Hi, Ill keep it short, im autistic im having trouble with some parts in my life

Is anyone else here autistic and understands what im going through 

Socially, sorry

[Holi]

Hi Ben my 17 yr old son has OCD and autism spectrum disorder,I feel for you as everyday for my son is hell and it's heartbreaking to watch let alone be the one with it.I know I can't help you but it's even heartbreaking to read your post.I really feel your pain to some degree.

[Ben_L]

Hey holi,

Im so sorry to hear that but just having someone who understands what im going through just makes me feel a whole lot better

Thanks 🙂

BL

[asianaussie]

Hey Ben.L,

I have Level 1 Mild Autism. This means I can still do things independently. However I suck at talking and making friends. Or saying the right things to others. I've never been popular and liked during school, as I mainly spent time by myself and preferred to 'draw' and 'talk' to characters I made up for example. People would find me weird and boring and too many times I'm misunderstood. When I've confused, pissed off, upset or frustrated someone because I/they couldn't understand what I've tried to say/want.

Autism is different in everyone, so my experiences may be different from yours. When you're talking about 'some parts', can you please explain a bit more about this?

I want to say though that you are not alone, and there are many people who have Autism and feel just as equally alienated from society as I am. Let me know what you think.

asianaussie

[Rob13579]

Hi Ben.L

I am not officially diagnosed with ASD, but I suspect that I am on the Autism spectrum and I may also have OCD. I always feel and think disconnected with others, even family members.

My main struggle is to maintain a conversation, especially with strangers.

It's not natural for me to make eye contacts and have chats with anyone. Most people describe me as a serious person. Now I think that is because I find it extremely difficult to let go of certain things or issues.

When I was a child, I could only talk to my mother softly. After years of struggles with socialisation, I managed to graduate from my Master's degree in Physics. I can have conversations with others now if the conversations are not chats.

Although I can talk to strangers now, I still feel uneasy in conversations. I am looking for work right now and it has been difficult to stay calm and be confident in job interviews.

I also don't hang out with friends much, partly because I don't have many close friends. Logically in the perspective of people not on the Autism spectrum, I should feel lonely, but I don't.

I want to get a ASD diagnosis, but I don't know where to start because I am an adult now. I also think my GP is not trained to diagnose ASD for adults.

Does anyone know how an adult can get a diagnosis of ASD?

[florean_fortescue]

Hi Ben.L

I am unofficially diagnosed by my wife who is a psychologist as having Asperger's (I know that's not a standalone thing any more it's all ASD but I prefer that term).

I've found that looking back through my childhood there were a lot of things that made sense like my need to walk up and down every aisle in the supermarket or my obsession with learning the capital city of every country for no reason, but because I did well at school and didn't get in trouble there was never any need for people to look in to it.

Since finding out though I've tried hard to accept and improve my behaviours (I no longer have to walk up and down every aisle when I know I'm only going in to buy two things). The biggest trouble it gives me though is that I still can never be certain if what I am going to say is going to upset someone or not. This means sometimes I spend hours thinking of the right way to word something so that it can't be misconstrued by the receiver and there is so much anxiety from that.

Anyway, that's my ramble. I hope you continue to get the support you're looking for.

[Ray216]

I have ASD, formerly known as Asperger's.

It sucks for me socially. I'm not obviously different from normal people enough for them to know I have autism, but not normal enough to fit in properly. I have basically no friends, and I'm about to lose one of only friends due to me having done some stupid things.

It sucks, I understand.

[Papercranes]

Hi,

I'm 16 and I found out yesterday that I have ASD. I have always been socially awkward but I thought I would eventually grow out of it up until now. It really sucks and I also have anxiety and have been struggling not to start self-harming again.

I know how you feel and I really wish there was a cure or something.

papercranes

[Matchy69]

Hi i have asd as well as my daughter and my son has Autism.

I am 50 now and had many challengers growing up and still do.I am not very good at making friends all keeping them.I am seeing my children face the same challenges as i do.

[Matchy69]

Does anyone else think when their children get sick that they might have one these awful diseases like the corona virus.I always seem to think the worst.