[Frog22]

Ok so this isnt the easiest thing in the world for me to talk about, but its been bothering me a lot lately and so i figured this would be the best way to have a discussion about it.

I was diagnosed with ASD when i was about 5 or 6 years old. Knowing myself back then, i met the symptoms/criteria for the disorder, and if i were in the shoes of the school counselor and psychologist, i probably wouldnt have hesitated to give that diagnosis.

Fast forward to middle/early high school though, and things changed quite drastically. It started with me noticing that i and the other classmates that i knew or suspected to have ASD were not the same. To keep it simple, when it came to social stuff, they just didnt get it. No eye contact, no sarcasm, droning on and on about one thing. Etc. I however (while i did lack some social skills at the time) did easily start catching on to social norms, felt that i affiliated much more closely with the "normal" students, and went on to make several close friends. Played football and soccer. Started to have a wide variety of interests. Essentially went on to live a normal life and left the label in the dust.

Now at this point in my long *** post you are probably wondering why i am posting this in anxiety disorders. The reason is, that i feel that i either recovered from ASD (supposedly impossible) or was improperly diagnosed. Is either even possible??! I think that i have GAD instead. Im often very tense for no reason, im always worried about being criticized/ what other people think of me, fall into patterns of obsessive worrying....im sure you all know the rest. I also took the autism quiz on here and it gave me a 6 (30 is possible autism) out of 50.

The reason it is significant to me to hear what you guys think about this is two main things: 1) my major is psychology, i want to be a counselor/therapist, but if i really do have ASD, how could i ever be successful in that field? And 2) I have been trying to start dating for a long time now and while i have gone out with a lot of girls i have not been successful past 2-3 dates, but i also understand thats just how it is to a degree at my age. I guess im just afraid that im socially inferior somehow and will never find a deserving partner or be successful in the field i want to go in to.

Sorry about the length of this post, thank you for reading though, and i look forward o your replies!



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[Here2There]

I've heard of people growing out of autism, and it's addressed in this article online: Why Some Children May ?Grow Out? of Autism

Having never met you it would be difficult to say whether you would be successful interacting with people as a counselor/ therapist. Someone who knows you personally would have more to go on. As for dating, I don't think it's unusual to have to meet quite a lot of people before finding a match that works.

Have you tried therapy for your anxiety? Worrying about what people think of you could get in the way of relating well with others.

[Frog22]

That article says that as many as 1/3 will outgrow the disorder?! Did not know that! I was always under the impression that it was permanent....

Ok so two things - first you reminded me that i forgot to mention that i did go to therapy for anxiety (panic disorder) for about 3 months and it was successful. To be specific, i was paranoid that i had screwed up my mind from a certain substance i had ingested....lol....and so many times throughout i asked me T if she thought there was something wrong with me/if i had a mental disorder. She said all the way to the last day of our sessions that she thought i was just a normal college student that worried too much. When she told me that she had no concerns and wouldnt need to be seeing her anymore, i chose then to reveal to her that i had been diagnosed with ASD as a child and i asked her what she thought. She said that she didnt have any reason to think that i qualified but in order to give a straight answer she would have to talk to my parents etc and i declined at that point (not worth $90 an hour)

As far as worrying what people think of me - i guess im always overly conscious about people sensing something "off" about me or that i look stiff/blank/expressionless etc. And so it does affect my social interactions in a sense because i can get distracted from second guessing myself. So i think being told that i dont have the disorder would get rid of that problem for the most part

Thank you very much for your input

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[ladyluciferous]

Hey there,
I do psychology too! One of my lecturers actually spoke around this topic recently, he said his young son was exhibiting some signs pertaining to ASD and his teachers were eager to get him 'tested' and whilst his son did have a few of the symptoms, he personally knew his son wasn't on the ASD spectrum. In his opinion it's a problem with society nowadays to so quickly point out 'abnormal' behaviour and insist it must come under a 'label' and in young children that could be ASD, ADHD etc.

I suppose there's lots of angles to it really, you could have been misdiagnosed which certainly does happen, you could be High-functioning ASD. GAD could be what you are suffering with and/or it could coinciding with ASD etc.

End of the day and this is just my personal opinion they are just labels. Obviously we need labels to be able to identify and help people but if you feel the ASD label isn't befitting, then awesome! Don't feel like it has to define you. I would instead focus on the behaviours that cause you most problems in your life.

I really admire the fact that you want to be a counsellor/therapist and to have that direction/goal. I wouldn't put yourself down with thinking that you can't be successful, there's lots of areas within that field, so even if you feel you can't 'be successful' in the traditional counsellor/therapist role there is specialised areas that your temperament and skill-set would be more suited. We're always growing as individuals, so try not to perceive how your future will be based on how you are now, because things may change

Dating is never easy! It's great that your trying. You might not believe it but a lot of people may come across socially confident, but chances are inside they could be feeling the exact same, they just mask it better.

I feel like my response has gone of topic at points, apologies if I did haha.

Best wishes
Luci

[Frog22]

Originally Posted by ladyluciferous

I really admire the fact that you want to be a counsellor/therapist and to have that direction/goal. I wouldn't put yourself down with thinking that you can't be successful, there's lots of areas within that field, so even if you feel you can't 'be successful' in the traditional counsellor/therapist role there is specialised areas that your temperament and skill-set would be more suited. We're always growing as individuals, so try not to perceive how your future will be based on how you are now, because things may change

Luci

Thank you so much i definitely feel a lot better about myself after reading your post!

As much as i would like to be re-evaluated just to know the truth, i agree with you that it is just a label. I tried to be re tested all throughout high school, but my parents wouldnt allow it. (Special ed teachers approached me in front of my friends, teachers treated me differently after finding out, etc and i wanted nothing to do with it anymore). I also had no academic impairment, yet they insisted that i keep it because "your just pretending to be someone else so you fit in" and "one day you'll relapse and be just like sheldon cooper on the big bang theory". Needless to say that was very hurtful coming from my own parents . They also said i would need the IEP in college, which was a lie, no such thing exists, and ive had over a 3.0 for the last 3 semesters with no help at all.

At any rate the thought of it never leaves my head now i constantly worry about how i come across to others and that im socially inept in some way that will prevent me from accomplishing my major goals in life. Like i dont believe that im markedly socially impaired (ok im a little bit of a weirdo ) but im afraid/paranoid that i could be wrong.

I just think its interesting that like no one has ever asked me if i have ASD. Even a therapist with a masters degree sat face to face with me for how many hours and never picked up on it. And so ive never told anyone who actually knows me in real life. All it ever does is cause them to start judging the **** out of everything i do and start talking to me like im an animal or something.

And dont worry about going off topic, im sure my past couple ramblings havent been much better

Thanks again



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