DIAGNOSIS Years later
Hi. I'm Vara and I've been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. I don't understand it very well since it's still new to me after all these years of being diagnosed. Nobody really told me I was diagnosed autistic till years later. My mom has told me that I always "echoed" what she said and spoke in gibberish when I was a young child at the time. I had trouble communicating with people and didn't talk till I was 3. I had to go to speech classes. Never took special ed classes. Thought I was kinda normal. My dad didn't believe I was autistic. He just thought I needed to be social with other kids as I never had siblings till the age of 14 or 15 or relatives live with me but I had been around kids before and I would socially isolate myself. I always played alone so I didn't see what the big deal was to be social ...My social skills are better now but I always prefer my parents or family over strangers or friends.
I don't know what to do or what to think about this.
@VaraMoon Hi Vara! Yes, it's difficult to know what to think about that diagnosis.
If you've always thought you were kinda normal, and your dad thought so too, maybe the diagnosis was just wrong. I found this article by an expert on speech development about incorrect autism diagnoses: What If the Diagnosis of Autism Is Wrong?
Unfortunately 7 Cups' forum search is broken again today and it can't find any of your many previous posts, in which you might have discussed aspects of this before.
Of course, another consideration is that the term autism spectrum disorder is paradoxical, because if it's a spectrum then one end of the spectrum is so close to neurotypical that there's no point in thinking about it as a disorder at all. Maybe since the time when you were diagnosed you've moved along the spectrum towards the neurotypical end.
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie
Hi! Thank you for responding! I see. Yeah. I just read the article and it explains me very well. I noticed I just may have a wrong diagnosis. Okay. Yeah. I don't think I have a disorder of any kind.
@VaraMoon You didn't say who diagnosed you in the first place. Typically, you need to see a qualified, professional specialist to be properly diagnosed. If that didn't happen, I would recommend doing that. I would also caution against self-diagnosing yourself (or UN-diagnosing yourself) based off of a single online article. An article can give suggestions and help inform your decisions, but if you suspect you do (or don't) have a disorder of some kind, you really should see a professional and/or get a second opinion.
I hope that helps! =D
I was told I’ve been diagnosed by the psychiatrist or psychologist that I went to years ago. I’ve been diagnosed wrong a few times before or had no diagnosis. I’m starting on not really trusting doctors to tell me what’s going on because they could get it wrong or they just don’t know the cause of something so I have to do things by myself. Of course, one article may not help but trying things out can. But thanks.