Heya!
Hi,
i’m new here. I just wanted to say i may be autistic. I am i credibly afraid of saying something offencive or the wrong thing and taking something as autistic trait if it’s not. So i’m scared. But i just wanna share i guess.
i’ve nwver talked to anyone really about these traits, other than my parents. My mom thinks i’m autistic and my dad has some traits too. I don’t wanna label it wrong tho. Anyway..
i’ve kinda been having this touch sensitivity with clothes since i was a kid. I hated thights cause they ‘pulled’ wrong. At winter i would trow myself on the floor and struggle with my limbs, as the layers and clothes were so ‘wrong’ and ‘pulling’ and uneven. I still struggle with things like that. Recently more.
i suddenly become too aware of how my sock is sweaty and clingy in my shoe, or how any item or my clothing seems to ‘twisted’ and wrong in some kinda way and i feel urge to do ANYTHING. To pull at my clothes or anything. But it doesn’t help. I just have this feeling or overwhelming…..something. I can’t name. Super uncomfortable. And there’s mo way out. Until the moment is over or i’ve managed to shift my focus onto something else. Sometimes it doesn’t happen at all. Other times it happens multiple times a day and it’s kinda wearing me out, mentally. Kinda.
That’s it for this thread.
I am also thinking or maybe try and see if i get diagned neurodivergency. I mean. It’s an option we talked about like months ago. I’m interested but also kinda scared. To meet and having to talk to someone face to face and also that i may not have anything in the end and i was just imagining or smth
@Tsuk
It's ok to ask questions.
Seek answers.
Get support.
There's nothing to be ashamed about.
You are going through different sensory issues and it can be overwhelming and hard to explain to others that dont go through the same and often hard to understand it ourselves.
It's brave to open up as you have here 💛
Hello Tsuk,
I've been diagnosed with ASD for a bit less than a year now, and I used to feel exactly like you. I was scared of what being autistic would mean to me, and whether I was struggling with something that wasn't even there or not. Being undiagnosed can make you doubt of yourself and undermine your current situation. It might even make you think you're not in the right to struggle because you lack the label.
I want to let you know we all fight our demons, and all our hardships are valid and real, no matter what other people think. You wanting to discover something new about yourself isn't offensive in any way, and if anything, there will always be people ready to help you in every step of the way. To put you more at ease, I'd love to explain some things to you.
What you described fits a lot with what's known as sensory hypersensitivity (hyper because in your case it enhances tactile sensory input, but hyposensitivity is also a common occurrence in that phenomenon). It's a common comorbidity in neurodivergent folks and can be a sign of additional brain connections, which can be found in autism. This is already a sign that your brain may be atypical, and can definitely be brought up to a specialist for further action.
Another thing is that you don't get diagnosed directly, but rather go through a general assessment first by a GP and get referral to specialist in case your traits fit any condition in the DSM-5. If you do go through with the specialist, they'll do specialized examinations to determine if that's the condition you actually have and / or you have anything else. That GP examination will make you medically recognised, and the visit(s) with the specialists will get you diagnosed.
Recognising anything atypical by yourself can be hard, and might hold you back from getting all the help you need. This is where screening aids; screening is a proactive test or examination performed on people who feel completely healthy and show no symptoms to find hidden health problems. I discovered a lot of what I thought was the human experience turned out to be autistic traits this way, and it helped me answer examinations easily and without leaving any details behind. There's a lot of resources available, but one of my favourites is Embrace Autism.
I know changes like this can look intimidating or unsurmountable. I know it's all very new, but I believe that if you're willing to take the first step, you'll do a lot of good to yourself in the future. The diagnosis will give you a good place to start accomodating yourself.
I hope everything goes smoothly for you. Tons of love,
-North ( ◜‿◝ )♡
@passionateNorth6716
thank you!
@passionateNorth6716
also i think i’ve done plenty of those online test similar things, just as what you shared. So i guess i’m pretty educated on what may be the traits. I never score highly on those tests tho. The highest i had was AuDHD on focus bear. But i always feel like i just answer wrong on thise tests and i still don’t feel like i am able to say i might have something
Also the program what is here available for diagnosis or atleast finding out(idk if you get formal diagnosis out of there) contains just two meetings. One that is the survey(3 hours) and the other meeting that gives the answers. Oh okay and clinical phychologist gives the diagnosis
I haven't used the resources by 7cups, but I did get diagnosed with a somewhat similar structure, so it might actually be direct access to the specialist I told you about. Personally, I had three visits with a psychotherapist in total because they also did some additional screening for GAD (Screening, testing, and even more testing).It really depends of who you go to. You can also ask if it's just screening or if it'll get you diagnosed.
@passionateNorth6716
thank you for sharing your experience btw
Hello Tsuk,
I've been diagnosed with ASD for a bit less than a year now, and I used to feel exactly like you. I was scared of what being autistic would mean to me, and whether I was struggling with something that wasn't even there or not. Being undiagnosed can make you doubt of yourself and undermine your current situation. It might even make you think you're not in the right to struggle because you lack the label.
I want to let you know we all fight our demons, and all our hardships are valid and real, no matter what other people think. You wanting to discover something new about yourself isn't offensive in any way, and if anything, there will always be people ready to help you in every step of the way. To put you more at ease, I'd love to explain some things to you.
What you described fits a lot with what's known as sensory hypersensitivity (hyper because in your case it enhances tactile sensory input, but hyposensitivity is also a common occurrence in that phenomenon). It's a common comorbidity in neurodivergent folks and can be a sign of additional brain connections, which can be found in autism. This is already a sign that your brain may be atypical, and can definitely be brought up to a specialist for further action.
Another thing is that you don't get diagnosed directly, but rather go through a general assessment first by a GP and get referral to specialist in case your traits fit any condition in the DSM-5. If you do go through with the specialist, they'll do specialized examinations to determine if that's the condition you actually have and / or you have anything else. That GP examination will make you medically recognised, and the visit(s) with the specialists will get you diagnosed.
Recognising anything atypical by yourself can be hard, and might hold you back from getting all the help you need. This is where screening aids; screening is a proactive test or examination performed on people who feel completely healthy and show no symptoms to find hidden health problems. I discovered a lot of what I thought was the human experience turned out to be autistic traits this way, and it helped me answer examinations easily and without leaving any details behind. There's a lot of resources available, but one of my favourites is Embrace Autism.
I know changes like this can look intimidating or unsurmountable. I know it's all very new, but I believe that if you're willing to take the first step, you'll do a lot of good to yourself in the future. The diagnosis will give you a good place to start accomodating yourself.
I hope everything goes smoothly for you. Tons of love,
-North ( ◜‿◝ )♡