Howdy

[Richard Jewell]

Greetings,

Washed up on these shores by a roundabout route. Life has been a bit heavy of late. My Wife has MS and I'm her carer, work is pretty bad at the moment, and I've got an horrendous shoulder injury that's killing me. To cap it all off I've had a bad reaction to the painkillers and ended up in Hospital, so I'm left with prescription grade co-codamol that isn't doing anything.

Life sure seems crap.

Anyway, I had a bit of a melt down and the GP packed me off form some counselling. The counsellor is a lovely Lady, very experienced, and straight away spotted something about me. After and hour of gently leading me round some questions the thinks I may be on the spectrum.

That was an interesting drive home as I mulled in my mind how my behaviour would seem to back that up. I always thought I was just a bit eccentric and almost revelled in it, but now...

I did a few of the online tests, consistently scoring 37-39 on all of them. I binned it as my brain quickly picked up pattern between the different tests, most of which seem to have been based upon the same underlying algorithm.

I mentioned it to the Missus, and she wasn't at all surprised. She says her Mum, a retired primary school teacher, had once confided in her that she thought I might be.

So off I went to the GP. She was very understanding, and took the time to have a proper chat and gently probe around the signs and symptoms. Satisfied with that she offered to refer me for further investigation, which I accepted.

I'm still a bit mixed up. My sister has dyspraxia and my son by my first Wife is autistic, which in my mind further serves to reinforce then possibility that I may be a little way on the spectrum myself. It doesn't worry me as such, but I'm nervous about the future in terms of coming to terms with it if I am, and adapting my life to suit.

I'd rather not say what I do for a living other than that its for a Government department, and a formal diagnosis would give me some legal protection from the way they treat me.

So here I am, in a nether World awaiting formal diagnosis. My counsellor thinks I may be, my GP thinks its possible, and having devoured every piece of information I can over the last 3 days I think it's likely I am. We shall see.

 

[xudo]

Welcome

 

[tree]

 

[Streetwise]

My mam had the worst form of motor neurone disease the nurses had ever seen so i understand injuries from being a carer
if you get a diagnosis you can get psychiatric help for longer possibly
my gp said autism but i was in a cloud of severe panic attacks so wasnt really listening

it took seven months to diagnosis

 

[Southern Discomfort]

Hmm, MS is a terrible affliction. I have a second cousin (I think) on my dad side with it, she's in the early stages but she's got a motorised buggy to get around with when it's too hard.

Having another family member who is on the spectrum is a big factor in an autism diagnosis. I have another second cousin with it and that was noted, and that's not too close of a genetic connection. What they say is when a child is diagnosed with autism - what ever form that may be - the professional can usually see a 'ghosting' of it in at least one of the parents.

If you do get a diagnosis in the end, there are plenty of ways you can change things around you. But of course nothing has to change if you don't want it to and you're coping well enough considering the circumstances.

Anyway, welcome to the forums.

 

[Danny 74]

Hellooooo richard......!

 

[Buzzerfly]

Hi Richard, welcome!

 

[Richard Jewell]

Thanks for the warm welcome folks.

 

[Bender5]

I believe that I had been able to keep my AS under cover through many of life's challenging times, 62 years. But recently I've been facing some over the top pain that has led me to schedule back surgey in about 4 weeks. What I call my B.S. bucket has been filling up from just minimal stimulation lately. This brought me to visit with a therapist that quickly identified my AS. So what I'm trying to say is that facing overwhelming
circumstances, as you are, makes it even harder to maintain the facade of normal. I've come to an awareness of my condition and am here to better understand how best to move forward in the best most healthy manner possible. I wish you the best in coming to a fuller understanding of yourself.

 

[RiverSong]

Hi Richard. Welcome to AC.