Recently identified but not yet diagnosed

[Tedzilla]

Hi, I am Ted. I am almost 60 years old. And as the title says, I recently have figured out that I am autistic. But haven't tested yet. And hope to convince my doctor to set me up for testing.

I am 60 years old, Queer identified, and live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I have always been struggling with relating to people, I had a ****** time when I was in elementary school, but didn't understand why, mostly because autism nor many other neurodivergent disorders were well understood at the time.

Unlike many people, who inherited their ASD, mine was because of hypoxia that I was suffering in the process of my birth.

 

[VictorR]

Welcome! Hopefully your doctor and those close to you will be supportive in your journey.

The Bay Area, with its large population, likely has some in-person and online support groups which may be a place for support and perhaps even make friends and found family with.

 

[Duncan74]

Hi Ted.

I'm just back home after my first ever visit to San Francisco. I'm in a similar position, have my assessment booked for May/June. But am just working through all the things I need to shift, come to terms with and look at with new found confidence and wisdom since my epiphany (and confirming screening tests) in December.

I've found here to be a great resource for me in these early days.

Regards

Duncan

 

[Darkkin]

Autism isn't causes by hypoxia (lack of oxygen), that is TBI or a traumatic brain injury. Autism is an inherent condition that affects how autistics process sensory input from the world around them. It is essentially living with a Linux processing system in a Mac world.

It doesn't have a pin point moment of A caused B. There is a huge genetic component involved, as well as atypical processes during neural pruning in developmental stages, and the physical hardwiring processes of the brain, how and where we process input is biologically different than a standard brain.

Neurological conditions are present before trauma. Autism, Downs Syndrome, Fragile X. ADHD, etc...

e.g.

Growing up in small town America, we had roughly about 100 kids per graduating class. In my class there was a boy who had suffered a devastating stroke when he was born. The damage was extensive and severe. Major cognitive impact. And the effects of such trauma were permanent.

A year behind me, the was a boy who was text book ASD 2, bordering into ASD 3. Verbatum recall of every movie and Power Ranger line he ever heard. This monologue was almost constant and indicative of savantism, which is latent in 10% of the ASD population. His younger sister in my brother's class exhibited a nearly identical ASD presentation as her brother. Between the two of them, they spoke their own unique language of movie dialog.

These were students I was in contact with on a near daily basis in school because as a dysphonentic ADHD student I was considered illiterate, despite the fact I could read as well as most adults when I started school. Growing up, my dad was ASD/ADHD, my mom is ADHD (inattentive type). My brother is ASD/ADHD, older sister is ADHD (inattentive type). Dad had a TBI when I was six.

The books Born on a Blue Day by Tammet and Struck by Genius by Padgett are both interesting reads on ASD and TBI. And while there are some parallels between biologically atypical neurological interfaces and those damaged by trauma, there is no causational link.

If autism is present it was there before any physical trauma. It can be exacerbated by trauma, definitely, but never caused by trauma.

 

[tree]

 

[Tedzilla]

Autism isn't causes by hypoxia (lack of oxygen), that is TBI or a traumatic brain injury. Autism is an inherent condition that affects how autistics process sensory input from the world around them. It is essentially living with a Linux processing system in a Mac world.

It doesn't have a pin point moment of A caused B. There is a huge genetic component involved, as well as atypical processes during neural pruning in developmental stages, and the physical hardwiring processes of the brain, how and where we process input is biologically different than a standard brain.

Neurological conditions are present before trauma. Autism, Downs Syndrome, Fragile X. ADHD, etc...

e.g.

Growing up in small town America, we had roughly about 100 kids per graduating class. In my class there was a boy who had suffered a devastating stroke when he was born. The damage was extensive and severe. Major cognitive impact. And the effects of such trauma were permanent.

A year behind me, the was a boy who was text book ASD 2, bordering into ASD 3. Verbatum recall of every movie and Power Ranger line he ever heard. This monologue was almost constant and indicative of savantism, which is latent in 10% of the ASD population. His younger sister in my brother's class exhibited a nearly identical ASD presentation as her brother. Between the two of them, they spoke their own unique language of movie dialog.

These were students I was in contact with on a near daily basis in school because as a dysphonentic ADHD student I was considered illiterate, despite the fact I could read as well as most adults when I started school. Growing up, my dad was ASD/ADHD, my mom is ADHD (inattentive type). My brother is ASD/ADHD, older sister is ADHD (inattentive type). Dad had a TBI when I was six.

The books Born on a Blue Day by Tammet and Struck by Genius by Padgett are both interesting reads on ASD and TBI. And while there are some parallels between biologically atypical neurological interfaces and those damaged by trauma, there is no causational link.

If autism is present it was there before any physical trauma. It can be exacerbated by trauma, definitely, but never caused by trauma.

Thanks for your reply, @Darkkin

It could very well be that it was prior to my birthing that I had developed autism. Especially given that my mother did have pregnancies before she was carrying me.

But this article does show that there is a relation:

Children exposed to complications at birth at risk of autism, study finds​

Date: January 31, 2017
Source: Kaiser Permanente
Summary: Children who were exposed to complications shortly before or during birth, including birth asphyxia and preeclampsia, were more likely to develop autism spectrum disorder, according to a study.

FULL STORY

Children who were exposed to complications shortly before or during birth, including birth asphyxia and preeclampsia, were more likely to develop autism spectrum disorder, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the American Journal of Perinatology.

For this retrospective study, researchers examined the electronic health records of 594,638 children born in Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Southern California between 1991 and 2009. During this time, 6,255 of these children were diagnosed with ASD, 37 percent of whom experienced perinatal complications. Researchers found that children exposed to complications during birth were at a 10 percent increased risk of developing ASD, compared to children who did not experience perinatal complications.

That number rose to a 22 percent increased risk of developing ASD for children exposed to complications before labor began. The study also showed that children exposed to complications both before and during birth had a 44 percent greater risk of developing ASD than children who did not experience perinatal complications.
"Our study suggests that children exposed to certain perinatal complications, especially birth asphyxia and preeclampsia, were more likely to be diagnosed with ASD than those who were not exposed, even after adjusting for factors such as gestational age at birth and a mother's age, race and education," said study lead author Darios Getahun, MD, PhD, MPH, of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation. "While there currently is no cure for ASD, early identification of children who may be at risk of developing the disorder is extremely important, as research shows that early intervention treatment services for children with ASD can greatly improve their development." ...

The article is longer, but you get the idea.

 

[Tedzilla]

Hi Ted.

I'm just back home after my first ever visit to San Francisco. I'm in a similar position, have my assessment booked for May/June. But am just working through all the things I need to shift, come to terms with and look at with new found confidence and wisdom since my epiphany (and confirming screening tests) in December.

I've found here to be a great resource for me in these early days.

Regards

Duncan

Thanks @Duncan74, Good Luck.

 

[Stuttermabolur]

Thanks for your reply, @Darkkin

It could very well be that it was prior to my birthing that I had developed autism. Especially given that my mother did have pregnancies before she was carrying me.

But this article does show that there is a relation:



The article is longer, but you get the idea.

My response to the article is that it's also possible for fetuses with autism to be more likely to cause complications at birth. I myself waited out for over two weeks past the given "birth date" till I was removed from the womb with a cesarian, and then had to spend 10 days in a heat box as I ingested some urea during the procedure. I wouldn't say it's conclusive by any means that the birth complications caused the neurotype, especially as I have some neurodiverse family members. Still, the brain is an extraordinarily complex organ, so complex interplay between the environment and genetics could well have an effect on neurotype.

Also, welcome!

 

[Tedzilla]

My response to the article is that it's also possible for fetuses with autism to be more likely to cause complications at birth. I myself waited out for over two weeks past the given "birth date" till I was removed from the womb with a ceasarian, and then had to spend 10 days in a heat box as I ingested some urea during the procedure. I wouldn't say it's conclusive by any means that the birth complications caused the neurotype, especially as I have some neurodiverse family members. Still, the brain is an extraordinarily complex organ, so complex interplay between the environment and genetics could well have an effect on neurotype.

Also, welcome!

I wouldn't rule that out. It just establishes a relationship.

I also was born two weeks late. At the time I was born, cesareans weren't practiced as often.

 

[Nitro]