there’s many different anti depressants on offer so you should get better.

TJ I will probably never get properly tested but would be interested if I had the chance to find out for sure as it would probably explain a lot.

Just did roper’s “new” test on page 4.
I got 204 ,professional assessment advised. I’ll catch up on the posts after that when I haven’t had a pint.
🙂

@senor j, wow! It’s interesting that on average asc women score higher than asc men in ropers “new” test

https://photos.app.goo.gl/yuM96wAs4cJSo5C77

roper’s test 187.

183 for me, some of the questions didn’t have a suitable answer for me to choose

I also found that Houns.

@senor j, @Kuco and @houns; my score on ropers test is 195, when I was formally assessed the psychiatrist said that my score was unusually high. If you’re experiencing difficulties with any aspect of your life it may be worth seeking a formal diagnosis as you might get access to certain services and support, some autistic people are entitled to PIP. However, I will add caution as there’s a lot of misperceptions of autism and you could receive detrimental treatment from friends, family and employers.

I have been diagnosed, but only initially, I couldn’t get funding for formal assessment by psychiatrist (I didn’t push this further as rather the funding go towards a child being assessed). I can still access any help needed via my gp

“If I had a dick you would listen” ,this made me laugh.
“could receive detrimental treatment from friends, family and employers.”
I don’t think my employers would cope very well,as it is they leave me alone in a little dungeon.
🙂

@senor j I’ve just been given my own office, they call it the cell 😂 I’ve been given more autonomy along with it, basically my boss has realised I surpass their knowledge and my productivity has doubled without their assistance.

I might even try asking for a raise again, the last time I was offered a demotion 😂

I’m a mere borderline with 151 on that test.

I’ve just been given my own office

paradise

what do you do for the day job?

re: meds, if the meds aren’t helping or they make you feel odd (or worse) there are a ton of people with experience on here and some may share your condition, so its worth asking around, maybe a new thread would work. on a personal note, one of my family has been through a few different meds before settling on one with the best overall effect

Roper’s test has a threshold below the mean for the neurotypicals. It is also pretty binary. Sensitivity and specificity looks modest. Having the suspected class makes that reasonable. Is scored as expected and commensurate with the previous test. there are plenty of others too. But then once yuo’ve done two, you will understand the nature of the questions. And yes, I am very sensitive to textures in clothing! Always have been. I also have sensitive hearing and speak softly.

Interestingly I scored much lower on that test than on another I did – but a lot of the questions I really didn’t have an answer for. When you have a choice between “very” and “none” but my experience is “a bit” then its hard to answer.

It’s a shit test.
Each question is based on your own perception of yourself so if you go into it thinking you are autistic/have ASD traits you’re going to score higher.
It even preps you for this in the sign up.
Most questions are un answerable…
Take the very first qusetion:
“I am a sympathetic person?” 1)yes? 2)only as an adult? 3)only as a child? 4)Never?
honestly? None of the above.
pretty much all people are sympathetic on some level at some point in their lives. ASD or not. pre 16yrs old or not.
Pretty much all people are NOT sypathetic 100% of their lives.
The next question is even worse.
“I often use words and phrases from movies and television in conversations”.
Da actual fuq?

I just googled Ropers Test and couldn’t find an appropriate link.

To clarify the test I posted is from a Aspergers/ASD organisation and is used in a generic basic introduction. Never rely on a simple test. ASD is a complex and quite variable lifelong condition which normally would be confirmed through a specialist multidisciplinary ASD team over a period time, taking into consideration, family interviews, childhood developement, school and teacher’s reports, sometimes physiotherapy assessment and several interviews and comunication tests.

Yeah. I know.

Although there’s limited scope to answering the questions in ropers test it’s more detailed than the official ones and it’s based upon the questions that the psychiatrist asks in the assessments. My assessment took 4hrs on 2 separate days and was by no means as intensive as it would have been if I was younger, I was expected to have developed coping strategies and not in need of any support services. In the assessment the psychiatrist wasn’t interested in the answers that much, they are only “traits” which are observable across several personality types but he paid a lot of attention to the way in which I moved, reacted and how I arrived at my answers which indicated my thought process. A lot of people think that autistic people have a “male brain” and empathy deficit, as Simon Baron-Cohen advocates. However his theory is unable to address a lot of queries about autism, I’d even go so far as to say it perpetrates detrimental myths. Gina Rippon is closer to a definitive description of as to how autism presents, by examining the neurology of the autistic brain rather than perceived traits

paradise

what do you do for the day job?

@mrmonkfinger sorry I missed your post earlier. I work in a forestry nursery as a handpicker, a bit like a personal shopper for forestry and conservation projects. I spend most of my day out in the field, which is bliss, but the “shed” is busy with about 50-100 people in there. I’ve been given my own space to work in as I found that working amongst the others hindered me, I couldn’t concentrate with the noise and people kept moving my stuff 🧐

I love my job (pay’s crap) and having my own space has allowed me to develop my role into something I find really interesting and rewarding

I don’t want to use the thread as a personal blog, this story makes me feel uncomfortable enough but I do want to give an insight as to what it’s like being autistic and this is a good example as to the difficulties we can face.

Agnosia is often a comorbid condition with autism, it’s the inability to recognise sensation in one’s self and others, such as emotion or expression. I find it difficult to distinguish whether or not I’m happy/sad, excited/nervous or angry/passionate, never mind figuring out what someone else is feeling, my kids know to use words but most adults don’t verbalise their feelings and so it’s difficult to interpret people’s intentions.

Like many autistic people I don’t show emotions, unless they are extreme and come bursting out. So my default is friendly and chilled, I don’t treat anyone differently whether I’ve known them for days or minutes or if I’m comfortable or angry with them. This is often misinterpreted as too friendly or as being romantically interested in someone and can put me in a vulnerable position.

I could use today as an example. At work I will speak to anyone, making a point of saying hello to my colleagues as I pass them. I have helped a few people when they have been in difficult situations, such as helping migrant staff find accommodation and I seem to be the “go to” for advice. However a colleague misconstrued my friendliness for availability, I’ve never said more than hello and smiled as I do to everyone. He doesn’t speak English so they decided to pictorialy describe what they would like to do to me whilst at work, I’m not payed enough for that shit.

He’s employed by a subcontractor and I approached his boss and explained what had happened and how uncomfortable I felt. His immediate response was to blame me for being “too friendly” and that I should keep my distance, despite the fact we work at different sites and I’ve not even seen the guy for over a month. He then proceeded to give me advice on my personal safety, like not being alone in my office or out in the field. I walked away but he called me back, to tell me that I need to check my conduct. I asked the contractor if he thought that I was asking for it because my skirt was too short (I wear riggers, dickies oversized work trousers and my work provides me with t-shirts and fleeces that I could set up camp in)

Thankfully my own (new) boss is a lot more understanding and professional, but now I have to go through a meeting and make a statement

It’s world autism awareness week this week.

nas

We’re really quite lucky, we get the first week, the second day and the whole month of April 😀 every year! Makes me wonder why we need so much for people just to be aware of autism.

This is often a difficult time for autistic people, as neurotypicals share their tragic stories of difficult kids and socially inept adults whom they’re sure must be on the spectrum because they’re a jerk, whilst raising money to provide respite for poor parents. If you listen to the language used, especially by Autism Speaks and associated charities it’s often quite negative or demeaning to the individual with autism. Awareness just means you know we exist, acceptance means that autistic people matter.</span>

We’ve still a long way to go when people are still speaking for us rather than with us

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piss_On_Pity

Aye, totally tj. It’s not just the pity though, autism has become a massive profit generator with so many professionals employed in “support” services. Yet only 16%of autistic adults are employed

Dr Sarah Bargeila has conducted research into the gender gap in diagnosis and the implications for those affected. As part of her study she interviewed women with a late diagnosis to find out how it has affected them “… the reward for trying hard to be normal was to be ignored…”

There’s a link in the article to her research

https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/autism-young-women

I love my job (pay’s crap) and having my own space has allowed me to develop my role into something I find really interesting and rewarding

Sounds cool!

Shame you then have to put up with the rubbish in the following post. Best of luck with sorting that.

Thanks @mrmonkfinger, I’ve had a meeting and I’m awaiting the outcome. I’ve said that I don’t want to see him fired but I want him kept well away from me and any other women or vulnerable people.

My autism is often weaponised against me so I have prepared a few arguments to counter them. People often use autism as an excuse to treat people negatively, it’s amazing how many people assume that autistic people don’t experience feelings or emotions just because we don’t know how to read or express them. Whereas we often experience them more intensely, hence meltdowns and shutdowns

One question I’ve always asked myself is what is it I do that’s different to others?

I guess this research partially addresses why gp’s are reluctant to treat autistic people with depression without 24hr supervision

In autism, depression takes on unusual forms

How would you describe your friends? Perhaps individual, intelligent, sensitive, independent or talented.

How would you describe autistic people? People are likely to say they are different, gifted, weird, awkward or special.

The DSM-5, which is used to define symptoms and diagnose diseases uses the following words to describe autism:-

Deficit x 9

Impairment x 8

Abnormal x 4

Difficulties x 3

Unusual x 3

Failure x 2

Poorly integrated x 1

Lack x 1

Absence x 1

Disturbance x 1

The language we use matters, it influences how others receive us and how we perceive ourselves. The words often chosen to describe autistic people are divisory and derogatory, which is a reflection on how we are viewed by friends, family and colleagues. These influences are also displayed in how autistic people are treated differently, whilst perhaps stemming from good intentions can be massively detrimental to the individual

The Department of Health (England) are reviewing their Autism Strategy and are looking for autistic people, c<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>arers, families and professionals to provide some input</span>

https://consultations.dh.gov.uk/autism/2e4ae18d/

What a beautiful weekend it’s been, I’ve got the windows open and I can hear neighbours sitting outside drinking with friends. I can hear one voice seamlessly pick up where the other left off, interrupted only by giggles. It seems so effortless.

I was wondering if others find it easy to make and retain friendships, or if like me you find it impossible?

Yep.
I find it hard too.
I work best one on one, a large group of people gives me the willies these days & seems to be getting worse despite pretending I’m ok tbh. (Had a couple of social events this week, which were harder work than usual.)
I also love a routine.hahaha.
Chin up aweeshoe . 🙂

You know where you are with a routine, eh? As long as it’s my routine and any changes are instigated by me, it’s all cool 😉

With socialising I’m the opposite, I prefer clubs and parties than one to one. The pressure is off in a crowd, 9 seconds of eye contact then you’re free to look over their shoulder or stare at their shoes and move on. I’ve learned to make small talk, like when talking about the weather it’s not necessary to comment on the clouds or low pressure above Iceland and that Farrow and Ball is the way to cover your walls.

But one to one, that terrifies me. You have to be everything then, you have to get it right. I’ve got prosopagnosia, or facial blindness which means that I not only do I not recognise people but that I can’t read intent or emotion. I don’t get a lot of jokes, I miss sarcasm and lies, until much later than anyone else would as I go by the inference of the words and tone of voice. It either leads me to being highly inappropriate or easily manipulated

I was wondering if others find it easy to make and retain friendships, or if like me you find it impossible?

Find it very difficult and have no real friends. Used to have drinking mates years ago when I went to pubs but as soon as the pubs stopped I never saw them again. And the part the stands out to me is that is doesn’t even bother me that people I went out wth a few days a week for years I never see again.

I definitely have a lot of autistic traits but no formal diagnosis.

I’m the same

Friendships are interesting. According to Aristotle, there are three main types:

Friendships of utility
Workmates, neighbours – people you are “forced” by circumstance to spend time with

Friendships of pleasure
Bike buddies, etc – people you enjoy doing your hobbies with

Friendships of the good
Lifelong friends – mutual respect and admiration, similar values and goals

Conversations with the first two types have a relatively fixed agenda, whereas the third type is more free-floating, I guess, and hence more effort for some of us.

And Utility/Pleasure Friends are likely to fade away, once you move on from the work/hobby – unless they’ve shifted into the Good Friend category. So I don’t think you need to feel bad about losing these types of friends, it’s more or less inevitable.

Or to put it another way:
“People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime” (google it)

@kerley I quite often associate people with places or activities so if I cease visiting then I don’t see them again either. There’s very few people with whom I’ve connected and become what I thought was friends and only one of which I keep in touch with.

I’ve read a wee bit too 😊, it’s interesting seeing a philosophy develop over centuries. On the friendship theme I’ve touched on Confucius, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Nietzsche, do you have any reading suggestions @esme?”

” (Friendship is) … most necessary with a view to living. For without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods; even rich men and those in possession of office and of dominating power are thought to need friends most of all” Aristotle

The theories of autism explained :-

The Signaling Imbalance Theory

The Multiple Hits Theory

The Connective Theory

The Female Protective Effect

The Extreme Male Brain

The Predictive Coding Theory

Serotonin’s Link

Theories of autism