I finally got diagnosed with ASD Level 1 last summer, and this summer I drove over 2000 miles from DFW to PDX. I spent over 40 years in Texas, and escaping that hellhole is no longer a dream. It is a reality that I manifested, and I super proud of myself for making it happen.

I also have the XM4s, they work great. Don’t bother getting the more expensive XM5s…hardly any noticeable difference from what I could tell.

Two words: Skillet Nap

Modafinil, along with redundant calendar, alarm, and Alexa alarms and reminders.

Git 'em. 💪✊

Also, that sorta looks like a space laser cut a massive swath through Eastern Washington state.

In a teacher training today for mathematics, three out of the five of us sitting at my table are autistic, and a woman sitting at the other table of five people was wearing an “Autism” hoodie. Kinda wild.

I think the doctor was just being thorough. I didn’t take it as judgmental. She really just wanted to highlight every area in which a neurodivergent person might differ from neurotypical people. There were a lot of parts of the diagnosis which stated “[In this area being discussed], Radicalautonomy was unremarkable”, meaning I did not differ significantly from neurotypical people in that area.

His eye contact was variable; at times he avoided eye contact and at times he utilized intense, prolonged eye contact. He was able to communicate his own feelings and showed insight into others’ emotions, though he did not spontaneously label emotions during any of the activities.

Radicalautonomy showed some insight into the nature of some social relationships but had trouble understanding his own role in them. Generally, Radicalautonomy frequently attempted to maintain the examiner’s attention and made appropriate social overtures. His response to the examiner’s social interactions was limited. Most social communication included some reciprocity (back-and-forth), but he tended to engage in more one-sided or weaving communication (e.g. offering topics, facts, or information).

As a result, the quality of rapport was sometimes comfortable and sometimes stilted. With respect to Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors, which are best referred to as special interests, repetitive actions, or desire for routine and sameness, Radicalautonomy did use echolalia and used some unique verbalizations that seemed to be idiosyncratic or stereotyped (i.e., highly repetitive utterances with consistent intonation patterns).

Precisely. Also, unless you’re up to shady shit and don’t want to leave a paper trail, don’t ever pay for your mental health services with cash, maggot. Use a rewards card for those sweet, sweet airline miles.

Oh well shit then, just don’t tell them anything about anything. Make an excuse to leave the basement nonsense (which isn’t your responsibility because you didn’t cause it, I assume), go get tested, receive your diagnosis, get you medications, and don’t say a fucking thing to your parents. Make a plan to get out on your own and live your own life. It’s brutal out here, but we’re free.

Help as much as you can stand to, but do NOT miss that appointment. Lie your ass off if you have to, but get that diagnosis, trust me. It is very much worth it, and you’ll be able to get the help you need right away as an adult.

The telltale sign of autism is unbalanced growth. A neurotypical child grows at relatively the same rate with regards to their intelligence, their social skills, their hygiene, and everything else. Autistic children will usually show much larger growth in certain areas and weak growth in others. The reason it’s more difficult to diagnose adults is that we’ve had enough time to balance things out by developing coping mechanisms for ourselves.

So while I’ve always been a very fast thinker, it took me muuuuch longer to develop emotional intelligence. Each of us has our own brand of autism, so forget any preconceived ideas about what you think most autistic people have in common. As is often said, if you think you’re probably autistic, then you really are probably autistic.

Right on. Just so you know, part of the process is intelligence testing, the results of which they go over with you. It was there that I learned about how IQ tests are biased against neurodivergent people and that I shouldn’t hold too much stock in the overall score (It was like 126, which surprised me because I scored in the 99th percentile on the Wonderlic and Mensa Admissions Tests).

The neat thing for me was my score on the Speeded Processing Index…essentially, it measures one’s cognitive processing speed. I’d always known I was a quick thinker, but that test put me in the top seven hundredths of the top one percent. Thinking fast has always been both a boon and a burden (fucked up too many relationships by not slowing my ass down and thinking before I speak/act), so it was good to have some validation there because it is something I now know I really need tk work on with a therapist who works with autists.

I got diagnosed at age 46 without needing any of that. The psychologists trusted that I was being honest in my self-assessments and self-reflections of my personal history and asked questions about them. The session lasted seven and a half hours and included a whole lot of testing and questions, and I got my diagnosis a month later.

If you are in the US and don’t mind traveling to the Dallas area, see about scheduling an appointment with Spectrus Psychological Services.

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (Level 1)
• Major Depressive Disorder in Partial Remission
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder with Panic Attacks.

All diagnosed at age 46.

Head on a pike. Only resolution with which I’ll ever be satisfied with all issues Musk.

I will reach out in a lot of cases. If they consider me clingy or needy for asking for them to provide me with a reasonable expectation, then bullet dodged. I only want to date people for whom my need for clear communication and expectations is seen as a boon (because I’ll provide the same in return) and not a burden.

Spectrus Psychological Services near Dallas, TX (closer to Denton). They said they have clients come in from all over the country to get diagnostic testing done, though I lived in the area. Set an appointment, came in for seven and a half hours of testing, and got my autism diagnosis about a month later, easy peasy.

It was definitely the case for me. I was looking up symptoms because I had a student that a other teacher said she thought might be autistic, so I wanted to see what the signs are. Reading through the list, I was like “Holy shit…it me!” My coworkers were floored that I didn’t know I was autistic because they had spotted it right away. I told my mom, and she said, “Yeah…you’re dad and I always thought you might be.”

So I got tested at age 46 and got the diagnosis. Easy peasy. I mean apart from having to wait a few years until the right combination of health insurance, mental state, covid safety, and diagnosticians came along so that I wouldn’t have to pay $1500 out of pocket.

Oh dear, that must have massively disturbed profits for shareholders.