Survey: More or Less Autistic?
Dolphinius
However, if anyone who is NT would like to participate, please state
so and feel free to answer questions 1 and 4.
1. What age are you (roughly)?
2. Do you feel more or less autistic over the last ten years? If so,
please elaborate.
3. Do you feel the extent to which you would be _perceived_ to be
autistic (by someone familiar with autism) has changed over the last
ten years? If so please elaborate.
4. Have you noticed your skills increase in any respect over the past
ten years? Are there any areas of your life where your disabilities
have increased over the past ten years? If you have any idea why,
please explain.
Dolphinius
(Male, mid-thirties, UK, self-diagnosed AS)
Catriona R
>This survey is for people who are (or who think they may be) autistic.
>However, if anyone who is NT would like to participate, please state
>so and feel free to answer questions 1 and 4.
>
>1. What age are you (roughly)?
26
>2. Do you feel more or less autistic over the last ten years? If so,
>please elaborate.
Very good question. I'm more aware of the difficulties I have now, so
I certainly notice my autism more, but whether that's through being
more autistic or merely more self-aware, I'm not sure. I have a
feeling it's probably more an increased awareness of when things are
caused by my autism: nowadays I look at something and know it's an
autistic behaviour, rather than it being "just me".
>3. Do you feel the extent to which you would be _perceived_ to be
>autistic (by someone familiar with autism) has changed over the last
>ten years? If so please elaborate.
Probably not; for all I notice my autistic behaviours more now, I
always had them, just didn't always know what they were. I'm nowadays
a little less completely reclusive than I was 10 years ago, but not a
lot else has changed; I'm still hopeless with body language etc, still
very shy and barely say a word to people I'm not close to, still have
a lot of trouble coping with day to day life. I just understand *why*
I have difficulties now; I imagine anybody who knew me 10 years ago
would be unlikely to think my difficulties have changed much though.
>4. Have you noticed your skills increase in any respect over the past
>ten years? Are there any areas of your life where your disabilities
>have increased over the past ten years? If you have any idea why,
>please explain.
I've got a much better understanding of myself but not sure I've
changed much beyond that. However understanding myself has allowed me
to develop better ways of coping, at least - for example attempting to
do necessary tasks any day when I have the mental energy to do them,
rather than leaving them to the last minute and having major battles
against inertia to get them done at all. Realising that I need quiet
time away from other people if I'm getting overloaded, and accepting
that there doesn't have to be a specific trigger for me to be
overloaded and I don't need to beat myself up if I find I can't cope
with something, even when there's no obvious reason why I can't handle
it on that day. I don't think a lot's changed in my actual
disabilities, but my understanding of myself has definitely increased
a lot.
Bob Badour
> This survey is for people who are (or who think they may be) autistic.
> However, if anyone who is NT would like to participate, please state
> so and feel free to answer questions 1 and 4.
>
> 1. What age are you (roughly)?
44
> 2. Do you feel more or less autistic over the last ten years? If so,
> please elaborate.
More. 10 years ago I was living a lifestyle that played to my strengths
and masked my weaknesses. I lived at least 5 days a week in a hotel
where someone cleaned and tidied up every day, and I had a housecleaner
who did the same at my home once a week while I was away. When home, the
necessity and routine of retrieving my mail and doing my banking before
the bank closed at noon on Saturday forced me into "running errands
mode", and I remained in that mode until all my errands were run.
> 3. Do you feel the extent to which you would be _perceived_ to be
> autistic (by someone familiar with autism) has changed over the last
> ten years? If so please elaborate.
I honestly don't know. I suppose so.
> 4. Have you noticed your skills increase in any respect over the past
> ten years? Are there any areas of your life where your disabilities
> have increased over the past ten years? If you have any idea why,
> please explain.
I do not stay with one interest for a lifetime. I pursue an interest for
a while then switch to a different one. As my interests have changed, I
have picked up new skills and knowledge--not always useful skills or
knowledge.
First, I no longer have a lifestyle that masks my weaknesses. I moved
here over 4 years ago, and I am not quite fully unpacked yet. I was not
unpacked at all, really, until 15 months ago.
In early 2006, a number of stressors including a recent move, a recent
breakup, a recent change in employment and finally my dog's lymphoma
built beyond my stress coping limit. I found acute, chronic stress made
my executive dysfunction worse where I was less able to initiate or
change tasks than I had previously been.
Dolphinius
> This survey is for people who are (or who think they may be) autistic.
> However, if anyone who is NT would like to participate, please state
> so and feel free to answer questions 1 and 4.
My answers:
> 1. What age are you (roughly)?
Mid-thirties (well, you did say roughly! :-)).
> 2. Do you feel more or less autistic over the last ten years? If so,
> please elaborate.
Not more. Roughly the same. If anything slightly less.
Ten years ago I didn't have any inkling I might be autistic. When I
first self-diagnosed (about eight years ago) I swung from feeling I
didn't fit in to realising there were people like me. However, I think
I have made sense of a lot of the world since then and maybe now feel
more comfortable in my own skin. I am increasingly feeling more like
an individual rather than a label.
I have fewer perseverations than I used to, although that is partly
because I have relatively little time to get into anything like I used
to. I think if I lost my job (and couldn't find another) I might start
perseverating on some things.
> 3. Do you feel the extent to which you would be _perceived_ to be
> autistic (by someone familiar with autism) has changed over the last
> ten years? If so please elaborate.
I think I have developed skills that would mean I would be less
identifiable. However, I am sure people with enough knowledge could
still identify me as autistic fairly easily.
> 4. Have you noticed your skills increase in any respect over the past
> ten years? Are there any areas of your life where your disabilities
> have increased over the past ten years? If you have any idea why,
> please explain.
I have recently noticed that my facial recognition has improved
immeasurably. I used to be very bad. However, I think some mental
exercises I have been performing may have improved certain aspects of
my brain in unexpected ways. I am now actually reasonably good (though
I still struggle if someone makes a major change e.g. new hair colour,
new hairstyle, grows a beard, changes glasses etc.).
Canth
<dolph...@fsmail.net> wrote:
>This survey is for people who are (or who think they may be) autistic.
>However, if anyone who is NT would like to participate, please state
>so and feel free to answer questions 1 and 4.
>
>1. What age are you (roughly)?
>
60
>2. Do you feel more or less autistic over the last ten years? If so,
>please elaborate.
>
More AWARE, particularly as I cope with my daughter's AS. I don't
think the autism itself has changed.
>3. Do you feel the extent to which you would be _perceived_ to be
>autistic (by someone familiar with autism) has changed over the last
>ten years? If so please elaborate.
>
Maybe. I have certainly relaxed the monitoring a bit, so more often
AS behavior is expressed not suppressed.
>4. Have you noticed your skills increase in any respect over the past
>ten years? Are there any areas of your life where your disabilities
>have increased over the past ten years? If you have any idea why,
>please explain.
>
>Dolphinius
>(Male, mid-thirties, UK, self-diagnosed AS)
AS! ds++:+++ a++ c+++ p++ t+ f-- S+ p+ e++ h++ r++ n++ i+ P+ m++ M
Zed
> This survey is for people who are (or who think they may be) autistic.
> However, if anyone who is NT would like to participate, please state
> so and feel free to answer questions 1 and 4.
>
> 1. What age are you (roughly)?
47
> 2. Do you feel more or less autistic over the last ten years? If so,
> please elaborate.
About the same. Just better informed.
> 3. Do you feel the extent to which you would be _perceived_ to be
> autistic (by someone familiar with autism) has changed over the last
> ten years? If so please elaborate.
Only in that in the last ten years I've become more a little adapt at
"fitting in".
Of course that's a purely subjective evaluation.
> 4. Have you noticed your skills increase in any respect over the past
> ten years? Are there any areas of your life where your disabilities
> have increased over the past ten years? If you have any idea why,
> please explain.
I think I hit a peek, and now I'm regressing.
It's not something I feel I have a whole lot of control over, so "why"
eludes me for the most part.
earthpots
> This survey is for people who are (or who think they may be) autistic.
> However, if anyone who is NT would like to participate, please state
> so and feel free to answer questions 1 and 4.
>
> 1. What age are you (roughly)?
>
48
> 2. Do you feel more or less autistic over the last ten years? If so,
> please elaborate.
>
I'd say more. I'm finding stuff I suppressed for many years, has been
resurfacing, mostly because I see no need, and have no desire, to keep
suppressing it.
> 3. Do you feel the extent to which you would be _perceived_ to be
> autistic (by someone familiar with autism) has changed over the last
> ten years? If so please elaborate.
>
Yes. I have Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia. recent research by Simon
Baron-Cohen shows a strong link between CAH and Aspergers in females. I
already found that I fit somewhere on the spectrum, based on various
screeners and childhood history, this just futher supported previous
findings.
> 4. Have you noticed your skills increase in any respect over the past
> ten years? Are there any areas of your life where your disabilities
> have increased over the past ten years? If you have any idea why,
> please explain.
>
Skills? My empathic ability seems stronger, that may be due to many physical
problems which have helped me to identify more deeply with others.
Disabilities have definitely increased; mobility has become more limited, I
have less interest in social dynamics, prefer more and more to be by myself.
I guess the reason why has to do with age, acceptance, and no need to force
myself to conform to NT standards.
> Dolphinius
> (Male, mid-thirties, UK, self-diagnosed AS)
--
Carol
Contessa of Consternation
Known to leave foes discombobulated
Autistic Spectrum Code v.1.0
AS? d- s--:+ a+ c+ p+ t-- f S+ p@- e+ h- r- n+(-) i+ P m-() M
http://www32.brinkster.com/ascdecode/
"I have run rings around you logically". Monty Python
Email at clay_p...@nospam.com, removing the 'nospam' and replacing
with 'msn'.
Aquarian Monkey
> This survey is for people who are (or who think they may be) autistic.
> However, if anyone who is NT would like to participate, please state
> so and feel free to answer questions 1 and 4.
>
> 1. What age are you (roughly)?
almost 42. I will state up front that I used to believe I was not
autistic. Now I think I am likely a shadow, but probably only mildly
so.
>
> 2. Do you feel more or less autistic over the last ten years? If so,
> please elaborate.
I think probably more, but only because since I have started to
understand the *why,* I have felt less motivated to work so hard to
cover things up, if that makes sense.
>
> 3. Do you feel the extent to which you would be _perceived_ to be
> autistic (by someone familiar with autism) has changed over the last
> ten years? If so please elaborate.
I don't think that anyone, except Aspies online, would ever think I
was autistic. I cover things up pretty well, and at this point in my
life, I have really limited my social contacts, so I don't think
people would notice much of anything. I think my boss is on to some of
it, but I think she recognizes that it is a strength for me, so I
don't think she sees it as anything negative, although she might
notice tell-tale signs more now than she did 15 years ago when we
first met.
>
> 4. Have you noticed your skills increase in any respect over the past
> ten years? Are there any areas of your life where your disabilities
> have increased over the past ten years? If you have any idea why,
> please explain.
I think my answers to 2 and 3 probably answer this one, too. I think I
am just as skilled as I ever was, only I am less motivated to use
those skills now than I once was.
I always love your polls, Dolphinius! I have missed you! :)