This explains so much

So recently someone I know had me read an article he'd been looking at due to a friend we have in common who has high-functioning autism, formerly called Asperger's Syndrome, He'd originally wanted to understand the friend better, but when he read the article, and the symptoms, he decided it might be good for me to read, too, without his comments or indications, but just to read. I didn't really know much about autism, or Asperger's, but once I read the article it was clear that there was a chance it applied to me, which was a surprise. I did seek to be assessed, but the one centre that diagnoses in the area has a five-year waiting list and gives priority to students of that university (Eastern State University, in a nearby city). The two universities in our city do not appear to do this. They did suggest local resources, but the only therapist on it that did assessements charges a lot of money and I just didn't care for the vibe of her website.

I reached out to a Facebook on neurodivergency and was pointed to a website called Embrace Autism, run by a psychologist and another person who is an autist, which contains the same validated tests used to diagnose. The website has the scoring built in, and while it does not provide an official diagnosis by any means, I took six of the tests, five of which are validated by research and are used professionally, and I came out as autistic on all of them, which kind of surprised me, and one, on emotional quotient, indicated much less awareness of appropriate emotions and empathy than I expected. One of the tests asks questions regarding your childhood vs. now, and it was stronger as a child but still clearly within the area of being autistic as an adult. I am pretty highly functional by the test results, and before the diagnosis of Asperger's went away to be included as part of Autism Spectrum Disorder, I would have been considered a person with it. I am more functional than our friend, for example. But this explains a lot of the issues I had a s a child, and one of the tests measured masking and assimilation as an adult in trying to seem more 'normal'.

So I've been reading a couple of books on self-care for those with autism. And I recognise several aspects of the MRI issues today to be directly related to sensory integration problems (found in autism, though it can be a separate issue as well).

In addition to the tests, the website has a lot of resources for people who want to learn about autism or who have it. I'd really recommend it. And the main book I'm reading right now is Looking After Your Autistic Self: A Personalised Self-Care Approach to Managing Your Sensory and Emotional Wellbeing by Niamh Garvey (ISBN-13: 978-1839975608).

Anyway, for what's it worth, it does really make a lot of my life more understandable, and it would explain a lot of my sensory integration and anxiety issues. I just wish I could get assessed officially.