Had my final assessment for autism the other day

https://lemmy.zip/post/17811881

Had my final assessment for autism the other day - Lemmy.zip

I was diagnosed 7 years ago as autistic, though I didnt realise at the time it was a diagnosis, I was informed a few years later that what I thought was a specialists opinion was actually a formal diagnosis. But due to family history, my adhd was addressed first. They were supposed to refer me to autism specialist after the adhd stuff but due to mistakes I got discharged and it took a few years and a few phone calls to correct the mistake. So I knew I have adhd, I understood I was a bit autistic. Fast forward to this week, I got a call after my assessment, and I score extremely high for autism. I was a bit surprised by that, as I function mostly quite well in my day to day despite some things maybe being a little harder for me than other people. My specialist explained that an ability to function does not measure someones level of autism. So now I guess im very autistic. Its bittersweet. Its helpful to know and im being given resources and access to groups for coping and one that helps you stay in work - which is the important one for me as before my current job where my manager has been very patient and understanding, I have always had a lot of problems with employment. Im still not quite processing it fully, but Ive felt some hints inside myself that this does also make me feel a bit sad, but I probably wont be sure of that until later on one night when I cant get to sleep due to delayed processing. Groups like this and others have been a big help throughout my diagnoses journey, and alongside reading about autism research and speaking with people in these groups, ive learnt a lot about myself and ways to manage my daily life and lessen the impact of everything. I still feel like a bit of an imposter when seeking help, as I am very high functioning, and can pass as quite intelligent in most settings, and working at a job where I often encounter low functioning and even non verbal poung people, its hard to feel like I deserve to ask for help in the first place.

Do you often feel guilty that people use time to help you?
It’s that an autism thing?
Maybe not strictly, but yes it is.

I’m not a psychologist, so anyone, please correct me if I am wrong.

It’s a form of people pleasing which is a characteristic of autism.

Not knowing when someone wants to help you or just is just helping you without any benefit to them is a deficit in social communication.

I don’t like to assume things but do you like helping people but don’t like it when people you?

Yeah, I’d say so. I think it’s time to finally get diagnosed lol
Knowing something, even this one characteristic we are talking about, can give you a better understanding and lead to a more balanced life. Good luck.
Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Fuck me and here I thought that was just a personal flaw. That’s a lot to chew on, in a good way. Thanks for explaining it.
I’ve honestly never felt this. Any time someone is willing to help me I’m more than happy. But at the same time I try to pay it forward and help them, or at least someone else.
This was ingrained into me. When I needed some form of help but was interpreted as not needing it for whatever reason I’d get a “do you know what x person went through for you??” Style lecture, especially if I had the audacity to still be experiencing a problem after
I do, yes. Not with everything, but particularly around things like emotional support, I’ve always evaded. It used to bring on a flood of very overwhelming emotion that I suppose I wasn’t in touch with until someone pointed out to me: “this is bad, are you sure you’re okay?”