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Autism

A friendly ear
didds
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Autism

#182270

Postby didds » November 22nd, 2018, 11:47 am

I have this week been diagnosed as autistic and am to refreed to an autism unit for further counselling or whatever.

DAK what I can "expect" in terms of nput from such a unit? WADR to them i'm in my mid-50s and while the diagnosis explains "a lot" nonetheless Ive got this far without anything totally drastic occurring so its not necessarily anything life threatening or whatever.


Im just intrigued more than anything, now Ive overcome the intial shock and (unexplainable) upset [ its not as if my life has actually changed because of this diagnoisis after all ]

cheers

didds

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Re: Autism

#182274

Postby didds » November 22nd, 2018, 12:01 pm

FTR - Ive asked here rather than DAK as TBH I don;t want my news to just become some random debate on how everybody is on a spectrum etc or whatever :-) This forum being somewhat more sympathetic generally :-)

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Re: Autism

#182290

Postby ReformedCharacter » November 22nd, 2018, 1:06 pm

didds wrote:I have this week been diagnosed as autistic and am to refreed to an autism unit for further counselling or whatever.

DAK what I can "expect" in terms of nput from such a unit? WADR to them i'm in my mid-50s and while the diagnosis explains "a lot" nonetheless Ive got this far without anything totally drastic occurring so its not necessarily anything life threatening or whatever.


Im just intrigued more than anything, now Ive overcome the intial shock and (unexplainable) upset [ its not as if my life has actually changed because of this diagnoisis after all ]

cheers

didds


Here's a link to the National Autistic Society's Counselling section:

https://www.autism.org.uk/about/strateg ... lling.aspx

I can understand that it seem like a bit of a shock to be given that sort of diagnosis because it used to be the case that 'autistic' was used to describe somebody who is quite obviously seriously disabled whereas now it seems to be used more to describe certain personality traits. I certainly have some of those characteristics myself, as do some of the other posters here on the LemonFool, at least judging by what some people write :D

I've worked (in a care setting) with severely autistic people and also in various IT roles. Quite a few of my IT colleagues could be described as somewhat autistic and it probably helped them function well in their jobs, although perhaps not always in dealing with 'users' (or idiots as they are sometimes called). For example, I was once asked to fix a PC that wouldn't work and found that it wasn't actually plugged in. The 'user' said 'You must think I'm a bit of an idiot...' I just said 'Yes'. It didn't go down well :lol:

I hope that counselling might help you to understand how people see things differently, how other people view your behaviour (see above) and how to communicate better with other people. A lot of very successful people have such characteristics.

RC

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Re: Autism

#182294

Postby didds » November 22nd, 2018, 1:15 pm

Cheers RC.

I too work in IT.... sys admin...

!!


didds

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Re: Autism

#182346

Postby Itsallaguess » November 22nd, 2018, 4:30 pm

didds wrote:
DAK what I can "expect" in terms of input from such a unit? WADR to them i'm in my mid-50s and while the diagnosis explains "a lot" nonetheless Ive got this far without anything totally drastic occurring so its not necessarily anything life threatening or whatever.


Hi didds,

You've not gone into any details regarding what you mean by your 'this diagnosis explains a lot' section of your post above (and I certainly don't expect you to do so either, just to make that absolutely clear...), but if this is indeed the case, then perhaps you might see a benefit in just seeing this diagnosis, and the help that this counselling might be able to give you, as a way to perhaps just 'understanding' that side of things better, if nothing else?

I'd try to go in with an open mind if you can, and see where it goes. This will all feel new to you, especially as you say, given how well you've coped for many years without this diagnosis, but the counsellors will understand this and will have seen many similarly aged people, and will be able to put you at ease very quickly, I'd imagine, especially regarding that specific point.

It might be worth writing a few things down before the first meeting, if you've got any questions either now or nearer the time, or if you perhaps think of some goals of your own that you might want to get out of the counselling. That way you can refer to your notes in the meeting, and you won't forget anything during what is bound to be a nervous time initially.

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

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Re: Autism

#182452

Postby redsturgeon » November 23rd, 2018, 6:40 am

Interestingly the very fact that someone is autistic will probably make their whole view of the counselling process somewhat more challenging than otherwise.

What do you expect, if anything, to gain from the counselling? If you do not know what outcome you want then it will be difficult to know what you have achieved.

John

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Re: Autism

#182459

Postby didds » November 23rd, 2018, 8:47 am

RS' point is what I'm thinking!

I've absolutely no idea what counselling can "give" me, because I cant comprehend what I "need" from it. Ive got through 56 years so far being unvorotable in some situations and having blocks in other aspects of my life, work and leisure activities, and I have just got on with it because "that is what happens".

So I do have an open mind but just am intrigued as to what enlightenment may come my way :-)... I'll see.

didds

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Re: Autism

#182461

Postby redsturgeon » November 23rd, 2018, 8:52 am

didds wrote:RS' point is what I'm thinking!

I've absolutely no idea what counselling can "give" me, because I cant comprehend what I "need" from it. Ive got through 56 years so far being unvorotable in some situations and having blocks in other aspects of my life, work and leisure activities, and I have just got on with it because "that is what happens".

So I do have an open mind but just am intrigued as to what enlightenment may come my way :-)... I'll see.

didds



The best approach I think.

Good luck.

John

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Re: Autism

#182616

Postby XFool » November 23rd, 2018, 7:20 pm

didds wrote:I too work in IT.... sys admin...

Say n' more! :D

Forgive my question, and of course you may choose not to answer, but I am curious as to what led to your being diagnosed in the first place.

XFool

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Re: Autism

#182975

Postby didds » November 26th, 2018, 10:26 am

XFool wrote:
didds wrote:I too work in IT.... sys admin...

Say n' more! :D

Forgive my question, and of course you may choose not to answer, but I am curious as to what led to your being diagnosed in the first place.

XFool


NP XF...


I had some counseling just over a year ago for some mental health issues. during that counseling it was suggested I may be on a spectrum and if and when I felt comfortable with it I might like to investigate that further.

didds

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Re: Autism

#183006

Postby Meatyfool » November 26th, 2018, 12:35 pm

I am the father of a severely autistic teenager and I can see the traits in me. I used to work in IT - database specialist.

No surprises really that someone who is going to have difficulty with fuzzy stuff like communication/interpersonal relations should go into a career that does not rely on them - in fact the digital nature (on/off, the program does exactly what it is programmed to do etc) is a real turn on.

Our GP at the time my son got his diagnosis said he had dozens of autistic men on the practice books - all of them working at Dungeness power station. You absolutely want someone who is 100% focussed about process in a nuclear power station and a higher-functioning autism is an absolute boon in those circumstances.

Not sure if it was urban legend or not, but some big American software companies went on autism recruitment drives, not only employing the autistic workers but "minders" trained to cope with their idiosyncracies and (basically) shielding them from the "everyday stuff" that they couldn't cope with.

Meatyfool..

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Re: Autism

#183050

Postby Sussexlad » November 26th, 2018, 4:38 pm

Meatyfool wrote:No surprises really that someone who is going to have difficulty with fuzzy stuff like communication/interpersonal relations should go into a career that does not rely on them - in fact the digital nature (on/off, the program does exactly what it is programmed to do etc) is a real turn on.
Meatyfool..


I have no knowledge of this topic but when a recent report suggested that something like 35-40% of people were on some kind of mental deficiency spectrum, it struck me, that what they're actually doing, is trying to curb different personality traits and suggest we should all be the same. I too prefer to work alone, though was always very willing to share what I knew or train but I see it as a quality and not some kind of inadequacy!

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Re: Autism

#183054

Postby ReformedCharacter » November 26th, 2018, 4:53 pm

Meatyfool wrote:
No surprises really that someone who is going to have difficulty with fuzzy stuff like communication/interpersonal relations should go into a career that does not rely on them - in fact the digital nature (on/off, the program does exactly what it is programmed to do etc) is a real turn on.

Meatyfool..


Yes, I read some research a few years ago that found that a statistically significant number of children diagnosed with autism had grandfathers who worked as 'engineers'.

RC

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Re: Autism

#183075

Postby Infrasonic » November 26th, 2018, 6:24 pm

The % of ASD occurence in the IT industry/engineering is way higher than the general population. In fact I would say it is 'common'.
If you hang out on the tech boards on the web a lot Aspergers seems like almost a requirement.

I recently read this book...Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are

By this chap...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Plomin
Robert J. Plomin, FBA (born 1948) is an American psychologist and geneticist best known for his work in twin studies and behavior genetics. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Plomin as the 71st most cited psychologist of the 20th century.[1]


Very good book, in it he posits that most generally observed psychological or even psychiatric 'conditions' are just more extreme versions of 'normal' spectrum behaviour that only become an issue when people start to struggle with everyday functioning, at which point they may come to the attention of the mental health professionals.

In the US they have done away with much of the subcategorization of 'clinical' psychiatric conditions listed in the DSM (https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/dsm), as the symptoms overlap is so great between many of them.
ASD/ADHD/ BiPolar 1+2/Schizophrenia et al all share many characteristics, getting a definitive diagnosis is an incomplete science.
There is much disagreement amongst many of the notable 'experts'. Neurological research is having more and more influence on the profession.

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Re: Autism

#183282

Postby Meatyfool » November 27th, 2018, 3:28 pm

ReformedCharacter wrote:
Meatyfool wrote:
No surprises really that someone who is going to have difficulty with fuzzy stuff like communication/interpersonal relations should go into a career that does not rely on them - in fact the digital nature (on/off, the program does exactly what it is programmed to do etc) is a real turn on.

Meatyfool..


Yes, I read some research a few years ago that found that a statistically significant number of children diagnosed with autism had grandfathers who worked as 'engineers'.

RC


Not just an autism thing - most people will find employment in areas that their personality etc dictates.

In health and care industries, they call that thing a vocation!

Meatyfool

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Re: Autism

#183616

Postby melonfool » November 28th, 2018, 6:11 pm

XFool wrote:
didds wrote:I too work in IT.... sys admin...

Say n' more! :D

Forgive my question, and of course you may choose not to answer, but I am curious as to what led to your being diagnosed in the first place.

XFool


I work in HR, as people here know, and I am often told I am 'not like other HR people'. I am a lot less fluffy and a lot more pragmatic and business focused. That has good and bad sides of course. But I have 'fitted in' best in tech companies/departments and it has often been suggested to me that I might be autistic. Autism in women is less diagnosed and presents differently - we are more socialised as children than men to be accommodating and accepting, we are *supposed* to cry and have empathy so we learn that, where boys and men (quite wrongly, if you ask me) are *allowed* not to to empathise or show feelings. So, girls learn to act and cover up their true nature, whereas boys don't and this means it tends to show more as they don't know how to learn to 'fit in'.

I discussed this possible diagnosis with one counsellor I had and his view was 'what is the point of labels, we need to address thoughts and behaviour patterns no matter what their cause'. No idea if he was right, I stopped seeing him when he kept telling me I use humour to divert from my true feelings but couldn't tell me why that was a problem.

In terms of what you can expect - autism support on the NHS is pretty dire. So, probably nothing. But it is a disability so there is that side - protection from discrimination and potentially, if at a later date it prevents you working etc, then access to disability benefits. I know this isn't necessary for you, but just putting it there in case anyone else needs to know.

I think there is a link between autism and depression as well and I seem to recall you have suffered in the past with depression - so this could be linked? Might be worth putting that on your list to ask the consultant.

I have done a bit of research into and attended a few conferences on the prevalence of NNT (neuro non-typical) people in IT and it is well documented that there is a higher proportion than the norm. The question of whether NNT people are drawn to IT because it means less people-focus (traditionally, but this has changed in the last 10 years) or having gone into IT their behaviour which is less people-centred becomes more embedded and more difficult to overcome. Who knows!

Mel

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Re: Autism

#183618

Postby melonfool » November 28th, 2018, 6:13 pm

Sussexlad wrote:
Meatyfool wrote:No surprises really that someone who is going to have difficulty with fuzzy stuff like communication/interpersonal relations should go into a career that does not rely on them - in fact the digital nature (on/off, the program does exactly what it is programmed to do etc) is a real turn on.
Meatyfool..


I have no knowledge of this topic but when a recent report suggested that something like 35-40% of people were on some kind of mental deficiency spectrum, it struck me, that what they're actually doing, is trying to curb different personality traits and suggest we should all be the same. I too prefer to work alone, though was always very willing to share what I knew or train but I see it as a quality and not some kind of inadequacy!


Sorry, this is an unhelpful comment for Comfort Cafe and exactly the sort of comment Didds said he wanted to avoid by not posting in DAK.

Mel

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Re: Autism

#183619

Postby melonfool » November 28th, 2018, 6:17 pm

Meatyfool wrote:
Not sure if it was urban legend or not, but some big American software companies went on autism recruitment drives, not only employing the autistic workers but "minders" trained to cope with their idiosyncracies and (basically) shielding them from the "everyday stuff" that they couldn't cope with.

Meatyfool..


One of the conferences I went to last year included an agency that supplies IT people to companies, not as a recruiter, as a supplier, and they specifically recruit people on the NNT spectrum and they buddy them up with people, so whether it was a myth then, it isn't now.

https://auticon.co.uk/careers/

Mel

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Re: Autism

#183830

Postby Sussexlad » November 29th, 2018, 7:58 pm

melonfool wrote:
Sussexlad wrote:I have no knowledge of this topic but when a recent report suggested that something like 35-40% of people were on some kind of mental deficiency spectrum, it struck me, that what they're actually doing, is trying to curb different personality traits and suggest we should all be the same. I too prefer to work alone, though was always very willing to share what I knew or train but I see it as a quality and not some kind of inadequacy!


Sorry, this is an unhelpful comment for Comfort Cafe and exactly the sort of comment Didds said he wanted to avoid by not posting in DAK.

Mel


How can suggesting any perceived 'condition' is normal be unhelpful but I wont get into a debate about it because I accept this isn't the place?

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Re: Autism

#183907

Postby bungeejumper » November 30th, 2018, 8:50 am

Sussexlad wrote:
melonfool wrote:
Sussexlad wrote:I have no knowledge of this topic but when a recent report suggested that something like 35-40% of people were on some kind of mental deficiency spectrum, it struck me, that what they're actually doing, is trying to curb different personality traits and suggest we should all be the same. I too prefer to work alone, though was always very willing to share what I knew or train but I see it as a quality and not some kind of inadequacy!


Sorry, this is an unhelpful comment for Comfort Cafe and exactly the sort of comment Didds said he wanted to avoid by not posting in DAK.


How can suggesting any perceived 'condition' is normal be unhelpful but I wont get into a debate about it because I accept this isn't the place?

OK, fair enough. Talking about a 'condition' is certainly an improvement on 'mental deficiency'. There have been many thousands of exceptionally gifted engineers, architects and artists who were on the autistic spectrum, and whose work would not have had the same quality without it. Or the same outstanding sense of focus. 'Mental deficiency' is really the wrong phrase altogether.

BJ


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