Our stories
@greenpea Oh, I didn't know you didn't know I am aspie. 
I figured it out myself about 4 years ago and then paid to get a formal assessment done because, you know, no one believes you unless an "expert" says what you already know.
My aspieness complicates my muddle a LOT. I can see that a lot of what was shoved under the very heavily stigmatized BPD diagnosis was (and is) aspie stuff. Eighteen years in therapy, 40+ psychiatric admissions and not one mental health professional picked up the tinsy tiny detail of AUTISM!!! Grrrrrrrrrrr!
@Queenie where I got my blanket from, there was the option to have doona-type material in it as well as the weighted stuff. I chose not to do that so that it wouldn't be too hot in summer. It is only on the ridiculously hot nights in the middle of summer that it is too hot.
@greenpea Yeah, once I started looking into the whole ASD thing, I discovered that there is a very big issue with it being missed in girls because it presents so differently compared to boys. In hindsight, I was a classic Aspie child, but alas, that was a long time ago, and even now it seems girls get missed. This is an organization that is fighting to change that: https://www.yellowladybugs.com.au/
I am on my way out of Forum Land for the night now, but it was good chatting to you greenpea. Your "very strange" son sounds like someone I'd enjoy hanging out with. I'm sure he is super awesome. 
@Former-Member Today is a super busy day in my world and I won't have a chance to respond to you properly. However, I will in the next few days. Just quickly, there are specific criteria for assessing ASD, in the same way that there are specific criteria for assessing mental illnesses. These are listed in the DSM-V. The diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome was removed from the DSM-V. Thus, whereas if I had been assessed under the DSM-IV I would have been diagnosed with "Asperger's syndrome", under the DSM-V my formal diagnosis is Autism Spectrum Disorder without accompanying intellectual impairment or language impairment. Why use a 2-word label when you can use a 10-word one, right!!! 
As I'm sure @greenpea knows, there is a saying in the autistic community; "when you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism." That is, people with autism differ from each other just as much as neurotypical people differ from each other. It amused me once when I disclosed my ASD diagnosis to a man who I'd been having communication issues with and he responded with "ohhhhh, yeah, now I see, my 7 year old nephew has autism and you're just like him." I felt like saying "yep, and there's a 7-year old neurotypical little girl who lives next door to me and as a 35 year old neurotypical man, I can see that you are just like her."
When I had a neuropsychological assessment done a few years ago, it indicated that I have a superior verbal IQ and moderately impaired executive functioning. I tend to present a bit as the quintessential mad professor - I hold a first class honours degree, find inferential statistics fun, and yet super struggle to understand the nuances of social interaction, can't multi-task to save my life and generally bumble around looking like Mr Bean trying to navigate situations a lot of the time.
Gee, that short response got long didn't it! I have to dash off now.
@Phoenix_Rising Hahahahaha! "when you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism." that is so funny. So true. You find inferential statistics fun!!!! OMG girl! we will really have to take you out on our girls night out that's me, @Former-Member and @Faith-and-Hope in the green pea's lil green car!!
