[Disclaimer: I have been well out of the loop for the correct terms and how things are understood about / in communities around Autism Spectrum Disorder so if I say anything rude or off putting, I apologize since it has been years since I actively looked into it and a lot of changes have happened since then in the community / therapy house for it.
Also, I briefly talk about self diagnosis, please do not try to assume my opinion on it since it is a very complex topic and that I have no firm opinion on; this is just a brief comment that is not indicative to my whole opinion - especially considering I don’t have a firm whole opinion in the first place
I am open to comments / questions about this whole thing cause its been a debacle that was interesting for the past week; though do understand my knowledge of ASD is currently very muddied, out of date, and likely not the strongest.]
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Okay so update on the whole autism confusion, I am most likely not on the spectrum (though that is a most likely since it would be very hard to diagnose at my age combined with the number of other factors of how I grew up and having C-PTSD / DID making it easier to explain with complex trauma) since the core level of theory of mind issues are not strongly present enough; though I do share a lot of behavioral traits of someone on the spectrum due to complex trauma, being raised being told I have aspergers, being a social protector that learned how to socialize through our sister who is on the spectrum, and having my dad and oldest sister both be on the spectrum while growing up.
Life is confusing XD I agree though I probably didn’t because it *really* isn’t a huge bother and really doesn’t affect my life particularly much, but my behavior is very similar to those who are on the spectrum, but innately it does not seem I actually have it
But man though, most of the session was going over how frustratingly similar some aspects / external symptoms of ASD and C-PTSD can be and how the differential is based on the internal nature / cause and how that relates to other symptoms and the internal nature / cause of them and I’m just like
Man, I am *not* against self diagnosing in moderation for the point of healing, but stuff like this makes me really state that people can not *reliably* diagnose themselves to the level of an outside professional and without actual years of studying.
Again, I am NOT against self diagnosing for the sake of finding communities that one can work with and understand and try to figure out what is going on (especially when they can not afford a therapist / therapy is not an option at the moment), but it is just some reflection on how similar disorders can look and how difficult - especially with trauma in mind - it can be to navigate it
Oh and btw XD This is actually the conclusion an ASD-specialist (my first therapist) and a trauma-dissociation specialist (my current therapist) both came to independently and one that I’ve been living by for a while.
I am not on the spectrum, but due to trauma and being raised by two people who ARE on the spectrum and having been raised with it as a large context to my life, I behave a lot like someone who does and a lot of my coping mechanisms for trauma look like someone who is on it because those are the coping mechanisms I was most presently surrounded with.
-Riku (Host)
