How many of us here on Fluther are on the autism spectrum?

Not me.

I am not.

Not me !

I’m on the avian spectrum not the autism. This is an interesting question.

Not me. I also do not have delusions of penguins like SOME people I know.

Never having been tested, I have no idea. The spectrum is so very broad and diverse that it would be difficult to tell without testing, as so many reactions to various factors of modern living can mimic symptoms of autism.

I have a learning disability, does that count??

I suspect I may be. I have never been tested for it and I’d just assume not know. My life is perfectly functional without knowing that.

I too may be, but have never been tested.
I have a high functioning son on the spectrum, and I suspect my daughter could be, though she refuses to be tested.

Being the age I am, half my life was over before I saw Rainman, and it was even longer before I learned that autism is a spectrum and lots of people are less obvious than Rainman.

I’m guessing that I would fit the criteria for Broader Autism Phenotype or HFA. But diagnosis is costly. And since I don’t need actual services, it doesn’t make sense to pursue a diagnosis.

There’s schizophrenia and autism in our family. So given our genetic history, it wouldn’t be that surprising either.

I don’t know but most people I’ve heard who say that they are autistic sound like there is nothing different about them.

@flo I think there’s a common misconception that autism only presents like Rainman.

@Demosthenes Psst…I think it’s “just as soon”.

@Patty_Melt Have you come across Samantha Craft or Tania Marshall? Interesting take on how autism presents in females.

@ARE_you_kidding_me Do you identify as autistic?

@raum Wow, that was dumb. That’s as bad as when people say “for all intensive purposes”. And I have a linguistics degree. hangs head in shame.

@raum, thanks. I will give a look-see.

@Demosthenes I cringe to think of the trail of typos and brain farts I’ve left on Fluther over the years. And if it’s any consolation, I don’t think “just assume” is quite as bad as “all intensive purposes”. Ha.

I’m a bit confused. Did you really mean to say, “I’d just assume not know.” @Demosthenes?

@raum yes there is.

@raum No I don’t but the more I understand about it the more I’m in the “it’s a spectrum” camp and I’m uncertain if it’s even a disease. Seems more like an adaptation where a bit in the autistic side has certain advantages if I’m being honest. Full blown autism not so much though. On line tests show me as “possibly autistic” but we all know how I feel about online assessments. I have never been tested but I suspect I would not be considered to have it.

I don’t think of it as a disease, but it is a physical condition which causes perception and physical sensitivity to be altered.
It is not a rug doctors sweep people under.

^^^ Seems that way sometimes, though. I took my middle daughter to counseling when she was about 13. I think she had somethings to work through, and I was just trying to find someone she could open up to.
I took her to 3 different “doctors,” because none of them struck me as being worth a damn. I wasn’t even looking for a physical problem.
After 15 minutes of talking the 1st one said, “ADD.”
The 2nd one said, “Depression.”
The 3rd one said, “Autism.”
Come to find out later, none of them were even qualified to make any kind of diagnosis. (They were paid by the SRS, if that made any difference in the quality of care.)

I think I would make myself aware of qualifications first.
As it is, one of them could be correct, but you would have no way to know.

I did the best I could with what I had. I didn’t have access to the best quality mental health care. :/. I guess I trusted them to know what they were, and weren’t, qualified to do.

What it really struck me as they did’t have a clue, and they were just handing out the flavor of the week, willy nilly, so I just discounted everyone.

About a year later I got a job that actually provided quality insurance and we found a really good psychologist and started making some headway. But that got nipped in the bud when I lost that job 5 months later. After that she was too old to give a shit and refused to go.