It’s looking like I’m somewhere on the autism spectrum (as was my suspicion)—but the psychologist isn’t sure quite where to fit me yet. I’m not checking this goal as complete until I have a firm answer. However, it’s mentally gratifying to have at least some smaller answers in the meantime.
The results from some of the testing were quite surprising. The things I thought I had more trouble with are mostly the things on which I actually scored rather highly. The psych says it’s probably that I felt challenged by those tasks and focused on them more. I don’t know. The other thing that confused me a bit: she told me I have some impairment in the use of my hands. Now, I would have guessed a slight impairment for the left hand, if anything at all. (I’m right-handed.) My left hand isn’t great for fine motor tasks—but most people have a dominant hand, yes? Yes. Anyway, the surprise: moderate impairment in use of left hand, severe impairment in use of right hand. Severe impairment… in the hand that does all of the writing, most of the typing, most of the texting, all of the cutting with scissors or knives, all of the little finicky tasks that require a steady hand… that one? That’s the severely impaired one? My handwriting is neat, I type quickly, and I’ve never really perceived any fine motor problems (especially not in my right hand!). So, that’s strange to think about.
I’m sure I’ll be ruminating on the test results a bit more as time goes by… maybe ought to start a separate blog… the 29 year old woman finally diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, after years of not fitting in, of odd cognitive discrepancies, of few friends and hardly anyone willing to get close… yeah.