Nursing with Asperger's ... :/

I don't know about any of the other stuff, but if that's your real picture, you should take it down.

Why exactly? I have noticed that most people don't use photos around here. Is there any particular reason?

I would caution "self diagnosing" yourself; try seeking professional assistance in combating your social anxiety and managing it.

Be gentle to yourself; I believe there are a few posters here with similar issues and will respond.

Best wishes.

I suspect I am somewhere on the aspergers scale althought my special interests are a little more socially acceptable LOL (dogs, organic gardening, and psychopharmacology lol). I've always had trouble with eye contact but I've trained myself to do it because it's polite, sarcasm goes totally by me, I don't pick up on jokes a lot, I take everything literally. I have certain orders I have to do things in, there are sensory things that bother me and certain sensory things I find comforting (ie ketchup or salad dresiing left on a plate and I touch it totally grosses me out. Loud sounds bother me. I tend to "space out" in large crowds of people). I was really shy and awkward as a kid, I still am to an extent. My therapist today asked me if I thought these were the results of trauma (I was bullied severely and am a sexual abuse survivor) or developmental. I told her probably a little of both. She asked about sensory stuff when I was small and I recalled that getting water on my face freaked me out. Like going into full blown hysterics when my mom had to rinse shampoo out of my hair because I was so afraid of getting water on my face. So I haven't been officially dx'ed but my therapist thinks it's a possibility.

I have found work settings to be ok as far as relationships with my peers. I'm polite, cordial, and get my job done. I AM def a "fake it till you make it" type of person. Bit I still have issues worrying that people don't like me and I have to remind myself to smile otherwise my affect looks pretty flat and people ask if I'm ok.

I work with a girl who I suspect has a social disorder and slight mental retardation. Sometimes she's a big awkward with patients but for the most part she is a good worker.

I would suggest speaking with a doctor and getting involved in social skills classes - learning what to talk about and what's not okay to talk about. Also learning to pick up social cues is helpful.

I'm also a cna and know what u r going though... I was once thought to have aspergers and went to a psych doctor and was told I have social anxiety.... I know that got me fired from my first job ever but have been put on meds that help out a lot and have been able to keep a job as long as I have....

I have high functioning autism and I'm a cna. I got diagnosed by a neuropsychologist and it was covered by my insurance, but not every insurance company pays for it. It costs several hundred dollars to be tested so if your insurance won't cover it and you don't have a referral, you may be out of luck. The only benefit for being diagnosed is that it allows you to file for disability if needed. I would never disclose anything to my employer, having a stigma associated to you makes working difficult and they might find a random reason to fire you.

Try working around what ever you may have. Since you lack social skills you should work 3rd shift as a cna and I find overnight shifts with homecare to be very easy. You only work for one person and for most of the shift they are asleep, you also work alone and have no coworkers which is nice too.

Wow, I can't imagine how stressful it is for an Aspie to work in healthcare. My Aspie (dx at 16) offspring is a software engineer - very appropriate career field which has proven to be quite successful. I know that the social skills 'thing' and inability to sense emotional nuance are serious issues, but I would imagine that the lack of consistent structure & having to cope with a dynamic priorities/schedule... would be complete deal-breakers for an Aspie.