Can I still be on the spectrum even though an ASD Professional told me I impossibly couldn’t?

[breakpoint64]

I just want to know people who have had a similar experience as mine and were told by people who supposedly are professionals for ASD in adults that they could impossibly be on the spectrum and have their result sheets imply that they impossibly could be autistic but still feel autistic.

Like just because I feel like it, doesn’t mean it’s actually the case. I still somehow want to be part of this community even though that I shouldn’t be allowed to be part of this
And I’m struggling with self-gaslighting because this is the only professional opinion I have with no sight of getting a second opinion.

I were also told that “we all have a little of everything” and that’s why I couldn’t be on the spectrum, thing is anything the DSM-5 says that differs from the ICD-10 is no use to me since my country doesn’t use the DSM. I feel horribly fake and like a liar even though my parents tried to get me tested early on in childhood with no luck.

My assessment a few months ago only stated that I have “social awkwardness” with lack of any other autistic trait what is incredibly dismissive of anything I have told to the professional because I didn’t even get to fill out the relevant questionnaires.

I have been told that just because I have the experiences of one who might be on the spectrum doesn’t mean I actually am on the spectrum.

I feel dirty for constantly redoing the RAADS-R to feel some sort of validation I will never have.

would love to hear other people’s thoughts about this.

EDIT: forgot to mention that I do however have a diagnosis for ADHD I got a few years ago, but still kept looking into ASD due to the comorbidity and signs I’ve had as an infant that seem to imply that. (Which means that I’m ND anyways)

 

[Finder]

You can always get a second opinion. I would also confirm the doctor has experience diagnosing adults. Much of the testing and diagnosis is for children and adults present some unique problems in diagnosis. For my diagnosis, I also did research in my early childhood. I collected school reports and interviewed my mom. But I was also diagnosed under the DSM-5.

Remember, diagnosis is for a clinical disability. The human experience is so much richer than that. If you don't get your diagnosis, ask why. Use it to understand yourself and help you find your place. It is never an end, but just another point on a journey--I hope that does not sound like a perfume commercial.

 

[breakpoint64]

Thanks, my only realistic chance to get a second opinion is in two years given that this is how long the waiting list takes for the public option before getting assessed at an autism support center.

The professional diagnoses adults otherwise they wouldn’t have done the assessment with me, but the question on whether or not I am on the spectrum was answered by whatever my mom answered and as much as I am certain that she didn’t intentionally sabotage my assessment given she couldn’t remember about everything in my childhood, it kinda didn’t help that she managed to portray child me as incredibly social during childhood what just wasn’t the reality for me.

 

[Finder]

Being able to diagnose adults and having the experience in diagnosing adults is not the same thing. An ASD/ASC diagnosis is a subjective process. 2 years is a long wait. I can't tell if it is worth it for you, but being on the list does not hurt.

Talk with your mom. Memories are notoriously unreliable. For example, she may have noticed you with other children, but did not notice the lack of engagement.

 

[breakpoint64]

I don’t really know how much it will help and I think it makes more sense to contact the place I were put into therapy as a child if they have *some* documentation about my symptoms remaining

the diagnosis criteria are pretty much written having a white single child in mind what just isn’t the case for me since given that I have had siblings, I were pretty much put into social situations very early on in life.

to be clear, my mom heavily supports a second opinion because the fact that the professional cared more what she had to say than what I or eventually my siblings had to say made her upset. I explained her that the diagnosis criteria used during the assessment is pretty much outdated compared to the DSM-5 and somehow seemed to understand the concept of a “spectrum” better than the person I spent several hundred euros for.

However i still don’t want to keep ASD a topic with my mom or my family in general as long as a second opinion is still in the far future because of my internalization struggles and dumb stuff like “I can’t talk with my mom about something I don’t have”

I am definitely confident that if I did grew up as a single child I would have been an exact carbon copy of Abed from Community

 

[Magna]

Firstly you absolutely can participate here regardless of any professional diagnosis and I hope you feel welcome to do so. There is NOT a criteria that you have to be autistic or have a professional diagnosis of autism to be a part of this community. I for one welcome you as you are.

I find it odd that a professional would use a word like "impossible". A key requirement for an autism diagnosis is your behavior as a child. It's to be expected that the assessment person asked your mom for details about your childhood. Were they asked to give feedback as to how you were from ages 2-6 years old for example? My autism assessment therapist said that if a person presented and had absolutely no information (other than personal recollection) about how they were as a child that a therapist is reticent to give an autism diagnosis.

It sounds like you're familiar with the DSM criteria. If not, there are two categories: 1) Social communication deficit, of which there are three distinct criteria. 2) Restricted or repetitive behaviors, of which there are four distinct criteria.

A person must meet all three criteria in the first category and must meet two of the four criteria in the second category to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

I think you should find out more information on the results of your diagnostic assessment.

A person could meet all three criteria in the first category and none of the criteria in the second category. The result however, according to the DSM V, is that that person would not have autism spectrum disorder.

 

[breakpoint64]

Basically I didn’t speak any words at all as an infant and had a language delay, however what was the red flag is that the very first thing time I said anything in my life was through echolalia.
I have been told by my family that I were put into therapy early on as a child due to suspected autism, but I didn’t receive a diagnosis due to incompetence and racism of the professionals who were trying to diagnose me but instead blamed it on “foreign culture”

 

[Bolletje]

People are fallible and diagnoses in psychiatry and psychology are more of an art form than a science. (I’m saying this as a medical doctor with a lot of psych experience) A 100% certainty does not exist in that field. Therefore it’s always possible that the person diagnosing you got it wrong.

Don’t feel apprehensive about hanging out here. These forums are for everyone regardless of diagnosis.

 

[breakpoint64]

Thanks, I remember trying to challenge the professional’s conclusion but constantly dismissed it with “why didn’t your mom notice/point out when I asked her” completely dismissing the idea that I might not feel like talking much about my struggles when family is close, in the sense that I just need some space for myself

 

[Tom]

Professionals absolutely can get it wrong. I think many do not get how varied people on the spectrum are. Many of us are only self-diagnosed. Not all seek a formal diagnosis. But participating in a spectrumy group like this can be useful in your own self determination. Like a dog being raised in a house full of cats, when they do meet other dogs they recognize their own.

 

[Rae Ray]

I just want to know people who have had a similar experience as mine and were told by people who supposedly are professionals for ASD in adults that they could impossibly be on the spectrum and have their result sheets imply that they impossibly could be autistic but still feel autistic.

Like just because I feel like it, doesn’t mean it’s actually the case. I still somehow want to be part of this community even though that I shouldn’t be allowed to be part of this
And I’m struggling with self-gaslighting because this is the only professional opinion I have with no sight of getting a second opinion.

I were also told that “we all have a little of everything” and that’s why I couldn’t be on the spectrum, thing is anything the DSM-5 says that differs from the ICD-10 is no use to me since my country doesn’t use the DSM. I feel horribly fake and like a liar even though my parents tried to get me tested early on in childhood with no luck.

My assessment a few months ago only stated that I have “social awkwardness” with lack of any other autistic trait what is incredibly dismissive of anything I have told to the professional because I didn’t even get to fill out the relevant questionnaires.

I have been told that just because I have the experiences of one who might be on the spectrum doesn’t mean I actually am on the spectrum.

I feel dirty for constantly redoing the RAADS-R to feel some sort of validation I will never have.

would love to hear other people’s thoughts about this.

I've heard that adults are much harder to diag. because of lifelong learning to adjust to as normal as possible but not a pro so i would get a 2nd opinion

 

[menander]

Was the person a neuro psych or just a psych? What were her qualifications?

 

[Crossbreed]

Can I still be on the spectrum even though an ASD Professional told me I impossibly couldn’t?

In a word, yes, if your doctor is a quack

when it comes to autism.

When my ASD2 & 3 children were diagnosed, I thought only those were autism. I knew nothing of ASD1. I got diagnosed while I was securing their care.

When I sought my own counselor, I ran into so many that insisted that I couldn't have it for so many reasons. One was even a neuro-psych, but his specialty was Alzheimer's, not autism. The rest of the quacks

only studied to Dr. Leo Kanner. They recognized ASD2 & 3, but insisted that autism was over-diagnosed, otherwise. (It has become a political football around here.) These maintained that children grew out of autism (at least, ASD1), so autism isn't even a valid adult diagnosis.

Autism-competent counselors know that cognition can remain intact with autism (ASD1) and they are more accurate in dealing with ASD2 & 3, too. (They won't suggest that everybody as some autism; they know better.) If someone like that denies an ASD diagnosis, it is more reliable.

It is like when you go to describe your traits, they will complete your sentences, and be accurate when doing so. (Quacks

are unable to do that.)

 

[breakpoint64]

the professional also cited like

Me passing a placement test for an university I have fought hard to get into because I had to drop out of high school due to bad performance, having “extroverted qualities” such as having been part of a stage play group in high school and my mom portraying child me as extremely social (which wasn’t the actual reality of my social life as I were constantly bullied and only had like 1-2 friends I irregularly met at best) that I couldn’t be on the spectrum


when I asked on high functioning autism I were told that “there is only severe autism” and in regards of Aspergers I could impossibly have Aspergers because I had a language delay so for the professional there’s only “Aspergers”, “severe autism” and “atypical autism with intellectual disability” and I fit into neither of the three categories

Their qualification is that they used to diagnose in the autism diagnosis center in my country (where I am going to do the second opinion once the waiting period is over)

 

[Crossbreed]

Me passing a placement test for an university

having “extroverted qualities” such as having been part of a stage play group in high school

when I asked on high functioning autism I were told that “there is only severe autism”

in regards of Aspergers I could impossibly have Aspergers because I had a language delay

so for the professional there’s only “Aspergers”, “severe autism” and “autism with intellectual disability”

Total QUACK score:

!

 

[breakpoint64]

On the one hand I scored low on like every ASD test I were apparently tested with, but then again those were questionnaires that were filled out by the professional based on my mom’s verbal answers which made me look on paper as the most neurotypical person on the planet.

Which caused my therapist who initially pushed me to seek a diagnosis for ASD to explain me that I just don’t have a pervasive developmental disorder and I had to actively explain to him that there was so much wrong going on and it made me feel that I’m not being believed.

He explained me that most people with Aspergers don’t look like they have Aspergers and can mask themselves but here is the thing


I don’t and could impossibly have Aspergers, I had a language delay. Maybe high functioning ASD in a subclinical extend if it’s hard to diagnose to the point that I just come off as having spent too much time on WebMD even though what I have mistaken as Aspergers but actually was HFA is something I have suspected for almost a decade, but my language delay as a child means that I can’t in any way have Aspergers so I feel uncomfortable when “HFA” and “Aspergers” are interchangeably used

 

[Crossbreed]

I don’t and could impossibly have Aspergers, I had a language delay. Maybe high functioning ASD in a subclinical extend if it’s hard to diagnose to the point that I just come off as having spent too much time on WebMD, but my language delay as a child means that I can’t in any way have Aspergers so I feel uncomfortable when “HFA” and “Aspergers” are interchangeably used

You're arguing from DSM-4. Language delay isn't a critical factor in the DSM-5. There is only Autism Spectrum Disorder with three levels of support needed/severity.

And I am not affirming that you are, in fact, autistic. But the doctor that you saw just sounds unqualified to give you a diagnosis, either way.

 

[breakpoint64]

I’m arguing from the ICD-10 because this is what is exclusively used in my country for diagnosis

 

[Crossbreed]

I’m arguing from the ICD-10 because this is what is exclusively used in my country for diagnosis

Okay, but not for long...

ICD-11 - Wikipedia

 

[breakpoint64]

Still a distant future, and I am fully aware that trying to move the goalposts won’t help.

Having been constantly hinted of not being neurotypical while constantly being told that I’m just making stuff if I question being up is what fuels this constant self-gaslighting I’m suffering from. I even felt uncomfortable creating an account here because for the case that it’s 100% verifiable that I could impossibly be on the spectrum and then feel like I were just an actor who demands constant attention and spotlight

My therapist explained me that after all this it is indeed likely that i am on the spectrum even if in a subclinical extend, and was a bit more validating when I brought the RAADS-R and DSM-5 papers to him


But I still feel wrong and fueled by my own confirmation bias, that is what is messing with my head. I have been told to dismiss any of my own introspection for my entire life because they are wrong.