• Welcome to Autism Forums, a friendly forum to discuss Aspergers Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and related conditions.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Private Member only forums for more serious discussions that you may wish to not have guests or search engines access to.
    • Your very own blog. Write about anything you like on your own individual blog.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon! Please also check us out @ https://www.twitter.com/aspiescentral

Who diagnosed you and why ?

Grayman

Active Member
Jw how the process happend for some people , I would like to take a test myself because iam not diagnosed , I should stress maybe my symptoms don't lead to aspergers and lie some where else I just see a lot of familiar story's . Anyway i don't know if I should make the first step? My lines complicate things because of my other mental issues but none the less let me know :)
 
I diagnosed myself several years ago. That was solely based on the medically diagnosed Aspies I know and, my commonalities with them. Later, i found the online tests and, did all I could find, RAAD-S included and, every one of them verified what I already knew, I am an Aspie, perhaps a very high functioning one when it comes to the social aspects but, I have lived a life that forced me to learn to socialize with some of the elite of society. Had I not allowed my talents to carry me into that world, I would not be as socially adept as I am, and I would make far more mistakes than I do now.

I still cannot read subtle, non verbal cues at all, I give too mush information routinely and, I do not know when to shut up when I am talking about something I am interested in or, talented with. I have also never mastered the art of self deprecation, or verbal modesty. if I am good at something, then that is simply a fact, not boasting. I will not say "My bad" or apologize unless I honestly know I have erred, doing so would be lying yet, NTS do it quite often. I know to get a laugh or ease tensions but, it is not honest and, that is not me.

If I were in your place now, I would want to do the tests, even if I would never seek a medical diagnosis. I would want to erase any doubt form my own mind. I think it's better to know you have a deficit or problem you cannot change than to struggle with trying to change it and, fail repeatedly. You can accept what you cannot change or control but, you can't do that if you don't know the reason for the things you know are not normal about you.
 
The first time I went to see my doctor about my social problems was about four years ago, he told me he would send me to see a therapist but didn't hear anything more. It took me a year or so to gather up what courage I had to go there in the first place, and it was to difficult for me to go back.October was a really bad month for me so I went to a local mental health charity where a lady phoned my medical practice on behalf of me and attended the appointment with me.

I had an assessment and then got diagnosed a few months ago.
 
It was some doctor or psychiatrist/psychologist that did it when I was in kindergarten.
I don't remember that far back.
All I know is that I came across the words 'asperger's syndrome' in my medical records one day when I was younger. I was curious as to what that was, so I took it upon myself to research on the internet and search books in a library to find out what on earth that means, as well as ask my mum, and what I found was a whole lot of eye-opening info. :p
 
I had suspected having Asperger's for some time, but as long as I was coping at work I hadn't asked for a diagnosis. Then, a couple of years ago, my circumstances changed and I started to really struggle with work. It got the the point where I felt I couldn't go into work and I became ill with anxiety. I had to give up my job and decided to seek help. I started to think about Asperger's more and more, and decided to ask for a referral in the UK. My GP referred me, and I got an assessment for an appointment in 6 weeks with a psychiatrist. I was diagnosed by the psychiatrist after just one interview with me and my mum.
 
I had suspected having Asperger's for some time, but as long as I was coping at work I hadn't asked for a diagnosis. Then, a couple of years ago, my circumstances changed and I started to really struggle with work. It got the the point where I felt I couldn't go into work and I became ill with anxiety. I had to give up my job and decided to seek help. I started to think about Asperger's more and more, and decided to ask for a referral in the UK. My GP referred me, and I got an assessment for an appointment in 6 weeks with a psychiatrist. I was diagnosed by the psychiatrist after just one interview with me and my mum.

I was informally diagnosed by a clinical psychologist when I was being treated for depression. She said that the underlying problem was me being on the autistic spectrum. I was offered a diagnosis, but turned it down and just put it out of my mind. Then a couple of years ago I self diagnosed and asked for a referal to have a formal test done. After long waits I was formally diagnosed by a psychiatrist. Apparently I score very highly, but I also have above average communication abilities. This, plus y upbringing, has probably led to me being more functional than I might otherwise be.

One positive of the diagnosis is that my anxiety has been recognised and I am getting help with it. This has made it worthwhile.

I have not disclosed my diagnosis to anyone other than my wife. I would prefer to tell people, but its hard to know how they would react.
 
When I was seeing a psychologist for social anxiety and depression one of the things they briefly considered was autism, but they dismissed it as I don't obviously present with the "classical" symptoms. I never really thought more about it until last year when I was completing my BSc degree, and procrastinating exam revision, I randomly decided to do some research on Aspergers and came across some websites about female aspies and had realised that they basically described my life.

I decided a wanted an official diagnosis, went to my GP, and he transferred me to the local psychological department. I was diagnosed by a clinical psychologists and a speech and language therapist.
 
Last edited:
A psychologist who was being paid by the school, who was pressuring my mother, because I didn't want to live in the house that Jack built.
 
When I was young, nobody knew much about AS. For as long as I can remember, I knew that I was different from everybody else. I just didn't know how or why. As a teen and young adult I had a hard time, mostly because of the social issues. I spent most of my life not knowing why I was so different. When I was in my early sixties, I saw a documentary about Asperger's Syndrome. That show about knocked me over, it was like they were describing me! After that I researched AS to find out everything I could about it. What a revelation! How I lived my life and why I was the way that I am, made sense for the first time. I was 99% sure that I was a Aspie, but I wanted to be sure. I made a appointment with a psychologist who specialized in AS. After three visits, he confirmed my suspicions. I was 62 at the time, so it really didn't make any differences in my life. But at least I knew.
 
I met an Aspie who eventually said he thought I was one, too. I'd never even considered it. Having a history of mental illness in my family and an existing diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder, I always assumed whatever else I felt was different about me was attributable to another, as yet to be determined MI.

The Aspie friend thought I should meet Harrison here on AC. He suggested I had Asperger's as well, so I took an online test. I scored very high, took my results to my existing psychiatrist, and got a confirmed diagnosis.

Total time from first suggestion to clinical confirmation: Less than a month.
 
I had been seeing a therapist for anxiety and sleep problems for a few years. While I was sleeping better, everything else had stalled out, I wasn't really participating in our sessions, I was more or less quietly ranting about my troubles. I took a break from therapy, had some difficult months, learned a little about Asperger's, then went to see a different therapist. Near the end of our first visit, he suggested Asperger's as something to explore, but cautioned me about getting a formal diagnosis, something about labels.

I had been in contact with an area autism advocacy group to get information and attended a support group there. Through them, I connected with an autism service organization, I had a two day assessment with a clinical psychologist and a neuropsychologist.

While my therapist had cautioned me, I was determined to get to the bottom of my lifetime of baffling and frustrating difficulties. Being diagnosed has allowed me to focus my therapeutic energy in the right direction.
 
Say "other mental illnesses"? It's not something I can characterize as a "symptom" of AS but I don't believe I've met any Aspie who didn't also struggle to a degree with depression/anxiety/other mental health issues. To me the high co-morbidity can be explained from the idea that social isolation and difficulties tend towards poorer mental health than do a strong supportive social network. But yes, they can obscure the AS even if it be the case that it is the primary diagnosis.

Anyways - I was diagnosed by a clinical psychologist a few years back. In the past I had seen other therapists (Master's-level) and psychiatrists (who primarily prescribe medications). It took some effort and luck to find a therapist, which was this psychologist, who was competent in doing so. And despite that I had seen other therapists who did use the term asperger's, many were not competent in doing a formal diagnosis.

Which comes to why did I want to be diagnosed formally so much? Having gone through life up through that point (when I was 23, I'm 24 currently) with constant social difficulties and differences that I seemed to have that other's didn't have, there was a lot of self-criticism that had ensued because such experiences were ones that I could not attribute to any other explanation. Having a formal diagnosis was finally recognizing these difficulties as something that was inherent in my biological makeup and not something that was my fault.
 
By a psychologist who had experience with working with children and teens with autism/Asperger. She thought it quite obvious, and my behaviour somewhat similiar to that of other girls she treated
 
I'm not diagnosed yet but my 11 yr old daughter is hospitalized in the children's psychiatric hospital with regression (stopped speaking and walking) due to previously undiscovered autism. I am the one who has had all the interviews with her psychologists. Two things came from that.

1) I was asked twice by different people if Daddy had ever been examined for autism. This lead to me read up on the subject and realize he has Aspergers, as does our son.
2) All the time when being interviewed about my daughter I would say, "I'm like that too." But when I tried the aspie tests I came out NT and it didn't make sense to me. After the first month in the hospital her working diagnosis was PDD-NOS due to better social skills than Aspergers, more anxiety and more fragile. That's me!
 
I'm not diagnosed yet but my 11 yr old daughter is hospitalized in the children's psychiatric hospital with regression (stopped speaking and walking) due to previously undiscovered autism. I am the one who has had all the interviews with her psychologists.

Keep us posted on her progress. If it won't offend you, I'll send a prayer your way.
 
2) All the time when being interviewed about my daughter I would say, "I'm like that too." But when I tried the aspie tests I came out NT and it didn't make sense to me. After the first month in the hospital her working diagnosis was PDD-NOS due to better social skills than Aspergers, more anxiety and more fragile. That's me!


It's your social skills that are probably skewing your results on self-tests, since you've had decades to learn and adapt successfully. Once ASD entered my family conversation through my own diagnosis, it became clear very quickly that my stepfather is also an Aspie, but his RAADS-R and AQ tests come up squarely NT -- extremely so in social categories. He's Italian born and was raised in a traditional Italian American immigrant enclave, so he was socialized to be very communally-oriented. We all agree that it probably helped him overcome common Aspie social deficits from early on, confounding diagnostics now.

My greatest wish for the ASD community is for a truly accurate diagnostic battery for adults in middle age.
 
It's your social skills that are probably skewing your results on self-tests, since you've had decades to learn and adapt successfully. Once ASD entered my family conversation through my own diagnosis, it became clear very quickly that my stepfather is also an Aspie, but his RAADS-R and AQ tests come up squarely NT -- extremely so in social categories. He's Italian born and was raised in a traditional Italian American immigrant enclave, so he was socialized to be very communally-oriented. We all agree that it probably helped him overcome common Aspie social deficits from early on, confounding diagnostics now.

My greatest wish for the ASD community is for a truly accurate diagnostic battery for adults in middle age.

Yes, decades to learn to manage. Plus I do read people very accurately.
 
I was diagnosed by a psychiatrist (who incidentally had also been trained as a therapist). He disagreed with my diagnosis of the time - as did I - yet was certain that my troubles followed an identifiable pattern. It was after I had explained my lifelong impression that other's thoughts didn't feel as real to me as they did to everyone else and I could never tell what their reaction was going to be that he became certain.

Just because others may relate to having a parental guardian try to control the process:

Prior to that, I had been given various diagnoses, but due to so much of the previous doctors' decisions being based on what my parental guardian reported rather than what my concerns were, all were wildly misguided, unhelpful, and even insulting.
 
I'm not diagnosed yet but my 11 yr old daughter is hospitalized in the children's psychiatric hospital with regression (stopped speaking and walking) due to previously undiscovered autism. I am the one who has had all the interviews with her psychologists. Two things came from that.

1) I was asked twice by different people if Daddy had ever been examined for autism. This lead to me read up on the subject and realize he has Aspergers, as does our son.
2) All the time when being interviewed about my daughter I would say, "I'm like that too." But when I tried the aspie tests I came out NT and it didn't make sense to me. After the first month in the hospital her working diagnosis was PDD-NOS due to better social skills than Aspergers, more anxiety and more fragile. That's me!
You have my best wishes for your daughter. That must be really rough for you and her alike.

I myself was diagnosed as a result of being hospitalized for my first suicide attempt as a teenager; the resident physician brought it up and I was referred post-discharge for an evaluation.
 

New Threads

Top Bottom