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HenryGramer
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Joined: 14 Nov 2016
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 122

24 Feb 2017, 9:06 pm

Hello everyone,

I wanted to know how common is it to get a misdiagnosis in Aspergers Spectrum? Over the years growing up, I was diagnosed with ADHD and Anxiety. I recently went to the Psychologist to help me with getting a diagnosis and misread the diagnosis and it told me that Aspergers was ruled out. However, when taking the tests mentioned on this site about whether or not I have Aspergers, it mentioned that I might have Aspergers.

I just want to get to the bottom of this BS because after 5 years of graduading from college, I've been having a string of jobs that last 6 months or less. Many times, I have been getting fired from the job due to sleeping during meetings/trainings, not being competent on the job, and trying to stay away by looking at my cell phone, bringing in my laptop to listen to music, and even bringing in my DJ controller/MIDI controller to work on music to prevent from falling asleep (especially with jobs that have so much downtime).

Should I just accept that I might not have ASD or should I find another psychologist to help me with diagnosis to then determine how to make this an asset as well as how employers can work with me so that I can last a while on the job.


_________________
I'm finally coming to terms with the Aspergers identity but am now needing help with how to navigate it.

ND score: 131/200
NT score: 58/200

Says I'm Aspie...

Please don't type of paragraphs in response to my questions or replies because that will overwhelm my mind and make me not want to read your responses.


ASPartOfMe
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Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 66
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Posts: 34,242
Location: Long Island, New York

24 Feb 2017, 9:12 pm

Why are you falling asleep during the work hours?


_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity

“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


HenryGramer
Raven
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Joined: 14 Nov 2016
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 122

24 Feb 2017, 9:21 pm

When a job has too much downtime and I am not preoccupied with stuff to do, I'm prone to falling asleep. Also, I fall asleep during trainings/meetings when so much information is given to me and it overwhelms my mind.

Also, I don't do well working in the mornings or super late in the middle of the night.


_________________
I'm finally coming to terms with the Aspergers identity but am now needing help with how to navigate it.

ND score: 131/200
NT score: 58/200

Says I'm Aspie...

Please don't type of paragraphs in response to my questions or replies because that will overwhelm my mind and make me not want to read your responses.


Noca
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24 Feb 2017, 10:49 pm

Don't settle for just any run of the mill psychologist or psychiatrist. Unless they specialize in assessing adults with autism, their opinion is likely worthless.

Search psychologytoday's database for a psychologist who specializes in assessing adults on the autism spectrum.



HenryGramer
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Joined: 14 Nov 2016
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 122

25 Feb 2017, 2:31 pm

Noca wrote:
Don't settle for just any run of the mill psychologist or psychiatrist. Unless they specialize in assessing adults with autism, their opinion is likely worthless.

Search psychologytoday's database for a psychologist who specializes in assessing adults on the autism spectrum.


Man getting good quality help is super expensive... I also need help with a job counselor as well too.


_________________
I'm finally coming to terms with the Aspergers identity but am now needing help with how to navigate it.

ND score: 131/200
NT score: 58/200

Says I'm Aspie...

Please don't type of paragraphs in response to my questions or replies because that will overwhelm my mind and make me not want to read your responses.


ASPartOfMe
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Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,242
Location: Long Island, New York

25 Feb 2017, 3:39 pm

Autism mis and non diagnosis is more common than with other conditions because assessments are subjective. It is not like a biopsy which is either positive or negative. Also, the criteria for diagnosis was originally written for male children and lot of that bias remains in the criteria and especially many many clinicians.


_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity

“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


HenryGramer
Raven
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Joined: 14 Nov 2016
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 122

25 Feb 2017, 4:09 pm

ASPartOfMe wrote:
Autism mis and non diagnosis is more common than with other conditions because assessments are subjective. It is not like a biopsy which is either positive or negative. Also, the criteria for diagnosis was originally written for male children and lot of that bias remains in the criteria and especially many many clinicians.


Seems like there are more problems the more I try to uncover s**t about myself. I still need an actual diagnosis for employment reasons and other things too.


_________________
I'm finally coming to terms with the Aspergers identity but am now needing help with how to navigate it.

ND score: 131/200
NT score: 58/200

Says I'm Aspie...

Please don't type of paragraphs in response to my questions or replies because that will overwhelm my mind and make me not want to read your responses.


liveandrew
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Joined: 4 Oct 2016
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Posts: 479
Location: Cornwall, UK

25 Feb 2017, 4:15 pm

HenryGramer wrote:
Hello everyone,

I wanted to know how common is it to get a misdiagnosis in Aspergers Spectrum? Over the years growing up, I was diagnosed with ADHD and Anxiety. I recently went to the Psychologist to help me with getting a diagnosis and misread the diagnosis and it told me that Aspergers was ruled out. However, when taking the tests mentioned on this site about whether or not I have Aspergers, it mentioned that I might have Aspergers.

I just want to get to the bottom of this BS because after 5 years of graduading from college, I've been having a string of jobs that last 6 months or less. Many times, I have been getting fired from the job due to sleeping during meetings/trainings, not being competent on the job, and trying to stay away by looking at my cell phone, bringing in my laptop to listen to music, and even bringing in my DJ controller/MIDI controller to work on music to prevent from falling asleep (especially with jobs that have so much downtime).

Should I just accept that I might not have ASD or should I find another psychologist to help me with diagnosis to then determine how to make this an asset as well as how employers can work with me so that I can last a while on the job.


I've also lost many jobs in my time and also worked many that have a LOT of downtime and I've learned that you must never look like you have nothing to do. Always look busy! Bosses hate it when you're doing nothing and, in their eyes, doing your own stuff is doing nothing. I know it's a pain and it makes no sense but try and come up with something job orientated to do, or at least become very good at swiftly looking busy whenever they check on you :)

The falling asleep thing? I have the same problem in meetings. The problem is that they always seem to be after lunch, in small, hot rooms and never have any content to hold your interest. I once fell asleep in a small and rather important meeting (there was about 8 of us) with the director of the large company (GEC Plessey) I was working for. Luckily, later on, so did the director :) The best thing you can do if bored is to almost ignore what's going on around you as it's unlikely to be important, and instead focus your mind on other, more fun things. Warning: you may get into trouble if they ask your opinion on something and you've been daydreaming about that nice house on Mars you were planning on building :)


_________________
Diagnosed: Asperger's Syndrome (ICD-10)
Self-Diagnosed: Aphantasia
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 152 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 46 of 200

Listener of all things noisy, viewer of all things bloody, writer of all things sh*t.