Tomorrow is the day...

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I was supposed to go today and he cancelled on me for the second time, so now I'm in search of a new doctor.

To those seeking assessment, please blog about your experience! I'm doing so, and I'd really like to read about the experiences of others. If you blog about it, I really want to know. Thanks!

Also, I'm going to keep an eye on this thread. I hope that, as people get word at the end of the process, they'll post. I'm eager to see how it turns out for everyone. Too bad this thread will probably fall off the first page of the list as newer ones get posted. I'd really like it if there were an easy place to locate, where anyone could post just to say that they're in process or have gotten an answer. As this thread drops, eventually other's won't find it anymore.

I get my answer in a couple of weeks. I'm finding the whole assessment process to be an emotional roller coaster ride...

It's weird thing going for a diagnosis, it's like going somewhere to be told there's something wrong with you. I mean what do you say to someone who's just been diagnosed with a debilitating disorder, congratulations or commiserations?

Getting a diagnosis brings a real mix of emotions, but the key things to remember are ...

1/ You have what you have, and any difficulties arising from that arise from that.

2/ The important thing about any diagnosis is that it needs to be accurate and complete, and you need to be able to have confidence in it. So take whatever time and care it takes for a full picture to be formed, and make sure that the findings are explained to you fully.

3/ AS/ASD is a hidden spectrum condition, and by its very nature it can be very difficult to work out in detail how it affects you in particular.

4/ You may not be borderline, even if you think you are and no matter how long you have got through life without being confidently aware of your condition.

5/ A diagnosis, one way or the other, takes time to accept. Be gentle on yourself.

The most valuable thing you can give to someone with AS/ASD is a diagnosis, but it has to be accurate and credible.

Once you have a diagnosis, good things can follow from it. A diagnosis is a very empowering thing.

Try not to worry, just be yourself.

I will discuss the results of the evaluation with the psychs on 9th of December. Until then, I have no information on it.

OJani, it's okay if you don't have an answer yet. The thoughts and feelings you have during the process are also important. They let others going through the process know they're not alone in some of what they think and feel. Of course, nobody should feel as though they have to blog. I'd simply appreciate it if they did. I've had some low moments, and a feeling of community would be increased in me if I could read other people's documentation of their experience with the assessment process, just as it has been from reading and posting in the forums.

My pre-test evaluation at the autism center took 2.5 hours. I filled out some questionnaires and then was interviewed by a Psychologist, PhD. She had no doubt that I have AS which also causes extreme anxiety and depressive episodes. The test will take three visits, the first is December 13th.

I'm experiencing terrible anticipatory anxiety. I can't wait for the diagnosis. I've been suffering in the dark for way too long. I've been on tranquilizers for few weeks now.

I tried the blog feature but it's not working well for me. I don't see any formatting options, even line breaks don't work for me.

I've already opened a thread on my evaluation: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt175051.html

I also have low moments sometimes and experience increased anxiety about getting the diagnosis. Since the last session on 29th of October so many memories and thoughts have popped up in my mind I decided to write them down and hand over it to the psychs before discussing the results. It's 5 pages now.

This is a good thread. Many of us seem to be having this experience. I hope the thread stays "alive" for a while.

Anyway, I'd like to add my experience. About 5 weeks ago I had an informal one-hour assessment at the autism centre and was told that I "clearly" had AS, but that they don't do formal diagnoses there and that getting a really rigorous diagnosis somewhere else could be a long drawn-out process. At first I thought they'd got it right about me but as the weeks went by I decided that they quite possibly hadn't and that maybe I could be "just" semi-schizoid plus repetitive behaviours and a major childhood history of heavy stimming (if such a combination can somehow exist). So last week I visited my GP with a typed document (I couldn't bring myself to raise the topic verbally) explaining the situation and what my life was really like and had always been. She was amazed to learn what a weird, dysfunctional life I had but very understanding and referred me to the university psychiatric clinic for aspergers testing. I phoned them but they said they didn't deal with aspergers goodbye. So I phoned the autism centre in another town where they do do formal tests and got an appointment for a test - in 15 months time!

So at the moment I'm apparently going to be waiting for 15 months. It feels like a real limbo, but maybe I can find somewhere else where they can do it sooner.

I have email contact with an aspie here who was also diagnosed late in life. She wonders why I'm so extremely keen to find out but stresses the importance of getting a reliable diagnosis, since it is quite possible to get an unreliable one.

I'm going through the process of trying to get a solid diagnosis, but it seems to take a long time and even then not automatically to be so reliable that one can't question it.

What would probably be ideal would be a really good clinical psychologist/psychiatrist who knew everything there is to know about ASD and also all the other non-ASD things that could explain my weird life and symptoms.

I wish really I'd never stumbled across the whole issue . But I can't let it go .

When I was thinking of backing out of my assessment, that's what my girlfriend said of me - that it seemed I couldn't let it go. How excruciating your journey sounds! I thought I had it bad when I had to search all summer to find a place and then wait a month before appointments could start. So far, in spite of all the anxiety, I still think it's worth it. I'd be sorry, with it forever nagging at me, if I hadn't followed through.

Here, in the U.S., Easter Seals is willing to do evaluations for adults, and they take Medicaid. They're a national organization, and they deal with developmental issues in adults and kids all the time. That's their thing. I'm hoping that means an accurate diagnosis is forthcoming.

I'm bookmarking this discussion, as well as OJani's thread (and any other threads and blogs like them) in a folder inside my "Wrong Planet" folder, which I've labeled "Evaluation + Related".

Just wanted to give a quick update...
I went today, to the same guy that had cancelled before, he had cancelled for emergency surgery. I went in expecting to just talk to him some more, but he tested me. He had me look at a book, each page with four pictures on it and I had to choose which picture showed, for instance, hydration. It was all pics like that, but they were about different things. Then I had to do the "This is to this as this is to this." thing...like a bale of hay is to a horse as a bone is to _____ . And then I had to look at a puzzle of 6 pieces, one was missing, and figure out the pattern and choose the missing piece. I don't really know what the point of all of that was, can someone enlighten me? All of them started off easy and got harder and harder. At one point, I was ready to cry because it was so hard and I couldn't think of the answers. After that, I went into another room and took a 370 question personality true/false test and then the Asperger's test. He was going to make an appt. to go over the results with me, but it was going to be another couple of months before, so I asked him just to mail me the results and I can call him back if I feel I need to. So I should get my results by the end of next week.

The first test sounds like the IQ test I took. That's why it got harder. It's not just to see if you make a mistake but when it becomes too hard for you to do it at all, I think. Don't worry. It's designed for people to eventually find it too hard, so that everybody has a failing point. Otherwise, how would they know your IQ? Each type of question tests an area. You'll have a score for each one in the end. Your total IQ puts it all together.

I got really stressed and sometimes a little upset when I took it, but that has nothing to do with how well you do on it.