My therapist doesn't think I have asperger's

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madbutnotmad
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21 Aug 2019, 2:46 pm

Hello. I understand you are not sure as to whether you have ASD or not, and that your present psychologist / therapist has the opinion that you do not.

The other people are correct in their advice above, in that you should wait until you should get an official evaluation from an experienced clinical psychologist who specialises in ASD.

When it comes to high and very high functioning ASD sufferers, the condition isn't immediately apparent.
Also, when it comes to ASD, the diagnosis criteria is detailed and allows a fairly amount of diversity within the criteria.
There are also other factors that tell the clinical psychologist as to whether you have ASD or not.

For example, whether you were premature, whether your birth was problematic or not, what your early childhood behaviour was like, whether you sustained any injuries to your head during early childhood.
However, I can not say how significant these factors are.

I also note when it comes to high and very high functioning autism spectrum disorder sufferers,
some of your behaviours that you exhibit that other people observe which make them think you do not have the condition can be learnt behaviours due to environment and peers. So do not always rule you out.

They also say that when it comes to woman, women are harder to evaluate as woman are better at masking their condition. So often go undetected.

I can not diagnose you. But i understand how you feel.
I waited a couple of years also to get a diagnosis.

And while i waited, i got told by several people including my doctor, who didn't know anything about the condition.
That i didn't have the condition.

I was told by one person in particular who scammed his way into a social services job, who spent his entire time
bullying people with disabilities and making inappropriate jokes about people with disabilities,
that i definitely didn't have ASD, as he considered himself an expert on the subject.

He did not have any medical qualifications, and he was telling people that load of rubbish.

I was also told by other people that because they worked as a psychiatric nurse, that they could make the diagnosis.
Again, not true. And this guy in particular worked for the local Autism Charity. He was a complete liar.

I have also met other people who worked for other minor roles in social services who also thought that they could make formal diagnosis's of ASD.

However, again their claims were unfounded.

The evaluation and diagnosis needs to be done by a clinical psychologists who specialises in ASD.
If they are not, then I am afraid they are under qualified.

That's at least how it works in the UK.
If you want to check this information out to ascertain as to whether it is good advice.
I recommend that you contact National Autism Society, who have a help line, who can help you with any questions or worries.

Hope that helps



bluegreenleaves
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22 Aug 2019, 5:10 am

madbutnotmad wrote:
Hello. I understand you are not sure as to whether you have ASD or not, and that your present psychologist / therapist has the opinion that you do not.

The other people are correct in their advice above, in that you should wait until you should get an official evaluation from an experienced clinical psychologist who specialises in ASD.

When it comes to high and very high functioning ASD sufferers, the condition isn't immediately apparent.
Also, when it comes to ASD, the diagnosis criteria is detailed and allows a fairly amount of diversity within the criteria.
There are also other factors that tell the clinical psychologist as to whether you have ASD or not.

For example, whether you were premature, whether your birth was problematic or not, what your early childhood behaviour was like, whether you sustained any injuries to your head during early childhood.
However, I can not say how significant these factors are.

I also note when it comes to high and very high functioning autism spectrum disorder sufferers,
some of your behaviours that you exhibit that other people observe which make them think you do not have the condition can be learnt behaviours due to environment and peers. So do not always rule you out.

They also say that when it comes to woman, women are harder to evaluate as woman are better at masking their condition. So often go undetected.

I can not diagnose you. But i understand how you feel.
I waited a couple of years also to get a diagnosis.

And while i waited, i got told by several people including my doctor, who didn't know anything about the condition.
That i didn't have the condition.

I was told by one person in particular who scammed his way into a social services job, who spent his entire time
bullying people with disabilities and making inappropriate jokes about people with disabilities,
that i definitely didn't have ASD, as he considered himself an expert on the subject.

He did not have any medical qualifications, and he was telling people that load of rubbish.

I was also told by other people that because they worked as a psychiatric nurse, that they could make the diagnosis.
Again, not true. And this guy in particular worked for the local Autism Charity. He was a complete liar.

I have also met other people who worked for other minor roles in social services who also thought that they could make formal diagnosis's of ASD.

However, again their claims were unfounded.

The evaluation and diagnosis needs to be done by a clinical psychologists who specialises in ASD.
If they are not, then I am afraid they are under qualified.

That's at least how it works in the UK.
If you want to check this information out to ascertain as to whether it is good advice.
I recommend that you contact National Autism Society, who have a help line, who can help you with any questions or worries.

Hope that helps


Hi! Thank you for such an in-depth and thorough response, I'm really grateful!!

She is a psychotherapist/therapist, so I don't think she's qualified yet she says she works with people with Asperger's, although I don't think she has as many clients with ASD. I was worried I had a personality disorder, even after I saw the psychiatrist who said I had ASD, and that's why I found this one as she says she's knowledgeable about ASD and personality disorders... but I think she knows more about PDs than ASD.

It's so frustrating that so many professionals know so little about high functioning ASD, as they assume you need to be like Rain Man, Sheldon Cooper or Einstein to be considered. I think we can only trust those that specialise in it!

My uncle and brother are both diagnosed with it, so it appears to run in my family a little, otherwise my mum never would've considered it and I wouldn't be here today, but my therapist thinks my OCD is making me think I have Asperger's, when I wasn't the first one who suggested it, it was my mum!!

Luckily, I did some more research about my old and first psychologist, who is actually a psychologist with a lot of research in autism, and she said I had it for sure. She now works at a really good university in my city, so I trust her a lot though I couldn't see her anymore!

Thank you so much, I'm glad I'm not alone and I really relate to what you said.

Thank you again!



SharonB
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22 Aug 2019, 8:33 am

When a began to consider that I am ASD, my non-ASD trained therapist initially said I don't have it, I'm too "warm". She talked to her ASD-trained peer and has backed off on that but still doesn't want me to label myself. A good friend who is a psychiatrist also wants me to treat my person and not label myself. That said, since it fits I'd like to use the positive aspects of the label (support, growth) and avoid the negative ones (limiting beliefs). Plus I had been masking like crazy with my therapist (trying to be "good") and have stopped. I have a secondary ASD-trained therapist and she says so many therapists don't know about ASD (particularly in the expressive majority of women, minority of men). I am fortunate that my non-ASD therapist is professional enough to do her own research in order to continue supporting me.

Sarcasm: By the way, if feeling, caring people are not part of the Spectrum, then plenty of folks on here have been misdiagnosed and a new term for that half of the spectrum will need to be created. I took lots of communication and psychology in college so pass very well, but was "outed" at work by organizational change (darn hierarchy). At home I am "outed" every day. I have yet to pursue an official diagnosis for ASD, so my current diagnosis I received at 30: "mild mood disorder".



Mona Pereth
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23 Aug 2019, 8:39 pm

bluegreenleaves wrote:
I'm so confused. I've been to about 5 different psychologists/therapists in my life since about 14, as I was having severe anxiety problems, as well as a bit of depression.

Unfortunately a lot of psychotherapists don't know much about ASD and have out-of-date ideas.

bluegreenleaves wrote:
My first psychologist said she thought I had it, but didn't want to label me as she was worried it would 'hinder' me.

"Hinder" you how? By stigmatizing you if it were in your official record?

bluegreenleaves wrote:
My second therapist was at my old school and we didn't talk about it much as she wasn't trained in it. My third psychologist said she didn't think I had it, as "if I did I wouldn't like English literature and analysing metaphors", so that was ruled out the minute I said I loved that.

That's a very ignorant reason to rule it out. Some of us enjoy "analyzing metaphors" precisely because metaphors aren't as immediately obvious to us as they might be to someone who just takes metaphors for granted.

bluegreenleaves wrote:
My NEXT therapist is my current mentor at university and believes I have it for sure, and she helps me with some of my symptoms such as sensory overload, struggling with romantic relationships and friendships, etc. I adore her. I then had a meltdown and had to come home fro uni and this psychiatrist ALSO thought I had it, and has sent me for an assessment which it taking ages to get to because I'm on a waiting list until February. And NOW, my current therapist I'm seeing until uni term starts again doesn't think I have it.

I've never been so confused before IN MY LIFE.

She doesn't think I have it because I'm "too intuitive with other people's emotions", and says that if I had autism I would be very cold and uncaring if someone cried, like I wouldn't feel anything. I feel intensely if someone cries and I always want to help them, but apparently that means I can't have high functioning Aspergers?

No, it doesn't mean that. Autism affects empathy but in a variety of different ways with different people. For some, it makes the emotional contagion aspect of empathy more intense than most people's, to the point of being overwhelming.

bluegreenleaves wrote:
When I told her about my male friend who has Aspergers, I was telling her about sometimes him saying things that offend me a bit, and him being a computer scientist, and then she said "That's aspergers", which is true, but she said it as if that's the only thing it can be, and said that if I had Aspergers I wouldn't care if I said something to offend someone, I would just say it. Of course I've said things in the past that have accidentally offended someone, but it's usually in private as my mum's disciplined me a lot against doing those things so I've taught myself to not do them.


Women and girls with ASD tend to be more socially aware than men and boys with ASD and have often been under-diagnosed for that reason. Lots and lots of articles about this issue can be found on the web. See, for example:

- https://www.npr.org/sections/health-sho ... m-in-girls
- https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ender-bias
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325574.php
- https://www.bbc.com/news/health-37221030[/quote]

We're certainly not in a position to diagnose you, but the specific reasons mentioned for disbelieving it aren't valid.


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SharonB
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23 Aug 2019, 10:27 pm

Mona Pereth wrote:
Women and girls with ASD tend to be more socially aware than men and boys with ASD and have often been under-diagnosed for that reason. Lots and lots of articles about this issue can be found on the web. See, for example:

- https://www.npr.org/sections/health-sho ... m-in-girls
- https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ender-bias
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325574.php
- https://www.bbc.com/news/health-37221030


@Mona Pereth, thank you so much for the links. I may share the first one or two with my daughter's new teacher. Of course they are relevant for me also.