Danielismyname wrote:
There's nothing you can do to help the problems that an ASD causes in regards to therapy in an adult, so he can't offer anything, except CBT for secondary anxiety. So in a way, even experts will do the same thing, other than offering you advice from what other people with an ASD have found helps, i.e., avoid places that hurt you due to over stimulation, try to plan things out beforehand if you haven't done such, don't bother trying to interact with most normal people (this latter one probably isn't a popular piece of advice, but it's one I've found to be extremely helpful).
MMPI won't be for an ASD; if you have an ASD, it'll show that you have Schizophrenia on said test. It'll pick up various other mental disorders if you have them (anxiety and mood disorders, but these can be secondary to an ASD too rather than a primary disorder).
I'm sure there's someone around you who can diagnose an ASD with a high level of accuracy; it's fairly easy with even the most basic of training in such (most generic psychics and psychos don't even have this).
Why can't they do anything to help adults? I'm already thinking of strategies that seem to be working for my anxiety, just by having insight into what my potential triggers might be. Tying ASD into CBT could be useful. Also, helping me learn how to interact better with others would be very useful. I have difficulty with basic tasks that a lot of adults find easy, like dealing with clutter, and organizing my life. It just seems like no one is concerned about providing these resources to adults, so we are left trying to figure things out on our own.
The thing is, I'm not disabled to the point that I can't manage my life. But, doing "normal" things comes with a ton of stress and anxiety. I have a high IQ, and am fairly intelligent, but have had a very hard time with the basics, like time management, organizational skills, social skills, not being a pack rat, handling change, etc. Learning not just how to manage the symptoms of anxiety through medication but also ways to organize my life in a way that reduces stress in the first place would help.
Unfortunately, all of the CBT I've tried has been oriented towards normal people. So, rather than seeing my anxiety as a "normal" ASD reaction, they've been treating the reaction as abnormal, but me as normal. Instead, what I need is someone that understands that my basic needs are abnormal, but the anxiety itself is actually a fairly normal reaction for people within the spectrum. It sounds like a small distinction, but I think it would have profound effects on approach to treatment. A lot of my stress is coming from the fact that I am missing skills that others take for granted. I need a therapist that can help me with that missing skill set.
14 May 2009, 11:26 pm
