Got ye DX

Post Reply New Topic

This afternoon I finally got an official AS diagnosis. It was actually really easy. The psychologist basically reviewed my old school file and then went over the DSM criteria with me, asking me if I felt that it applied to me on each point, after which she simply said that she was very comfortable giving me a diagnosis of Asperger's. Pretty anti-climactic if you ask me; nothing really formal was even required. (I actually had to ask her to write a letter for me stating that she had diagnosed me with Asperger's for my own records.) I was actually quite surprised given the amount of problems people on WP have had getting a diagnosis.

Anyway, my question now is this: What do I do now?

Nothing. Just continue living your life.

Congrats Bob!

Not sure about the next steps unless you wanted to get on some kind of welfare or something. But I'd say that you should feel a great sense of relief knowing that the problems you have had are not due to being a jerk as some would have you believe.
Perhaps that in itself can help you feel more accomplished and satisfied with your life.

Congrats!! !

After mucking around with mine for almost two years I decided to buckle down and get some help with my symptoms, as they'd been running my life for awhile. Not looking for a cure, just to find out more about how AS affects me, how I can work with it and hopefully regain some of the functioning I lost a few years ago. Basically, I want to learn coping strategies and acceptance of what my brand of normal is, and learn what is or isn't reasonable for me.

Having the right Dx and a little research let me to a really good therapist and now we're working on all the things that the idiots who misdiagnosed me repeatedly couldnt' help me with.

Congratulations!

This ^

Ditto that. Just know now that when you feel like an oddball, you're not an isolated weirdo, but one of many.

I'd be interested in seeing my old records. How do you get them? I would also be interested in seeing my psychological profile records but my childhood therapy was so long ago (1960's) I don't think they are available. Seriously though, how does one find this stuff?

Ye DX? That's a Thorny issue.

Sorry, that was below even my usual standards.

I called my old elementary school and asked them if I could get my old test scores and stuff. They found them and photocopied them for me. They told me I was lucky because they have been throwing away old school records and my school year was getting ready to be tossed. I am 45 now, so I guess they figured no one my age would be interested anymore. But I thought schools had to keep them forever. Anyway, I got my IQ and standardized test scores and my grades for each year.

That means mine are probably gone-but I could always ask. I know my early psych records are gone. It was a private practice of a married couple that no longer exists. He is deceased and she is senile.

I do know from my mother that they stopped short of diagnosing me with Schizoid Personality Disorder because I was under 18. That was in the early 70's.

Well, you can tell any professional who tries to bully you into going to therapy with someone who dosn't specialize in ASDs to stick it, because "normal" therapy almost never helps someone with AS...

You did get the package with the orders in it, right?

There are, however, therapists who specialize and aren't terrible. It took a lot of effort to /find/ one.
It also took a lot of trust, I have quite a few horror stories that still give me nightmares.
But at this point in my life, it was definitely worth it.

Being Aspie means decent services are hard to come by - you'll basically have to decide how much effort you're willing to put in to hopefully get something good back out of it.

that sounds like a hasty process of diagnosis.
i was diagnosed with hfa in 1984 ((when i was 12) after being diagnosed as simply "autistic" at 3) , but i was told i actually had asperger syndrome by my psych at the adolescent unit where i was sent, however she said i was not able to be diagnosed with AS at that time due to it not being an approved diagnosis.

later, in 1996, i was caught while driving intoxicated (silly me i was young) and my lawyer decided i should get the asperger diagnosis for the court case.
he said that as it stands i am classified as a HFA, and he would prefer me to be classified as AS, because the judge may think that i am slightly more malleable and able to reform than an HFA. i did not wish to let him use any disability i may have to excuse me from something that had nothing to do with that disability.

never the less, i was somewhat curious, and i also was going to annoy him if i did not see a psychologist as he suggested.


in my official diagnosis, my mother and father were interviewed in 2x1 hour consultations.
they were asked to recount things that made them suspicious that i was different when i was a baby.
they said, among many things, that i did not babble, and i did not mimic or even respond to facial expressions. they said things like that i was more interested in tracking the location of a fly that was inside the house with my eyes, than looking at hem.

i was then asked to complete several questionnaires asking for me to look at sequences of pictures and choose a title from a list that best describes the sequence.

there were many tests and i will not discuss them in this thread, but i was never read a list of symptoms of AS by my doctor, and asked to to confirm or deny that they were applicable to me.

it sounds unprofessional to let a patient know what symptoms you are looking for in advance of your investigation.

it is like the opposite of the "placebo effect". it is is like a "catalytic effect" in a way.
if a doctor says " a symptom of bowl cancer is to have random mild itches on your scalp", then a patient will think about their scalp, and the current "itchiness of it", and it is almost certain that they will discover a mild sensation of random itches in their scalp.

if you concentrate now on whether you have an itchy scalp, then i think you will find that some perception of itchy spots occurs as a result.
anyway, i think that it is unprofessional to simply read a list of criteria for the malady that the patient suspects they have, and ask the patient to confirm or deny that they experience them.

i am very surprised that a diagnosis of AS is so easy to be ascribed nowadays in some parts of the world.


i am not having a shot at you personally because i have no idea whether you are AS or not. i just am surprised at the process of diagnosis in some instances.

i hope this post does not sound elsewise than reasonable.

Some people have to jump through lots of hoops, sometimes even fiery ones, and some people have to jump through none. That's life. I'm happy for the OP, that he didn't have to jump through a lot of hoops. It doesn't make his diagnosis any less valid in my opinion. Also, maybe he had symptoms that were a dead give-away and the psychologist knew immediately from those "apparent" indications that he was AS and was just going through the formality of having him respond to the criteria. And if he went through the public school system and that school system was on its toes, it may have been indicated in his files that he met the criteria for AS. Some psychologists work very closely with the school systems.

At any rate Bob, I wish you a good future and I hope that knowing will help you to make the best choices to insure a happy and productive life.