Wrong Asperger's Self-Diagnosis

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Imagine it.
One day you find an article about Asperger's in a newspaper/magazine/internet.
You read it and you are surprised, because it is all about you.
You search for more information on Internet, and it almost all fits you.
You become obsessed with Asperger's.
You go to wrongplanet, and read the topics. There are questions, that you have been trying to answer all your life. And most people here tell about themselves, and this is EXACTLY how you feel.
You were never able to fin in, anywhere. And you think, you FINALLY found people like you.
You think you're an aspie. But you don't have a diagnosis. You can't be sure, if you are or not. If you're not an aspie, that means that you're alone in the world, and you can't fit in anywhere. This thought bothers you, you have to find out if you're an aspie or not.
You go to the doctor. You tell him/her all about yourself, all your aspie traits, sure you don't use the word "aspergers". He/she examines you. And he/she says:
- You have mild form of depression/anxiety/psychological problems (something that can be cured or smth that you can overcome, and isn't a part of you).
And doctor doesn't mention Aspergers.
Thats all.
You're not an aspie anymore. And your obsessions doesn't make sense anymore.

How would you feel? What would you think? What would you do?

I'd think that the doctor sucks and I need a second opinion.

Doctors are not always right. like you did, they read a list of symptoms. Some doctors think you need the most common aspergers symptom to be in the AS grouping. my mom, she found aspergers in one of her med books. we switched psychs, i got DXed.

if you were to ask my first Psych, i am still PDD-nos.

you also have to realize that doctors have a lot of different DX's to deal with and may give you the wrong one, or fail to find anything different about you.

and vinzer i'll be the second opinion

I keep thinking it would be amusing to start a thread with collected misdiagnoses from professionals.

You've done the research, your doctor hasn't.

Anxiety and depression are commonly associated with Aspergers. They're commonly associated with the stress of trying to fit into an NT world and not being accepted for who you are by yourself or others or both.

To get a real diagnosis, you need a referal to a specialist familiar with Asperger's syndrome". This will typically be a psychologist or psychiatrist but there are some other specialities that also diagnose. If you are over 18 or there abouts, you will need to find not only an Asperger's syndrome specialist, but one who specialises in diagnosing adults.

The specialist will want to talk to your parents or anyone who knew you well when you were small, because Aspergers is easier to identify in children who haven't learnt "proper social behaviour" than in adults who have learnt some rules.

If your parents are not available, arranging for your diagnositician to see you in a social situation like shopping where you have to deal with shop keepers and queues or a party might help.

Sometimes it does help to prime your doctor with detailed information about Aspergers too. But, it has been known that they will tell you that you're not because your voice sounds normal or you don't walk funny, or you're not rocking in the corner, or you can make eye contact.

A diagnosis of a syndrome is always subjective because it is basead upon observed and self-reported behavior. Plenty of people have received conflicting diagnoses from different professionals. Since there is nothing physical to examine or biopsy, the diagnosis is just a judgement.

The benefit of the diagnosis is that it is being made by an experienced and objective professional who should know what he/she is looking at.

If you want, pursue it further with another doctor.

If not, don't concern yourself with the doctor. You know yourself much better than he or she does. Some doctors look for things they can cure with a pill. AS is not such a thing.

That's my story almost word for word. Not fitting in, feeling different and alone. Discovered A/S and "OMG if that isn't me i don't know what is" kind of feeling plus I actually cried when i started to read about A/S.

When i went to my doctor, i did say that i want to know if i had A/S or not. He looked at me and said "I don't think you have it"

not feeling very happy, I saw another doctor a couple of weeks later. This time, he referred me to a specialist who i saw a few months later.

I still don't have a firm diagnosis one way or another yet, I'm still wating to hear from him.

If he says that i don't have it, I'll still be content here on Wrongplanet in the knowledge that I fit in more here than I do anywhere else. It's good that sites like this exist so that help can be offered and ideas shared.

Indeed, get a second opinion, and a third and a fourth if necessary. If you see enough doctors you will eventually get the opinion you want. I'm being refered to a specialist next week for an official diagnosis. If she doesn't find an AS disorder, then the specialist will simply be mistaken. I think other aspies are probably the best specialists to make such a diagnosis. Hey, let's start a Jeff Foxworthyish list, "You might be an aspie if..." I'm sure nobody will think it's funny but us. ; ) -Hope this helps, Mark

dx or no dx – you'll always be, well, YOU, and no doctor's opinion can change that.

Asperger's is a part of your personality. No doctor will ever know you better than you know yourself.

There already is a ...You might be an Aspie if... thread on here somewhere.

I went to Cambridge University's Autism Research Centre web site, downloaded and printed off the AQ, FQ, EQ and SQ screening tests, then the spreadsheet that you put the answers for the AQ and EQ test into.

I had one of my brothers complete all the tests according to how he saw me as I had already done my own, but not shown him the results. When I put the answers he had made into the spreadsheet, it seemed that I met all the criteria for AS, but of course, I could not put in any 'Clinical Observations', as I am not qualified to make clinical observations.

I have written to a specialist at a research centre directly to see what they had to say about my supposition though I have not heard anything back yet.

You might be an aspie if (YMBAAI) list

http://www.geocities.com/autistry/YMBAAI.html

I don't know where the wrong planet list is.

For personal reasons I most likly will never seek a professional Dx. this however has nothing to do with who I am. I am not worried about a lable I fit in here at wrong planet aspie or no. I understand that some feel that you MUST have a Dx. to know if you are Asperger's positive.
The last time I was in a phycologist office he told me that I was intellegent enought to influence the tests and observation he was making. I am not hypersmart but he was right I could deduce that reason for a specific question an could have anwsered anyway I saw fit . I anwsered honestly because I truly want to know why I am the way I am. I dont have an agenda I will problly never tell anyone that I belong at wrongplanet.net I will probably never mention to anyone that I have Asperger's or I am autistic.
Would a professional opinion on wheather I have Asperger's change me. No I don't think so I would still be obcessed I would still post and read your posts. I would still join in in the chatroom and I still would quite simply be me, as always.

I have not been diagnosed officially but I don’t imagine myself as an NT, I am not even borderline, even though some people, who don’t know about AS, think I am because they think AS is more like a general learning difficulties.

When I went to my doctor to ask to be referred to testing, I was dreading him labelling me a self-diagnosing hypoochondriac, (which would be wrong for a start becauseI have NEVER self-diagnosed till now) and had written up stuff to counter that.

As it happened, I didn't need it. He was happy to refer me (just waiting for the referral now.) I put this down to two things.

1) He is way over his head, knows it, and is happy to hand me over to someone who knows what he may or may not be dealing with/looking for.

2) He has some specialist knowledge on the subject (or is very well-read) and thinks that the info I sent him and my reasonings are sound, so thinks it's worth a shot.

3) As 2), buthaving seen me do things in his office (wave my hands, jiggle my leg ETC) and thinks it's woth investigating (unlikely as I've seen him like 3 times in as many years)


4) There's something in my notes that I don't know aboit that supports my own suspicions.Whichever it might be, I want to know. I'm convinced in myself, but I'm a knowledge-hound. I'd like to know by being officially diagnosed.

Julie

One problem that I think most adults have in getting diagnosed with AS is that by a certain age, you've been forced to adapt to a lot of NT behaviour and keep your little quirks to yourself, so shutting yourself off becomes second nature. A lot of personal traits that I've read up on other people with AS having are things I can relate to my own life but I'm not sure I even feel comfortable admitting them to a doctor.

Personally, I don't see a problem with telling a doctor straight out that you suspect having AS. Not if you've done your research and don't come across like you've just seen a Dr. Phil episode and think that it explains everything. I never wanted to believe I had anything like AS, I had always believed that I could have been the same as anybody else given a chance,
so I took a lot of convincing.

The other thing to take on board is that aside from the medication aspect of diagnosing AS, doctors may also be concerned regarding how much support is available in your area for AS
as opposed to depression or anxiety disorders. If there's nothing, then they might feel that a Dx won't do you any good.