your opinions, please

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i've posted this earlier with a different title, so please excuse if you've already read this and have nothing to say in response:: (copy/paste):::


i just got back from the first appointment with the psychologist i was referred to! had to travel 2 hours each way.
he asked many basic questions, asked me the opinion of the referring psychiatrist, and after 40 minutes let me know that he'll have me take two separate two hour tests and informed me he won't bother with any cognitive testing. i've got to wait until nearly the end of december for the next appointment, though, but they put me on the stand-by list in case there is an opening before then. i hope there is an opening before then! i don't like such waiting.

the doctor wasn't forthcoming to say if he had an opinion or not, as to if he believes me to have asperger's. i would think that an intelligent doctor would not initiate extensive testing if he didn't find due reason. am i right? or would he have a patient go through all the time and trouble of traveling that distance, and having them take lengthy tests without some inclination towards a diagnostic hunch?

Yes. That is a good question. I thought along similar lines during my assessment and waiting list waiting and testing referral period. Having spoken to both the psychiatrist who did my initial intake interview and the clinical psychologist who administered my testing, I think I have a general idea what their thought process was.

First off, yes, it's very common for your doctor not to share "hunches" with you. That's counterproductive for them and also may harm the validity of your testing if you have a bias going into it.

Regarding the fact of your referral for testing, yes, a doctor would not give you that referral if they thought there wasn't sufficient presenting symptoms to warrant the time and expense of testing, both on their part and yours. It's unlikely the doctor will form much of a solid hypothesis about your diagnosis early on. Pre-testing, they are looking at every mental illness related symptom (of any mental illness, not just ASD) you have and making a note of it. Information gathering, putting everything together.

Good luck on the testing.

thank you. it is good to hear reassuring words. i understand about them not wanting someone to be taking those tests with a biased outlook, however, i'm the one who initiated the testing. i'm definitely biased. to be honest, i'm so biased that i wonder what my reaction might be if the test results show i've not got asperger's. i've related to much of the symptomology for years; blamed so many of my sensitivities, reactions to stimuli and inability to relate to the general population of society on what i've come to learn has to do much with asperger's, that if all the previously mentioned is not attributable to asperger's i'll not...well, i won't quite know what to do. i won't project, but i do worry. i cannot classify all the symptoms i deal with in my life to anything else but as. i'm not given to bouts of neuroticisms, nor make decisions to seek professional opinions without much consideration of a credible reason. what if i've misguided myself?