NON-Diagnosis

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Hey y'all!

I'm a newbie here, although I've been reading the threads for awhile now...

I know I am an Aspie. And recently went for a diagnosis with a "specialist".

He told me: "Although you have many, many traits, what differentiates you from someone with Asperger's is your desire to be social".

I was thrown when he told me this. My history as a child and young/older adult has shown pretty clearly that I have issues with my social stuff. I'm not too sure he even READ my history... and when I told him that I actually PREFER to be alone, he replied: "You didn't tell me that before", and refused to give me the diagnosis I know fits me.

I was extremely nervous to be talking to someone I'd never seen before, and I have problems recalling EVRYTHING I need to say to someone.

Has anyone else had this problem with acquiring a diagnosis? Is it a bad thing to WANT to be more social?

i got a diagnoses regardless to the fact that i want friends. my therapist works with a lot of teens with aspergers and he sees that people with aspegers usually want friends but dont know how to go about it and cant handle being around certain people.

i also have a friend with High Functioning Autism and NOT aspergers and she wants friends very badly.

This is the second time I've come across such a situation. I find it quite interesting because I went for diagnosis and was told that I differ from people with Asperger's because of my lack of interest in having a social life, and was therefore more likely a schizoid. The myths these shrinks get into their heads about autism are ridiculous.

That's ridiculous. Having AS doesn't mean you don't have a desire to socialize, it just makes it difficult, which in turn can lead to isolation.

I've given up on trying to get a diagnosis. I can't afford it. In the psychiatric industry, along with all the ignorance, superstition, egos and all that, there's simple greed. You need to pay tribute. You need to make him think that you're a cash cow; that you'll be coming back for therapy for years and years. Money talks. It's more articulate than I'll ever be.

My girlfriend diagnosed me at first. She was gentle, supportive, and suggested it might explain so much of my life that I didn't get. She was right, but I balked at first, dragged my heals, didn't want to revisit the traumas of my past having spent the first 17 years of my life labeled a "ret*d." She has a 25 year old daughter who at the time was undiagnosed too. Mainly because of availability of resources like a good doctor. But that's how my girlfriend so easily saw the indicators of it in me.

So I did lots of research, saw what she was talking about, then set about finding someone qualified to make a diagnosis.

In the end, I called the local chapter of the Autism Society and asked them for someone who dealt with Adults on the spectrum, especially any that dealt with women, since we can often be harder to diagnosis. They suggested several locally, one in particular they'd had really good experience with, and my GFs daughter and I started seeing her. We were both diagnosed officially on Friday because we do back to back appointments because she doesn't drive.

So I'd say find someone who knows what they are doing, and interested in helping you. Mine doctor said Friday, so do you want to come back? I said "Of course, now that we know for sure what's been wrong with me my whole life, I'd like to learn from you what I can to deal with it better."

"Different. We know what's different, not wrong. Living with an ASD means differences yes, but it doesn't mean there is anything wrong with you, other than you've spent 49 years living in a world that doesn't understand you much better than you understand it. We can work on that if you'd like."

She didn't see me as a cash cow, didn't expect me to do anything. Yes I paid out of pocket for diagnosis, but she was someone who does this for a living and is used to dealing with adults on the spectrum as well as children. Plus her out of pocket rate was only ten dollars more than I'd have paid for someone my insurance plan covered. It was worth the extra ten dollars to me to go to someone who KNEW what she was doing.

Did you see an ASD specialist or just a "specialist"? I find people here just go to non-ASD specialists and they say "maybe you have Asperger's" and then the poster is like I'm diagnosed!! !!

You need to go to someone who specializes in Autism and be evaluated.

Scenarios like this makes me apprehensive about going to see someone for a diagnosis.