nervous about 'failing' AS assessment in two weeks

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so ive been meeting with my psychologist for a couple of months now and weve gotten to the point where an 'official' assessment will take place on may 17th, using 'approved' measures.

he has been great so far, really just what i needed, and has gotten our sessions and the assessments covered by my insurance. i feel accepted by him, which is saying a lot.

my nervousness probably originates in society. i have had a similar difficulty on this site: the worry that i am 'not autistic enough'. to be clear, this is not my psychologists concern. he states that he could make the diagnosis without the assessments, but wants me to go through the process for the sake of disability determination, if it should become a consideration in the future (i have experienced periods of time in my life when i have been unable to work, the most recent lasting about six months).

has anyone gone through the process of completing measures related to AS? if so, any advice for how to just go into as myself? i believe that if i am able to do that, i will not 'fail' them. this is important to me not because i 'want' to have autism, but because i do have autism and dont want to mess up the tests if god forbid i experience another decline in ability, which are becoming more marked with lesser time in between them.

thanks in advance for your responses.

Please try not to stress - stressing is not going to help you, if anything will hinder you. You are not there yet, so take it a day at a time and focus on what is in front of you now. I know that sounds like crap advice, but that is the advice my boyfriend gave to me - and in the end, when I was able to do that, everything actually turned out fine.

When I went in for the "official" talk part of the assessment, I made sure I dropped my social mask and let myself do what I wanted. If I didn't want to look at her - I didn't. If I wanted to play with the paper in my hand, I did. I answered everything honestly (so it came as a shock on her report that she "had some doubts" about some of what I told her about my birth lol).

I had no idea what to expect on the cognitive testing, and in a lot of ways I am glad I didn't. I don't think there is any way to study for it - so if I had known what was in it, I would have most likely stressed on it, even when trying my best to stay in "my now place"

I just went along and did my best on each test - most of them not scary... a little stressful because I suck at those type of things... but from what I understand aspies and people with executive functioning issues DO suck at those things.

So in a way the fact I did poorly on those tests (minus the visual ones - I did great on those) is what got me the diagnosis. So please don't worry about failing the tests.

Well, this answers a question.

The question? Are they still doing Asperger's assessments even though the term has been removed from the DSM-V?

I see what I think is a common problem with a lot of people who are in the early phases of Aspergers awareness. And that is as you said, worrying about not being autistic enough based on lists of traits of autism they've seen. The number one of these it seems to me is stimming. And just about any other stereotypical trait. I worry that some folks psychosomatically start manifesting textbook Aspergers behavior based on not feeling autistic enough.

Now I have fairly severe Aspergers. My Aspie score is 196/200 AS and 5/200 NT for example. I spent my entire childhood in schools for the developmentally disabled. However as autistic as I am, I don't stim or adhere to several other textbook traits.

Now it seems to me that unless your doc has nothing else better to do and is just out to waste your time and his, he seems to think you're autistic enough. So don't worry that you don't do this or that textbook Aspergers trait. A lot of traits, such as stimming are usually manifested more prominently in very severe autism and not seen as much in Aspergers. I say be yourself, not a laundry list of traits.
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I don't think you can mess it up and get a wrong diagnosis. If your doctor has been working with you, he really can tell from just that. His past observations also factor into the diagnosis...the testing is just an additional tool that he can use to quantify your symptoms so that outside sources know what he is basing his diagnosis on, but his observations, in truth, probably count for more than the test. If he says he already knows you have it, that is likely what the final formal diagnosis will be. My evaluation just consisted of questions about me...if you answer honestly the result should be accurate. I brought my boyfriend with me and he was able to give better insight on some things on the questionnaire than I had, since I can't really tell how others perceive me.

This is the one test in life where you are supposed to relax and respond to everything with the first thing that comes to mind. Be honest. Do the best you can on the cognitive tests. That's all.

The whole point is to get the best help possible for you and your specific problems.

Get a good night's sleep the night before.

Is the person you've been seeing administering the tests? If so, I don't think that you need to worry about not being your real self — presumably, this person knows you well enough to have a good idea of how you are.

How did the test go? When do you get your results?

I can sympathize. I've contacted a neuropsychologist and I'm going to schedule an assessment. I have the same worry.

Honestly?

Stop trying to "go for" a specific diagnosis. Instead, try focusing on giving the most accurate information possible so that you get the most accurate diagnosis possible...whatever that may be.

any word on how the test went? or still waiting?

be yourself. if it's not actually aspergers/autism, it'd be good to know... because if it is something else, that support would be better. seems like the dr is confident in the diagnosis, but just wants to see what areas would require support (which is important when it comes to accommodations, govt assistance, etc.). so yeah, be yourself. that's the right answer! I am NOT a crier (as in, I got mugged by a guy with a knife and never shed a tear, despite the police staring at me waiting for me to do so for the next 5 hours!), but I was actually quite emotional at certain parts of the testing... wasn't comfortable with the stranger asking personal questions, the stupid buzzing bright lights, etc. I was worried that it would mess up the diagnosis, but I think THAT caused some of my emotional stress. even then, it was helpful for him (& his supervisor who watched the recordings) to understand my problems. you can't really mess it up, just do what comes naturally.

Also: DSM-V, it's all "Autistic Spectrum Disorder." if you were diagnosed as Aspergers before the latest update, they still call it that. but because the boundaries between Asperger's, HFA, and Autism weren't clear at all (and depended largely on the clinician doing the assessment, how good a day the "patient" was having at the time of assessment), it's all one thing, and they just specify the level of support you need in a few different areas. I think the diagnostic criteria have options for fulfilling it, so they may specify that, too (so: repetitive behaviors that impact everyday life may include intense special interests, stimming, obsessions with rigid schedule, etc., and they would then specify which of those sub-criteria apply). My understanding is that the researchers want to start with a clean slate, then see if they find patterns for subgroups (I came across folks wondering if they needed to revise criteria or have a separate subtype for women/girls, since the presentation can be different, for example). I think this is good... most of us aren't high or low functioning, but our "functioning" varies from aspect to aspect, day to day, and situation to situation. i'm not a fan of functioning labels myself, even as i understand why people use them. I think support language is better (ex, i require social support but not speech therapy). of course, we can argue as to whether or not it is right to use therapies to change our behavior to accommodate the NT world, but perhaps that is better served in other posts...