Typing up Asperger's traits from childhood to now?

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Can someone help me on what to put on an Asperger's traits sheet, I want to get this typed up for the psychologist appointment today so I can explain my symptoms/traits to them, do I just put the traits onto the sheet and relate them to how they've affected me from my childhood to now? Thanks.

Dont go with triats, go with personal problems you have had throughout your whole life, regardless if they fit the ASD symptom or trait list or not.

I would suggest reading Tony Attwood's book ("The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome"). I found this book incredibly helpful in terms of categorizing my issues/challenges, from childhood through adulthood.

Give the psychologist time to figure things out for himself. I mean are you trying to get an actual diagnosis, or do you just want to convince him you have Aspergers?

I want the psychologist to believe me, I'm f**king sick of people not believing me. My grandmother didn't believe me when I came out to her as gay, my mum didn't believe me when I said I had mental health problems, so why the f**k is it so hard to get people to believe me? I'm sick of it

I want the psychologist to diagnose me but I'm scared that they won't believe me.

Psychologists tend to ask people to write down how their symptoms have impacted them. The psychologist doesn't know you well and probably may need some more information. Write them down and explain how it has impacted you.

That's what they did with my diagnosis process.. Since I had poor social skills and couldn't properly convey my symptoms verbally, they asked me to write it down. After that, they tried to figure out what it was and didn't outright say I had autism, intially they assumed it was a combination of anxiety and depression. I had a psychiatric nurse who would visit me to talk and stuff, and she noticed my inability to make eye contact, monotonous voice and several aspergers traits.. She then referred me to get assessed for autism, there is a waiting list and it took a while to get a diagnosis.

The assessment process was... strange. They asked me to look at a book that only had pictures and I was required to tell them what was happening in the book - for some reason I couldn't tell what was going on in the book. Apparently a symptom of autism is lack of imagination(?)

Anways, I have gone off on a tangent. Just give them the symptoms you have experienced and let them try work out if you have autism or not. Obviously, they can't diagnose you off the bat as that will require frequent observations and an assessment.

Writing lists can be a clumsy process when trying to explain something like this. Personally I think you'd be better off using something such as the DSM or NICE guidelines to keep it concise and to the point.
Look at the criteria for diagnosis and write a few statements about how each of the parts affects you and how it causes extra challenges in your life. You can always elaborate on other things if asked.
I've not had much dealings with psychologists in the past, but from what I gather from other people's experiences most aren't well versed in identifying symptoms of ASD, they also cannot request referrals for assessment directly, they can only make a recommendation to your GP. You might find it more useful to go straight to your GP with this than via a psychologist.

There is nothing wrong with writing out a list of your recognized characteristics, if you choose to do so. I did this, and, as has been stated above, many diagnosticians appreciate the help it gives them and their clients.

Don't forget to include characteristics from your earliest remembered years. There might not be a lot, but even one would show that your autism dates from early development. Showing this helps prove the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. Some childhood characteristics include neologisms (making up words), toe-walking, and lining up or stacking toys or books according to size, shape or color. Most diagnosticians look for these kinds of characteristics. Adult characteristics are important, but not as much as childhood characteristics.

Good luck!

I've been keeping an ongoing list on my phone - I add things as I remember them.

Parents and grandparents are often the least excepting of their kid being gay or having Aspergers. It's like they can't accept what they consider some kind of failure, and go into denial.

But the psychologist is not going to be like that. I have talked to a lot of them and they are usually one step ahead of me. Which is good because that way I don't have to struggle to talk to them. Lots of times it's me nodding yes or shaking my head no.

Before my diagnosis, I wrote up a ten-page organised list of all my traits from early childhood to the present. I'm glad I did, because one of the first questions the clinician asked me was, "Why do you think you have Asperger's?" and, despite having prepared for that moment for literally years, I panicked and my mind went completely blank.

What I did was break the traits down into categories, like "Social Reciprocity" and "Nonverbal Behavioural Patterns", and within those categories, I had age groups, "0-3", "4-6", "7-9", "10-12", "13-15", "16-18" and "19-21" (my current age at the time of assessment). I then used bullet points to briefly note the most prominent examples of the header trait I displayed within each of the age brackets, and at the end I had a bulleted list of "miscellaneous traits" which didn't fit into any of the specified categories, but which might still be relevant to ruling a diagnosis in or out, such as the fact that I didn't have a speech delay, my mild auditory processing problems, my close to eidetic memory for paired visual-auditory input, my total lack of directional sense, etc. For traits like sensory sensitivities, which didn't change much over the course of my life, I simply left out the age brackets, and added under the header, "Oberved across lifespan unless otherwise specified", then bulleted examples of each of the types of sensitivity I had under the appropriate labels, "sight" "sound" "touch" etc.

This list was also helpful for my clinician because it gave her something to look back on after our initial session was over and she was organising her notes. My diagnosis was completed in four one to two-hour sessions, spanning the course of two months. My fifth and final session, in which I received my diagnostic report, came five weeks after my final evaluation (the ADOS 2 test), so in my case, it was important that the person diagnosing me was able to go back and refresh her memory about things we'd discussed during the first session.

Seems like it could be useful, even if it's just to clarify things for yourself. If you're having trouble remembering, maybe check out the traits listed in book, the questions on screening tests, etc, and write down the ones that apply to you. Ask your family about it too, if possible, especially if the

When I saw a psychologist, he didn't seem to read my prepared list. But I think the one you go to will probably read yours.

i know you have a lot of faith in this diagnoses but its not really the same as being gay or being like a certain type of person, its a life long disability. If the psychologist suggest that you don't have aspergers i think its important to listen to his suggestions, he or you may be wrong.

This is one thing i dont like seeing. There are a handful of people who come to this site, convinced they have aspergers, they research it to death, and then when a psychologist suggests otherwise, these people refuse to listen to them and just decide to self diagnose themselves. (and im not saying ALL people who are self-diagnosed do this, just a small handful of people i have witnessed)

Autism and Aspergers isn't a trend, personality or identity, its a Neurological Developmental Disability.

im NOT saying that you dont have aspergers, i have no idea if you do or dont, but i know the internet isn't always reliable for information and people mis-interpret the symptoms or symptoms are over-exaggerated.

Please, listen to a psychologist if he/she suggests OTHER mental illnesses or ailments other than autism. It wont hurt. I myself got tested for other learning disabilities and neurological conditions and they were ruled out. Trust me, it will only help.

Yeah, there's a lot of conditions that have really similar symptoms. I've got all the BAP personality traits (e.g. I get a high score on the autism/asperger's screening tests) but I'm diagnosed with ADHD instead of ASD. That's actually a good thing since they've got most of the same problems but treatment for ADHD is slightly less non-existent than treatment for autism.

I had my first session on Thursday and it turns out I have depression and social anxiety, the clinician said to me that she had picked up that I could have Aspergers as I had described problems with my childhood up until now, she also is going to refer me to the Adults Autism Diagnostic Service so that could take a while.

Depression and anxiety are usual co-morbids of autism, so you shouldn't take their diagnoses as a rejection of your own opinions. It might be that they will help point your eventual autism assessment in the direction that you believe it should be. I didn't notice that you live in Northern Ireland. British and Irish Wrong Planetians have well described the wait list there. Use the time to research more about yourself and autism. Even if nothing results of it, it might help you learn more about yourself. It did for me.