Is it worth being diagnosed?

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At 43 I'm just learning about Aspergers Syndrome. From what I've read, I think I suffer from this. Is it worth going out and getting diagnosed? Is there therapy or medicines?

I tried going to a psychiatrist but didn't know where to start and he wasn't giving me any direction on what to say or where to begin. I stopped after two meetings.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

John

Hi Johnk,

For me, getting diagnosed as an adult was worth it.

There is no "cure" or therapy or medication as such - but there are various things that help various people with some problematic aspect of Aspergers. Quite a few people here would suggest regular visits to a psychologist who specialises in Aspergers, who can help with getting through life successfully as an Aspie. I've also had biofeedback suggested, but don't know enough about it to discuss it. And there are common problems that go along with Aspergers, like depression or OCD, that can be helped.

For me, the most important thing was just to know there was a reason I am the way I am, that I'm not just weird or defective, I couldn't be different if I just "tried harder" - it's about recognition that there is actually a problem. Imagine going through life vision- or hearing-impaired, and being told "you could see/hear if you would only try!" That's the line I was being spun when I screwed up socially because I can't process body language or social cues, couldn't park a car because my spatial skills are poor, or any of the other common Aspie dilemmas.

I can relate to your psychiatrist experience. I've seen three GPS, two psychologists and three counsellors in recent years due to mental health problems, and only the third psychologist picked up my Aspergers. That's partially my fault - there were things I knew weren't normal, like pacing and these endless streams of repetitive thoughts, so I kept quiet about them so I didn't end up in a padded cell. When I finally DID talk about them, because they were getting so damn annoying, Aspergers came up about five minutes into the consultation.

We adult Aspies have often learned enough to be able to function in normal society and mask some of the tell-tale signs. Like, I've never bored anyone's pants off with a discussion of my obsessions. I know I'm unlikely to find another human being who wants to talk at length about Harpo Marx or papier mache, so I just keep my mouth shut.

Goodness, I've written an essay here... but the point was yes, from my experience, it is worth finding out one way or the other.

Thanks for posting Grimbling! I appreciate it.

I don't have OCD or Depression, I guess. I can certainly remember OCD going on as a very young kid.

Eye contact problems, weirdness like finishing other peoples sentances, coming off like i didn't want to deal with anyone. Hard to know which is Asperger Syndrom and what's general lack of socialization. Can't really connect with anyone. Never really could.

I'd like a web page that can best help me diagnose myself, just for my own information.

A couple years ago I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, so I've been walking around with almost no rem sleep for a very long time. And on top of that, I've been developing sickness & allergies because of the sweetener in diet coke, which I figured out on my own three years ago and stopped. Both the sleep apnea and the aspartame sensitivity I can cope with. The Aspergers Syndrome is another story.

I'm hoping wrongplanet.net will help. Funny web name. I used to think I was on the wrong planet.

Getting officially diagnosed helped me no end, not only by making me realise that I wasn't a complete lunatic but also because I knew what I was. I shall pass on the whole drively cliche of 'finding myself' but I s'pose it was a little like that, as it meant I knew why I am who I am.

One can be pretty certain without a Dx, and as has been discussed not too long ago, there are good reasons not to get one.

Good reasons NOT to be diagnosed?

Like what? Being labeled "disabled"?

Legally, one can be treated differently if they have what seems
to be a disability. It can effect insurance, as well as custody. I'm
putting off getting a DX until I see some positive value to one.

It's certainly a factor in helping me land a job. Wouldn't mind some of those disability benefits I've heard about.

Can you get disability benefits with Aspergers? I have sleep apnea, too...

http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php

This is a good website to sort it all out. It can't hurt.


Merle

John,

If you feel it will help, the answer for you is probably going to end up yes. Many say a Psychologist is a better person to deal with it than a Psychiatrist. You need one who specializes in adult Asperger's so they will recognize it and not misdiagnose you. I think I googled Asperger's Diagnostician or something similar and the name of my town. The gave me a link to CARD, the local Autism/Asperger's center and they directed me to people who could diagnose it.

Some places will help with the cost and some will not, so find out. Make sure if you have insurance, that it will cover the diagnosis. Some will, some won't. Some insurance wants the person who diagnosis you to be on a list of approved members. Your local center may or may not know this. Mine did and made sure I knew it. They offered to help me find one who was both specializing in AS and on my insurance if I sent them a list of approved members.

Different things may or may not help you. Yes, Asperger's is a recognized disability and is covered under the ADA if you currently have a job or get one. There are not many services for adults with Asperger's, but more groups are popping up all the time. There may be one in your area and I would suggest you find them and go to meetings. You'll know pretty quickly if you fit in. You will either feel like you finally found your planet or you are still on the wrong one.

Some of us have decided not to get the official diagnosis for different reasons. No one can speak for you but you. We will just all tell you our own experiences and help you try to decide. Whatever the case, stick around and we'll try to help. After all, we all felt like we were on the wrong planet and that's exactly why when we saw the name of this site we knew that we had finally found our place!

Your Aspie score: 107 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 90 of 200
You seem to have both Aspie and neurotypical traits

Do I like caves? Pfht... OK, whatever.

Your Aspie score: 107 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 90 of 200
You seem to have both Aspie and neurotypical traits

Do I like caves? Pfht... OK, whatever.

You also want to look at things like stims. I never realized I did them, but I do. It wasn't until I came here and people talked about them that I understood I had stims and plenty of them. I wring my hands, I run my nails down my arms at time. I shake my hands out which I never realized was flapping until I saw it on Mozart and the Whale. I guess what I'm saying is that you might do some things and not know it. That was the case with me.

It could also be that you are more PDD-NOS. Just hang around and see what you find out by reading our posts. They will help you figure out if you fit in or not.

What is "flapping"? I still don't understand, and I just recently saw Mozart and the Whale, and still didn't see anything in it that I thought was "flapping"?

I just did that quiz, and got a 116/200 on the Aspie score, and a 98/200 on the NT score.
Did the AQ score too ( which I know I've done before), and got a 34. I think I always score roughly a 34 or 35 on that (even though it always seems like I'm picking different answers-not intentionally-but just maybe not understanding exactly what they're asking on some of them.)

It is?!?

I do that all the time, but its to stretch out the hands etc, I do have to question lots of stims, there are several things that I do, that could be classes as stims but also as everyday movement. An example being, I often put a finger on the table and then push down on it, stretch the tendons.

I thought flapping was much more of a sustained thing - I guess what you would see in a kiddy tantrum...

Stims don't have to be sustained. Though I suspect
the intention might be important. For example, if
your hands tend to fall asleep, and you are only
shaking them out for that reason, it probably isn't.