how to I explain i need a therapist that specalizes in AS?
My mother keeps saying I need to see a therapist. I'm not against the idea but I know going to one that does not have any prior knowledge or experience with autism in adults would be a disaster. My mom says all therapists are the same. I've tried to tell her they aren't but she won't listen. She's convinced I have Borderline Personality Disorder because my psychiatrist supposedly told her. The same person that diagnosed me with Asperger's too. My mom does tend to get her memories mixed up and my psychiatrist has told me I DON'T have borderline personality disorder. I've also heard several times that a lot of women who supposedly have borderline personality disorder eventually are diagnosed with Asperger's. I also need someone that would understand that I sometimes do not know what emotions I am feeling and doesn't pressure me into feeling like I have to make up something; someone who can take "I don't know" as an answer. I've mostly had bad experiences with therapists (even one that did supposedly specialize in Asperger's...she never spoke to me...she just wanted to speak to my parents all the time and didn't believe me when I tried to tell her I was being abused and just ended up making the situation with my parents even WORSE. She eventually "fired" me as a client and my parents never sought out another therapist for me...even though they knew I needed one. The one therapist that did work for me were when I was a kid and actually listened to ME, despite the fact I was only eight or nine years old and didn't tell me my special interests were wrong (even when they were weird...well now, I think that one special interest I had at the time was weird, but I think it became a special interest as a coping skill. It was a TV show that scared me...but VERY popular at my school and inescapable. Turning it into a special interest worked though and I was no longer scared of it.) This dude also didn't talk down to me or ignore me or talk to my parents as if I wasn't there (if he had too talk to them in a way that might get me upset, I think he sent me out the room to "run errands") But aside from him, I've never had a good therapist. How can I convince my mother I'm willing to see one, but they HAVE to have some basic experience with autism? And how to I get her to realize going to a regular one would just be a disaster?
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ASPartOfMe
Veteran

Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 38,007
Location: Long Island, New York
Finding a qualified therapist that helps you might convince her. You are 30 years old meaning you are an adult and sometimes need to make decisions that parents disapprove of.
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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity.
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
Finding a therapist that specializes in AS is like looking for a polka dot boar in the wild. The few around here in Seattle, as progressive a city as any could be, cost an arm and a leg to see - and they rarely take medical insurance like Medicaid or Apple Health. If you're loaded to the gills with hard-earned cash, you're in business, otherwise...
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