Is it possible to be misdiagnosed with autism?

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I have posted this before on Aspergers sub on Reddit, but I think it'd be good if anyone here could chime in and give their opinions as well. I have been lurking around here for a wile but never posted. Then there is this question that I have been thinking for a while but I haven't yet to found a good place to discuss about it yet, at least until I got re-assessed again. I am doubting that I may have over condition than autism itself (although may have traits)

So here's a capture, I was diagnosed as a child at age 6, when I first get into elementary school I could not sit still, throw a lot of tantrum. Very impulsive and I had a history of running off the class to 'explore the whole school' and a lot of odd and disruptive behaviours with. But I got good grades and was seen as pretty smart back then.

Then I was diagnosed as Asperger's, put in a special ed school, for a long time I have questioned if it is right for me (since 12), nothing really feels helpful and I don't connect or relate to people there, even with the higher functioning ones. Until I finally got myself into one of the most prestigious school in my country.

I left home at 18, I still had fairly lots of social problems back then, but I am improving fast but being held back with anger issues and insecurity a lot.

Now I am studying abroad, I have a fairly active social life and I am not afraid to meet new people. Although I am not the most popular, hottest person that would get invited out and texted everyday and night. I gained friends, some casual that comes and goes, some are much more real. There are some difficult behaviour that I still do, but it's mostly impulse control, anger and self-esteem issues (that drove some people away).

But I don't feel connected with a lot of experiences people describe here, maybe with some social issues and executive dysfunction. But I just don't have 'the processing', which can be positive even if the other downsides are coped. I don't have details-orientation, logical ability, obsessive interest which for some are blessings.

Now the social situations comes easy to me unless there is a sign of personal attack, and I still have anxiety issues or tendency to want to say 'things I shouldn't really say but I want to'. Generally I know what's appropriate and what's not, and I do seem to read cues well enough, but acting according to it can be difficult if it makes me feel bad.

I also don't have sensory issues or stimming. My childhood tantrums never involves stimming or anything to begin with. And I feel like this is a big flag that I may not that close to the spectrum. Since it seems like sensory stuff is the more fundamental one.

A bit more for my background, my parents were busy people, they worked a lot and barely had anytime for me as a child, and I could never got much of interactions or emotional support out of them because they were tired, or will just get angry and try to beat me sometimes when I tried to ask for it because it upsets them. They both can get very angry with me, so as my sister, she is not diagnosed, friendly to people, but can have explosive anger too at least in home situation.

I grew up mostly with the computer screen, and my parents can be harsh and critical with my accomplishment, with occasion physical abuses. Some could be just disciplining, but sometimes my dad'd just hit me for the sake of it. They are also extremely protective and never want me to have social times with people, or going out on my own before 16.

They do love me as the feeling go, but they have their fair share faults. And we could have a good time as long as I look happy to them. (As neglecting that they can be, I don't think they are autistic.) So if it would help you analyse the situation.


Later I've got to to talk with a psychotherapist in case she could have some insight into my issues. I mentioned that I was diagnosed with Asperger's and my feeling uneasy with it. And she told me she's worked with adult patients with Asperger's patients, while this is not her expertise, she did not think I have it. Although she gave me a contact to a clinical psychologist who is an expert on developmental condition, she refused to test for me because I fell below the threshold for screeners. (EQ and AQ) but I am suspected ADHD. (but it can be co-morbid with autism now so idk)

Nor the teacher where I was very close with in my previous school (not the special ed one) told me that he's been teaching for nearly 30 years, and I didn't seem to have it in his opinions. When I expressed the concern to him.

So now I am waiting for another psychologist with a background with autistic people for assessment, although again, she refused to do full ADOS-2 with me because language barrier, but she'll do around 2 hours clinical interview. and go from there.


But like many of the 'Am I autistic?' threads, undiagnosing myself is equally unreliable as self-diagnosing. So I don't know how much the claim that, 'I am NT (or other conditions)'would be valid. Especially here it is well known that people could have ADHD and autism co-morbidity. But I don't feel autistic or a kind of disconnection from NT socializing. In autistic community it looks like if you get better you just coped to the NT world, but you're still autistic and misdiagnosis is nearly impossible. So I just want some opinions about my situation.

My Scores

EQ : 40 (Below 30 threshold)
AQ : 15 (Over 26+ threshold)
RAADS-R : 28 (65 threshold)
Rdos Aspie Quiz : Aspie Score 40, Neurotypical Score 158 (You are likely neurotypical)

My symptoms that can be issues are mostly extremely short fuse, emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, getting bored easily and executive dysfunction. There are also a lot of insecurity and fear of rejection and abandonment into it. I can have a very meltdown (which is quite rare), but usually I can be talked out of it and not truly out of my mind. if the other party show me and wanted to listen to my experiences and emotions. It's always something that deal with a possible rejection, attack to ego or sense of security, or anything that get me into a social ladder risk. (Never sensory and physical sensation meltdown)

I used to have much more social problems as a child but I learned do and hows by immersing myself into a new places, meeting new people. As well as obsessive interest as a child too. Although these are quickly diminished as I got separated from my family, it's just gone. So I definitely fit the diagnostic criteria, almost like I woke up from some kind of drug. But now I sort of think a lot more like NT.

Last edited by SatchelDuck on 06 Apr 2018, 3:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.

SatchelDuck,

Your profile is a lot like mine. AQ 28 (borderline NT/AS), EQ score average for a female and Aspie Quiz score 58. However, I do demonstrate a lot of the features of AS: intense special interests, some social awkwardness and some anxiety. My social skills have improved a lot with increased opportunities and I now function fairly well. Such was not the case as little as five years ago.

My 28 score is for Raads-r I think, a different test, where the cutoff is 65 and the score could go up to 100+ in many autistic individuals

Hmm, It's a possibility but all screeners put me below threshold. Although I did have special interests as a child I do not anymore, so I am not sure what's going on here. Most of these test don't address a lot of my issues so I guess it's a possible symptoms autistics could have but may be present in something else too.

Just to throw some thoughts out there (and obviously I'm no expert, this is just what sprung to mind on reading your post):

It seems possible that your traits might be due to other neurological issues such as ADHD for the impulsivity and maybe borderline personality for the emotional regulation issues. I can understand why you might want to follow that up, to help understand what's going on and get the right support.

But it's also possible that your autism has just become less obvious, with your brain having developed compensatory mechanisms. Some of us, in our teens and twenties, were quite oblivious to our own autistic behaviours - lack of self-awareness can be one of the traits.

Either way, I think the important thing is that you have access to the type of support that works for you. If questioning your diagnosis might help with that, I'd say go for it. Wishing you luck.