Therapists vs. Psychartrist

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Who knows more about ASDs in general, psychatrists or therapists?

Years ago, I was seeing a couple of therapists that saw me in there office several times, then revealed they thought I had Asperger's (I didn't even tell them I suspected it myself), gave me the AQ and RAADs assessment (therapist led, they had me talk about each question to make sure I was ansewering it right) then they diagnosed me (they put it on a form to sent to insurance). But my psychatrist disagreed. I have the sane doctor now that treats my bipolar/psychosis but says I have no autism.

Tomorrow I see a new master's level therapist. Now I'm nervous to bring this up a bit but I think it's my anxiety. I want to scream "I have meltdowns and this is what I need help with!"

I tend to ramble back to my original question. If yet another therapist thinks I have an ASD should I just leave it to that, or does the psychatrist have to agree to make me "officially diagnosed"

Please read these definitions carefully. They apply to the US but not other countries.

Psychiatrist: M.D. (medical doctor) or D.O. (osteopath) with completed residency in psychiatry; state licensure; usually board certification in psychiatry; tend to diagnose and treat with drugs, sometimes with ECT, but seldom psychotherapy

Psychologist: Ph.D. or Psy.D. - with completed internship and licensure exam in psychology; they can diagnose and tend to do psychotherapy; in most states, cannot prescribe drugs

Either of the above can be called "doctor." In some cases, a doctorate in education (Ed.D.) can treat certain disorders, particularly those affecting school-age children. But that's relatively rare.

Therapist, psychotherapist, counselor, marriage counselor, family therapist, licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), master's level social worker (MSW), etc: none of these terms implies a doctorate-level training (although a psychiatrist or psychologist may do psychotherapy, counseling, etc.)

In most cases, a doctorate-level professional (psychiatrist or psychologist) must assess and diagnose, to satisfy insurance or institutional requirements. However, as far as I know, there is no formal certification of specialty training in autism. Completing a post-doctoral training in autism is a good thing to have, but not required. So is your psychiatrist even qualified to diagnose autism? Legally yes, but as far as you are concerned, probably no.

Is a psychologist qualified to diagnose autism? Same answer. Legally they could, but you should only believe it if they show they have that additional experience with autism.

What about a counselor, therapist, psychotherapist, or any of those other terms: No. Because they are not doctorate-level degrees. Legally, anyway, they can't provide the diagnosis; but as far as you are concerned and whether you believe the answer, they might be a lot more qualified than your psychiatrist.

In your case, Angnix, I urge you to work with your therapist on coping, meltdown control, etc., but go through the hard work of getting a professional assessment as a secondary thing. Don't ask your psychiatrist again: they are unsympathetic and my guess is don't have that experience, anyway. You can ask your therapist for leads for autism diagnosis, but don't ask them to do the assessment or treat you for autism.

You seem to think knowing if you are autistic will advance your goals, but you have to remember, there is no cure for autism, no medication that makes it go away, etc. But self-knowledge and choosing strategies for management are valid goals; just don't seek a magic pill.

I and others advised you before on finding a place to do that assessment, so I won't rehash that here. I hope this discussion helps you.

Neuropsychiatrists or neuropsychologists know about autism the most. There is the assumption that any Jo Blow mental health professional knows what they are talking about regarding autism and this couldn't be further from the truth. Unless they specialize specifically in dealing with adults on the autism spectrum then their professional opinion could very well be worthless.

Prior to getting two back to back diagnoses of aspergers and ASD, I saw a psychiatrist who tried to tell me that I wasn't autistic because I could articulate myself and could maintain reasonable eye contact, relying on myths about autism. I got her to admit that she doesn't specialize in that area, yet she refused to send me to someone who actually does specialise in autism. Thankfully I didn't need that useless bucket of rocks and paid out of pocket to see a private psychologist who did specialize in adult ASD who took the time to listen and properly assess me. I found the autism clinic by calling local psychologists that I found on psychologytoday.com's directory. The assessor told me that I was a textbook case of aspergers and that she couldn't believe how other's missed it all these years.

I did have one family doctor and one psychiatrist prior to that assessment years ago that told me I am likely on the spectrum but both lacked the qualifications to properly assess me and give me a formal diagnosis. Angnix it is so obvious that you have ASD from reading your posts, you just need to find someone who specializes in autism and ignore the opinions of those healthcare professionals who don't.

From my experience it is less about the label of the professional, and more about the level of experience they have with people on the spectrum.

Yes, I know a minister who is an expert on autism as his wife works with autistic kids and he gets to see them grow up. He understands the diversity of autism.

I agree. What I find is that the more scared I am the more I mask. Is that something you do as well? And I do think a diagnosis is worthwhile because it changes the approach to other problems.

Well I saw my new therapist and her philosopy is that the symptoms matter more than the diagnosis. I spouted out various conditions including autism people have accused me of and she just said "I see some of those but not others in you" but she wouldn't say anything specific.

Some people do see ASD in me, I once went to a bipolar support group and a lady interrupted me saying "are you autistic? I work with autistics as a living and I can spot them from a mile away."

That is a sure fire way of being doomed to be misdiagnosed over and over for the foreseeable future. Once you have the right diagnosis then by all means treat the symptoms but at least then your clinicians will have the correct picture as to what is going on and where your symptoms are rooted in.

The reason that lady at the bipolar support group asked you if you are autistic because you clearly are and it would be obvious to either anyone who works with autistic adults or is autistic themselves.

Ang, I'm not going to tell you you are definitely autistic, because I firmly believe we can't diagnose one another online. I think it's probable and will make a difference to you to know, though.

So let me repeat what I said earlier: work with this therapist on the areas she can treat, and on your own, seek out a diagnosis. You said that one clinic in your area that specializes in autism, but don't take your insurance. I'd call and ask them what they charge for an adult autism assessment if private pay. It might be worth it to you to not be at the mercy of incompetents. Even if you don't have the money now, you could save up a bit every month; they probably can't schedule you that soon, anyway. And I'd also check in with the university's training clinic, or did you already look at that?