Doubting my diagnosis?

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Hello, I’m new to Wrong Planet and this is my first post. I’m very nervous lol but here we go.

So only a few days ago, I was finally diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome by a professional psychologist, at the age of 20. This was after about 2-2.5 years of wondering: “am I autistic or not?” It took so long for me to seek out a diagnosis because there would be times I was convinced I was on the spectrum, and other times where I thought “no way.” I became obsessed with finding out if I was on the spectrum and the constant wondering began to torture me and cause me a lot of anxiety, so I finally sought out a diagnosis. At first, when the psychologist said I had mild autism (as well as dyscalculia), I was so relieved. But as the days have passed, I’ve started to worry: what if I exaggerated my symptoms? What if I actually manipulated the psychologist into *thinking* I’m autistic when I’m really not?

The reason I doubt my diagnosis is because I have a lot of neurotypical traits. For example, I’m fairly good at understanding social cues, reading facial expressions, understanding metaphors and sarcasm etc. I’m also not sensitive to light. (I’m *very* sensitive to sound though, and a little sensitive to certain textures and smells). I’m not *overly* literal either. I’ve had moments where jokes have gone over my head and where I’ve interpreted things as literal when they really weren’t, but not nearly as much as other autistic individuals that I’ve seen.

I do have some autistic traits that do support my diagnosis, such as the sensory sensitivies I mentioned. I also have had difficulties with social situations since a young age, and have a variety of stimming behaviors (pacing, snapping my fingers, rubbing my hands, fidgeting with jewelry and other objects, verbal stimming, waving hands around etc.) I have experienced echolalia many times throughout my life, and have a habit of reciting lines I hear from television shows or films. I have *very* strong interests, or “obsessions” as well. I have other traits, but I can’t think of them off the top of my head at the moment... Even with all of that, I still doubt my diagnosis.

So yeah, those are my thoughts. I understand that autism is a spectrum and that it affects people in different ways and at varying degrees, but I can’t help but worry still. If it helps, I’ve also been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified in the past. Thank you for listening, and I appreciate any opinions you have on the matter. I apologize if I unintentionally said anything unacceptable.

I feel the same way, though I have not been diagnosed. I feel very strongly that I am autistic. I also have had an ED, I read that women with autism often become anorexic because of control and patterns and the restricting and stuff is really an autistic trait. Women are also often diagnosed late in life because it doesn't present in the same way as in young boys. i want to seek a diagnosis but dont want to manipulate the doctor either. Did they ask you questions or just observe you?

He mostly just let me explain all of the symptoms I had been experiencing, and asked me questions whenever he had any. I wrote out a list of my symptoms and we read them all together. As I read them off I’d explain them in full detail. This took 2 one-hour interviews to cover. In addition, I had to attend 2 intelligence testing sessions that each lasted 2.5 hours (he recommended the additional testing to see if I had any additional disabilities, and that’s how he found the dyscalculia).

I don't know what kind of response you want. ASD diagnoses and conditions are complex, but you may not ever be able to see through the complexity to decide whether your diagnosis was correct or not.

Don't drive yourself crazy wondering about it. Either you have some sort of problem or you don't; if you do have a problem, either the diagnosis helps you get support or it doesn't. That's what matters most.

Frankly your self-description sounds autistic to me. Not every autistic person has to be sensitive to lights. Have you tried looking up the diagnostic criteria the clinician used to diagnose you? That might help you understand the diagnosis.

He wasn’t a neurologist, just a psychologist. Dyscalculia is a math-related learning disability. It’s like the math version of dyslexia. I understand the fear of the iq tests, I was shaking like a leaf when I was taking them lol.

Welcome to wrong planet

It seems fairly typical that people who receive an Autism diagnosis doubt it. You always have the option of expressing your worries and fears to the clinician who diagnosed you and asking why you received the diagnoses.

Thank you to everyone to the replies so far, it’s helping more than you think. I will be sure to follow the advice given to me. I apologize if I’ve been sending the wrong replies to people, I’m not used to the reply system on here lol