Why not get diagnosis of AS confirmed?

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As I have been looking around in here and reading about many of you......many of you say you have Asperger's but are Undianosed. My quesiton is why not get checked out to see if you really have AS? Why would you not want to confirm the diagnosis? Just wondering, i like to know things for sure instead of guessing that's why i went right away to see if it was my case, (which it is)........

Well, I am diagnosed, but some people are undiagnosed because they don't have the money or the time to get diagnosed, or they don't want to take the trouble because an official diagnosis wouldn't help them at this point, and they do't need to for their own peace of mind.

I'm a professionally successful adult with two sons, both diagnosed with autism. In reading about autism, it became clear to me, in light of my unique personal history, that I have AS. At this point, however, having me diagnosed and counseled is a complete non-priority. My kids are the priority.

If I were an adolescent or young adult, I would certainly seek diagnosis for myself. Remarkably, the way I have learned to socialize and "fit in" when needed really follows what people are generally professionally advised to do, as I have read and learned.

I'm sure everyone's story is different.

I've never felt the need to have a dr. confirm. There would be no value in a dx for me so I don't bother. Plus, I tend to avoid the medical profession as much as possible having worked in health care for so many years.

I probably would not have got my dx if the Office of Vocational Rehab did not pay for it; the tests are expensive. A dx can allow you access to medical assistance (sometimes) and therapy.

Well, maybe some of them are waiting for a diagnosis, sometimes it takes long time!

i'd have one like a shot, but i'm over 19, and so there's little chance of it here in the UK (i'm gong to have to start pestering my GP again). unless anyone fancies sending me the (up to) £1000 i've been quoted for a private referal? no? oh wel...

The problem is that there is no definitive test for AS (such as a genetic test). As it is now, the doctor would rely mainly on my words, and so his/her diagnosis would not be much more reliable than the one I made myself. In effect I would pay big money to learn what I know already, and I would not gain much certainty.

Other reasons for not getting a diagnosis:
1. I honestly do not need it. What's more, I can imagine situations in which it would cause problems. Because of that I prefer to retain a clean slate (I've never been diagnosed with any mental problem).
2. I don't believe in labeling people, and I don't believe that labels make me who I am.
3. I don't particularly like going to doctors, nor spending money on them.
4. Last but not least, I think that I would be very embarrassed and nervous talking to a doctor about my oddities, especially when they are not causing any sudden difficulties at the moment (note word "sudden").

Very well stated!

Was when I was really young, too young to really remember, which means before the age of 7 years old. (I don't have much memory of my early childhood at all for some reason or another.)

By the time many aspies are adults (which many are here at WP), AS is generally not as severe as it is in childhood, so it would be more difficult for a doctor to diagnose. Many adults feel they do not need a diagnosis if AS does not cause huge problems.

I don't see much point in being diagnosed anymore, I'm 16 and I've learned how to deal with any social, sensory or education issues the hard way, through trial and error and through the (mostly unjust) criticisims of other people. When I was younger my logic was that I had to do all these pointless school exercises because everyone else was an idiot.

The story of why I'm not diagnosed strikes me as a little tragic in some respects. I first heard about AS when I was around 13, I started talking to a guy online who told me he had it. At the time I had a massive intrest in psycology so I spent a good while researching it and read Liane Holliday's book, "Pretending to be Normal" At the back was a rather rough list of things to watch out for in yourself or relations to show they might have AS. I found it kind of amusing that I matched half the things on the list, and as I thought about it further, I realised I matched nearly all of them.

Me being me, I kept up my research and the more I looked into it, the more my behavior was explained. It shed a light on difficult situations in the past and made me realise why everyone else seemed a little.. well.. slower than me to use an offensive term. Before I just had never understood why I picked up everything and understood most things so much quicker than everyone else, yet social conversations were always a bit beyond me.

I told one of my two friends at the time. I told her about my research, about AS and why I think I might have it, her response to that was "Oh, so that explains it." When I told my other friend her response was "Wow... that makes a lot of sense now that you mention it. Are you going to get a formal diagnosis?

Ah! A formal diagnosis, this was a pretty big hurdle to jump for two main reasons.
1. Money is pretty tight in my family.
2. To be blunt, I have a terrible relationship with my mother, she has an alcohol abuse problem and isn't a great parent for many reasons I wont go into here, but one of them is her "Ignore it and it will go away" attitude to any problem I might have, this includes medical, social or problems within school. I remember having a terrible chest infection when I was eight, it was so bad to the point I had to sit out in P.E class in school because of the coughing fits I went into. This went on for nearly a month. I asked to see the doctor. By taking out any loudly yelled or offensive words, what she told me can be summarised into "Don't waste my money with your hypocondriact ways"

So, you can imagine my prediciment, if I coundn't convince her that I had a pretty obvious physical problem how was I going to tell her that I may have a condition such as AS? Well one day when we were in the car together, I brought up the subject carefully. To make a long story short a large argument insued and in the end she agreed to let me go to the doctor the next time my Dad went (he suffers from Parkinsons disease so he goes for regular check-ups), so it wouldn't cost any extra cash.

The day finally rolled around

^^^ Sorry, continuted from above.

The day finally rolled around when I got to go to the doctor. I sat patiently in the corner of his office while he spoke to my Dad. Afterwards he turned to me and I explained to him what I thought was different about me. He had never heard of AS before but refered me to a psychiatrist nontheless.

Once we got home, the pestering began on my part to get my parents to call the number, we were given. It took several tries but we finally got an appointment on Feb 2, 2002. When my Dad told my Mum we had an appointment booked she then said "You'ld better have this Aspeegers thing or whatever, God knows I don't want to spend money on it for nothing." This was in November.

January rolled around and my Dad got the dates for his next hospital appointment, one of which was on February 2. I pointed this out to my Mum who then said "Ah Katie" In a way that usually means "Be quiet". My Dad said we'd have to resquedule my appointment, I asked him to call the psycologist again, he did once, but never got through. It was never mentioned again in my household. My Mum seems pretty greatfull for that. I've just been too scared to bring it up again. It's much easier to just deal with any possible AS I might have on my own. When I was in primary school, when it would have been beneifial to know, when I could have gotten some help and understanding off teachers, nobody I knew had even heard about AS. Perhaps when I'm older and financially independant I might go and seek a formal diagnosis for my own peace of mind, but for now I'm happy as an un-diagnosed aspie

I'm not all that sure about how to pursue a diagnosis. My psychologist mentioned it to me only a few weeks ago. She said I should join some support groups, but didn't say anything about getting an official diagnosis.

Even when I find out how I can seek out a diagnosis, I don't want to do so at this time. Maybe in a few months or so. An overwhelming majority of AS traits are the ones that I have been made to feel ashamed of my entire life. Like my inability/lack of desire to socialize, major problems driving, not understanding "simple" human interaction, and other stuff. People have told me that practice, experience, and age will make some of that stuff better, but I'm 23 and some of that stuff is getting worse, not better. Being in the workforce has exacerbated certain things, like when I'm in meetings and feel like the dumbest person on the planet because I can't understand things when they are spoken to me. I've based a lot of my hopes on overcoming some of those obstacles for good. I still haven't come to terms with the fact that I may never recover from a lot of my random annoying issues that never go away. Only after wrapping my head around that will I want to get an official dx. I've attempted suicide twice simply because I was tired of being irreparably weird, and I don't want to go down that road again.

I too have found that the work force has made some things worse for me than ever. However, I am determined to keep going and find a way to make everything work. I don't see how a dx would help me out at all unless I want to not work at all and live on the goverment.

However, at 33 many things are better and I am much better at accepting things that don't change.

I tried to go to a Doctor but he was unwilling to consider it. He thought it was a stupid concept.

I would like very much to get assessed for AS/ASD but at my age (40) it is very doubtful that I could get one easily.


The major reason is that there is cost involved as the NHS would have to pay up to £1000.00 for it and many local Health Trusts are already strapped for cash, so they are unlikely to be willing to speculate with that sum of money. I cannot afford to self-refer privately and even if I could, there is the recalcitrance of the GP to get past. Many GP's are either unaware of AS/ASD as it has been re-thought in recent years, or if they are aware of it, then they are incredibly sceptical of AS and would look towards more traditional reasons for my social and emotional and 'unemployability' deficits.

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