Going to my Doctor Tomorrow...

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I'll be going to my Psychiatrist tomorrow for a switch in my anxiety medication, but I've been wanting to bring up the possibility of aspergers for some time now. How exactly should I approach the topic with him and what should I be certain to bring up?

Look up the traits in the DSM-IV and show them to your psychiatrist and go over them together.

When i first brought it up to my psychologist, who i'd already been seeing for awhile(but it was for some issues, not necessarily focusing on social stuff at the time, so no specific diagnoses were really being discussed at that point. before i knew about AS, i pretty much still thought that i was just weird and had anxiety), i just said that i had read about something called Asperger's Syndrome and identified heavily with the symptoms. She said that she did recognize a lot of AS symptoms in me also, so the next couple times i saw her we went through a checklist and talked about the criteria and stuff, and she was pretty sure i had it. So, i took the big psych evaluation with the IQ test and all, and she got some information from a past psych eval i'd had(which came up with "personality disorder NOS" by the way.. lol.), and after the results were all scored and stuff, she wrote up this long report about me with diagnoses of Asperger's, Inattentive ADHD(which i didn't really expect, actually), Generalized Anxiety, and Depression.

So, i'd say that you should probably just say that you read about Asperger's Syndrome and feel like it describes you.. Tell them which criteria you think that you meet, and if there are other people with it whose experiences you've heard about and can relate to.

Oh yeah, when getting screened for aspergers, you may also end up fitting the criteria for a different or additional diagnosis as well.

have you been tested for AS yet? A simple on line test (50 questions) is available here:

Wired Magazine-AQ test

I really like the suggestion, Cold Blooded. It should be a bit different because I'm going to see my psychiatrist rather than psychologiest -- but it seems the same course of action would be fine. And I have taken multiple tiests, clovismakingtoash, including more detailed versions than the WIRED (a magazine which I LOVE) quiz. I scored a 39 on it.


I have had people tell me (who have AS) that they think I might as well, along with people who don't pointing out the same. I've always had difficulty with social situations -- not in the sense of me being shy, as I'm not in the least, but because I don't seem to connect well with others. It was worse when I was younger, as I couldn't make friends with children my own age and spent the majourity of the time in primary school either alone or getting bullied. A LOT of the symptoms fit me, and after finding out about AS and looking at myself in comparison, I felt I understand how I functioned a bit better...I just don't know how to get it across to a clinical physiatrist as my traditional approach would be to bring in information and outline the differences on paper. =.=

I think that it might've gone undiagnosed, as I don't seem to fit the traditional routine traits that AS sometimes has. I make lists and need some resembling things, but not a strict routine...

I too got my diagnosis from a psychiatrist, but was advised by a charity worker that a reliable diagnosis requires specialist training. When discussing my case with the psychiatrist they only empirical evidence was my AQ test score (34) . While he was no doubt that his own opinion was valid, I told him that I was doubtful as to whether his view was as credible as he suggested. That annoyed him for some reason!

It was a bit of a battle to get the funding to see an expert and this turned out to be a pediatrician. I am still waiting to see her, yet I'm now saying and accepting the earlier diagnosis as being correct.

I found reading medical text book to be a bit unhelpful, and while all the tests do show that I am certainly on the autistic spectrum, it's not till speaking to other AS people (like here on WP) that I feel I 'belong'.

Ultimately, the one suggestion I like to make to ensure whoever you see that they have the right level of training and experience of AS

Not all psychiatrists are able to dx Aspergers. Our psych,whos a good guy, didn't even notice it in his own son until adulthood. His son is living independantly and has a job, so he must have had fairly mild charactaristics. This same psych has subsequently gotten very good at dxing AS etc, and I have to wonder if it's because of his son. A psychologist is usually the best person to run the tests etc and evaluate for AS.

Maybe your doc will recommend one, or maybe he/she will be able to dx.

Yeah... My psychiatrist has done little more than talk to me for a few minutes and then write a prescription.

I would just bring it up, like others have proposed, and explain that AS has come to your attention and how it seems to fit your case.

I myself have asked for a referral at a yearly medical check-up, where there are no psychologists or psychiatrists involved. I just brought it up, and asked if they could help me with a referral, which they did without hesitation.

I was able to speak with my Psychiatrist -- but he was unable to deal with a diagnosis . He did, though, refer me to a nearby clinic that does neurological testing in a two day format. I will be setting up that appointment when the Office opens up again on Monday. I did want to know what I should expect from this neurological testing if anyone has gone through it before...


And thank you so much! I did bring the topic up as was suggested and was pointed in the right direction.