Help! They're driving me crazy again!

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I'm sick of having to tell people about the AS! And then have them doubt me!
I had been screened, but not offically diagnosed, am finding it impossible to find a competent medical professional to help me. Or a therapist or counselor in this town who can deal with an adult with AS. The counselor I ended up seeing, doubts me, and is constantly pointing out reasons why she finds it hard to believe I have it. Believe me, I've been this way all my life, and it's such a relief to find out about it, and now it seems I have to spend all my time defending it.

I hate to have to go through looking still again for another counselor. Worse, she thinks I should still be working on finding a person to date, or doing social stuff in general, even though I told her several times that this is not a priority with me. I am truly discouraged and frustrated. Has anybody else had to go through this particular hell?

Well I went to be screened for AS and was diagnosed Narcistic Personality Disorder with Schzoid features. I understand that this the common mis-diagnosis for previously undiagnosised adults. The guy did say he would get me the best diagnosis possible, and maybe that's just what he did. Now I'm elegible for counseling services if I want them. I don't think I would be with an AS DX.

Our tendency for self-absorbsion and introspection gets us the NPD DX, and schizoid features are due to the fact that we frequently develop a secondary, extroverted personality for dealing with the world. The difference between us and people who actually have these disorders is that we choose to be this way; they have no choice. It can be very fatigueing being what the world needs to see and we frequently need significant peroids of isolation to recharge.

I'm afraid I don't have any advice to offer. I'm particularly fortunate to be a member of one of the best HMOs in the country. Exactly what help are you looking for from a medical professional? Some of the best support services are available on this very site.

I went to my doctor a couple of days ago, but I don't think I managed to give a very good account of my symptoms, as she said I needed to make a list of them and then come back before I could be referred to a psychologist. Although I think my AS is pretty mild so I dunno if I can really be bothered to be honest .

I sympathasize with you. I was asking my therapist about a DX, and she just said she wasn't qualified to do that. I was surprised ! ! She explained that there is so much orthodoxy in the Medical Field these days, that she wouldn't try. The Autistic Spectrum thing is still a relatively new concept, so for a lot of them, if you're not doing an impression of Dustin Hoffman, they think you want some free pass ! !!

So.....probably not the best thread for this but since it was brought up anyway. I've done quite a bit of reading/stuying on my symptoms, and I've copied several questionares on AS, dyspraxia, etc., and answered them in detail.
Now, I haven't seen a thearapist regularly in years, and I would have to have an MD's referral to have access to this (have no healthcare right now). I managed to get a referral to a psychologist (for the end of the month), but I've only ever had one appointment in my life with one of those......and it did not go well.
I'm confused as to what to do at my upcoming evaluation, or if I should bother at all. I mean, people tend to be ignorant around my area about everything, and most doctors (whatever kind) that I've seen were no exception. There are no specialists around here anywhere and I have more than a feeling it wouldn't impact my life in a positive way to have an AS (etc) dx.
So, I'm stuck. I was thinking of taking the questionares to the evaluation with the psyc. because I can find it very difficult to express myself to anyone, let alone health/medical 'professionals' who I've just met. But if I do that, I could end up with a dx that will further **** my life. I'm torn, I don't know what to do. My life sucks and when I found out that i'm AS I thought (naively) that I might have access to certain government funding to help me get it running smoothly. I'm not looking for 'handouts', at least not for any amount of time; I have no job, no edu. (except for hs and my marks suck because I couldn't deal with the people and whatnot), no family members that could (or would in some cases) help me out financially with anything, and any kind of gov. loan would be doubtfull because of my living circumstances, I have no car, no a lot of things that most around me DO have. ??????
Seriously, I'm ready to flip out, life is such a load of (things that I can't say without getting e-scolded) ! !! !! !! !! !! !!
Oh PS, my profile says I'm dx'd because it keeps changing when I mess around with other things on my account for some reason.....I know I'm aspie anyway...whatever, any thoughts on my situation????

Well, good luck Sixela. You'll have to check on the gov. funds that are available up in frozenland. My therapist explained it to me as being a 'specialty' sort of thing. That is, the doc has to be 'trained' in how to diagnose AS. Which brings me to one of my rants. (Ahem) Why do so many NT's get all misty eyed and concerned for Autistic Children??? There's a commercial for a certain group who shall remain nameless says 1 out of every 166 kids is Autistic(! !!??) What happens to these kids?? What about us who are adults who are trying to make our own way in the world?? I happen to have terrible luck 'reading' prospective employers, I constantly end up with lying jerks. And don't get me started with lying fellow employees ! !! !

As to a DX, the whole battle depends on what can you do with it once you have it in hand?? Will it help you in the bussiness world?? Will others respect the DX???

Wow... I remeber going to a psych for the first time. I was going for my non-comorbid depressive episode (Just realised this is the only place I could say this where the vast majority could understand what I just wrote ) and they sat me down, listened to me for all of 20 minutes, then they turned to me and said "We're giving you the label of AS, though you don't have it." I didn't want to see another psych after that. OF course, I get to HS, and after countless fights with my GP about keeping me off medication (I hate meds... I was only on them for about 1-2 months at most and they were fairly ineffective) They give me an in-school psychologist to work with, and an Educational Assistant. I fought so hard against them, but when I had another personal crisis, I eventually had to accept their help. My psych got transferred, and I met up with another one just before, but even now, I'm in college, and all the memories I have concerning the E.A and the psych are good ones. The E.A became my primary caregiver (I say pseudo-mom) and I trust teh psych with my life. He re-assesed me, and helped me cope with what I had, then showed me that my struggles were AS-related. I eventually accepted the label and grew in it. To this day, he is the only psych that if he said I might need meds, I would go on meds for. I went to see another psych after him, and she actually was confused when she read I had AS. She gave me the "Why are they saying this?" speech, and gave me the impression that she didn't believe I had it. The next appointment, I did a written test, and was actually able to identify what parts of the test was looking for what. She was impressed, and said "Oh my... are you ever an AS girl." Annoying that it took a test. My disability counsellor at the college, when looking at my DX, actually looked before he stated "I see the AS.". I guess it depends on who you talk to.

Neat story Tina, a success with the DX thing. But it still makes my skin crawl when a Psch says "Oh, why did they say you have this?" THEY?? SAY I have it?? What language ! !! You mean to say, "Excuse me, but I don't have sufficient background in this to agree with this DX. Tell me about yourself, and what problems you've been experiencing." The way they talk to us ! !! Ugghhghhhg ! !! !

What does "AS" mean anyway? Does it mean "patient won't put up with BS"?

thanx for the input, guys. If I honestly report on all past erroneous DX's, they rake those up and say, "Here is your problem!" You don't have AS, you are, (fill in the blanks). I guess since they were so eager to slap the wrong labels on me, it's ironic that when I finally find one tht fits, they want to dispute it. I don't know why a DX is so important to me. I guess I hope it will open some doors for me, if I need help futher down the line. Or maybe I'm so used to giving these psyches so much power, that it's hard to stop. And it's true, that AS children get support and older AS people can fall through the cracks, if they're not careful. I like what Pretorius said,about a free pass! That's exactly what what I'm made to feel like; one guy who did a screening, told me that I wouldn't be able to get disability I don't think this is disabling, only challenging as hell. Maybe a DX will help me get the proper intervention when I need, like the next time I flip my lid

I've known for a while...

I'm seeing one of the top psychs in Australia, so I've spent the past month (3 month waiting list!) writing up a report of every single symptom, I've avoided mentioning aspergers, I've been very honest and critical with myself..

Before I go I will also get a page for parents and relatives to write some comments down... therefore giving them an opinion besides my own..

This I believe will get me a proper, honest, diagnosis.

"Challenging as hell???" You bet ! ! But who better than us to beat the NewTs at their own game???? Good luck in school, and adapt everything to suit yer needs. I remember Uni quite fondly, I got Gov aid (long story deleted) and had a teensy tiny apartment to call me own. Looking back, it's probably what helped me get through those four years ! !! !