Testing for Adult Aspergers

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I just had a quick question for those of you who have been diagnosed: How long did it take to be tested/evaluated? And what exactly was the "testing?"

I ask this question because I went to a psychologist today whose expertise is supposed to be ASD and developmental disorders. She spent 20 minutes asking me a lot of non-relevant questions (such as where did I meet my husband and do I have a drinking problem) as well as some very subjective questions which I've always had a very difficult time answering. Then she said I don't have Aspergers, but a severe social phobia. In fact the only question she asked in regards to Aspergers was why I thought I might have it. Of course, I have to partially blame myself, as I tend to clam up in these situations and left out a LOT of symptoms, such as stimming, sensory issues, and repetitive behaviors. I guess I kind of expected her to ask me about them.

Just to clarify, I'm not saying that her diagnosis was wrong, but is 20 minutes really sufficient time to make such a diagnosis?
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20 minutes isn't long enough for a diagnosis; but it may confirm whether you have ASD of some form or not.

I don't have an answer to your question, per se, but one thing I've seen others suggest is to take a copy of the diagnostic criteria for AS and write out how it applies to you, and take that with you when you get evaluated.

My evaluation took close to 2 hours. She is a clinical psychologist whose specialty is Asperger's. She's listed in the Psychology Today website and other places. A lot of questions were actually like those in the online tests. She also did a visual exam as she made seveal points about my sensitivity to light, my restless legs, etc. There's another psychologist around here whose evaluation takes two days so 20 minutes seems kinda brief. Maybe you can go to someone else?

I suspect 20 minutes was enough for her to observe you a little and your answers perhaps indicated social anxiety. I suspect with more time spent with her, it'll either strengthen or weaken her assessment. She could have got it completely wrong, but perhaps not.

Out of interest why do you think you have aspergers?

Jason

Mine was two sessions, the first about an hour and a half. The second about an hour. Before the end of the second session the shrink declared that I in fact had Asperger's. Both sessions were basically talking about my past life and current symptoms. I had one more appointment to determine if I also had ADHD and a few more to get the dose right for my meds (concertta).

I brought the DSM-IV criteria with me with notes of how it applied to me as well as a list of other odd traits I have. Doctor said they were extremely helpful to him when making his diagnosis. (I gave him the hard copy to keep)

This doc you went to doesn't sound very professional, and certainly not very experienced in Autism/Asperger's spectrum disorders. Go into the General Autism forum here. There is at least one post article there with links to online tests. Take the tests, print out several copies, and bring a copy of your online test results to another appointment, but make it with a different doc who really has experience with spectrum disorders. When scheduling the appointment ask over the phone how long the doc usually takes to do an evaluation. If the staffer says "about 20 or 30 mins", then this doc is not willing to put in the proper effort to do the job right, so try someone else.

I went to a psychologist for an evaluation two days ago and had a similar experience. Granted, the psychologist spent more than 20 minutes with me, but she handled that time in the same fashion as the psychologist that evaluated you. (I kept waiting for her to begin asking the relevant questions, so I could explain how I learned coping techniques that masked what I was going through as a child.)

Her final diagnosis was an extreme case of social phobia, which I had already told her about when I made the appointment. She acknowledged that I exhibit a majority of the traits of Asperger's, but that I do not have Asperger's because I show compassion and an understanding of other people's emotions. I find that interesting, since Prof. Tony Atwood found that some girls and women with Asperger's can be overly compassionate and have a "sixth sense" in reading other people in a room. I had given her a copy of that particular article by Tony Atwood with all of my traits highlighted. (The majority of the article was highlighted.) Upon her final results, I referenced the article and asked if that meant that those particular girls and women would also never receive a diagnosis of Asperger's. She responded by simply repeating that people with Asperger's do not experience compassion and cannot read other people's emotions. I then realized that I was dealing with someone that hasn't been exposed to all of the research.

In addition, I supplied her with my online test results, complete with pie chart. It didn't seem to make a difference to her. My scores are as follows:
Aspie score: 176/200
NT score: 35/200
AQ score: 38/50

Like you, I'm not certain that her diagnosis is wrong, but it's questionable based on other information I have found. I suppose I don't need a formal diagnosis, but it would help to know if I am on the right track. It would also be somewhat comforting to know that all of my "quirks" may have a reasoning behind them...well, maybe some of them anyway!

Are you planning to continue pursuing an evaluation? I'd be interested to know what you do.

She should at least do some type of testing.

I wouldn't just trust someone's "impression."

I have testing next week, but my psychologist spent an hour with me, and before that, took a whole developmental history record.

20 minutes is just an introduction. I doubt she's accurate, especially if you left stuff off.

I wrote all my symptoms out, because I knew I would forget. A psychologist should be prepared for someone to clam up. My point is, obviously she's not getting the whole picture.

MMonroe - did she perform any facial recognition or visual/verbal intelligence tests?

On a side note, I am so glad to have found this forum. I'm feeling a little lost these days and love that I can hear from others dealing with Asperger's.

FasHawks8: No, she didn't do any testing at all. And she didn't even get around to talking about the many Asperger's symptoms I have experienced throughout my life; how they impacted my life as a child and how they continue to impact my life. I'm now 52, so I've learned how to mask many of the symptoms, but it's exhausting. Actually, I can remember masking my panic since I was 4, because I was so concerned in not upsetting anyone and not wanting anyone to be mad at me. I was a perfectionist in school and never rocked the boat, so I only stood out when it came to academic achievement. Of course, this was soooooo long ago that they didn't do testing for Asperger's, as far as I know. In grade school, they would put me in the hallway during class time so that I could work on special, brainteaser projects. One day they took me to the High School for some kind of an observation group where there were about 10 students from different schools and they had us using our imagination to portray different scenarios while they observed us. To this day, I have no idea what that was all about. I just asked my Mom if she remembers and she doesn't even remember giving them permission to take me out of school. Now I'm not sure if they suspected something odd in me. Who knows?! I was just hoping to get an understandable diagnosis and I don't think I got that on Tuesday. The psychologist's results didn't make any sense to me given all of the other symptoms.

Sorry for the run-on message!

I was wondering if there are any autism specialists nearby?

I was recommended by a family friend with a kid who has pdd-nos to go to such a centre. Where I am from it is all part of the government's health scheme, so I had to wait a while to get in due to them being full and me living abroad. (Really not that bad I heard) After that I had about 5 hour long appointments, one with my parent, and I got multiple lists to fill in for at home.

Basically the centre diagnosed me because they were specialized in mental health and Autism in particular. They said it was a heck of a way easier because I was verbal and have a high IQ, so they could actually use my own thoughts in the process.

Anyway, it worked because they knew what they were talking about and also had multiple age groups of people they had in for theraphy etc. I think this sounds way better than other stories Ihave heard around here with the knowledge of Autism and the differences within the general medical community.

Also it helped that my personal GP was very supportive and understanding.

Thanks for the great responses. It makes me so angry that I paid a lot of money (out of pocket) for this doc to spend time with my and discuss the issue and all she did was skirt around it. I don't know if I will pursue a diagnosis since there aren't any other ASD specialists in my area. But I will discuss it further with my PCP. And I'll start carrying a list with me

As for why I think I have Aspergers: my oldest son was diagnosed a little over two years ago. I had no knowledge of it before then, but have done a LOT of reading since, mostly for his sake. I will not go over all of the individual traits that I have, since there are so many other forum posts that list the same things. But like many others, I had the "epiphany" while reading a few books (Born on a Blue Day and Aspergirls), and thought "Oh my god, that's ME!" I still get that feeling while reading many of the posts here. And as it turns out, my youngest son is showing the same behavior patterns at 3yo as my oldest.

I refuse to "self-diagnose" and if I never get a diagnosis, that's fine. I guess I just want this feeling that I've always had inside me to be validated by a professional.

20 minutes is nowhere near enough. Even if they don't know exactly why, adults have spent years learning to mask any characteristics that made them stand out. Some adults are still obvious, but many are not. I don't think even an AS specialist could be guaranteed to see underneath the mask in 20 minutes.

My diagnosis was over two sessions. The psych administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale in the first session and spent quite a bit of time chatting to me about my life history in the second. All up, it took about four hours.

mmonroe - that's ok! I was interested in your story. I'm surprised that so many adults here have such different experiences being diagnosed.

ekm79

I got an official opinion by a Psykologist a few weeks ago (not a real diagnosis). No doubt - Aspie and a female aspie with male aspie traits (according to psykologist).

This took two hours and before the meeting I had taken two tests (they were compared). A real diagnosis would take longer time, involve my family (and cost five times what I paid for the official opinion. She had lots of questions about my childhood, growing up, special interests, friends, stimming etc.

I would abselutely say that 20 minutes is not enough, especielly if you didn´t get a chance to tell her about many of problems.

Helles