Is it worth pursuing a diagnosis as an adult?

Post Reply New Topic

I am so motivated now to do just that: be myself 100% AS and all and expect other people to accept me just as much as I accept them, and appreciate me. Now the hard part is going to be finding myself buried under layers of fake NT personality that I have been building on since the first day of sixth grade. I still remember when I first noticed the other kids' facial expressions were different than mine... they were like another species of primate or something

Anyway this is going to be a challenge

Being that doctors are people, too, their opinions can be emotional.

If you find medical services convenient, you might use a doctor, in the same sense that someone uses a notary public or concierge.

The color of authority is useful in settling arguments with skeptics, but you should consider the role of science to be advisory, only -- not morally binding.

you know, this is a very functional way to look at it. i suppose this is the response i agree with the most. on my own i am reading about life coping skills and techniques used by those on the sepctrum and have started to use some even though i have not been disgnosed. two strategies have worked quite well and my thinking is, even if i dont pursue diagnosis if the strategies work, then what do i care if i am disgnosed AS or not?

come to think of it, if the strategies work and i am not on the spectrum, then i guess i still dont care because they are working. at least, thats how i feel right now. but ive been doing pretty poorly so maybe i wont always feel this way.

So this may seem dumb, but I have no idea how to get diagnosed. Do I talk to my primary care doctor? Or do I seek out a specialist? Are there different doctors who diagnosis adults versuses children?

If someone has a link of where I could look to get some of these answers, that'd be great! Or if you've been through it yourself, tell me how to started!

Primary care doctor is the best place to start, yes. Depending on which country you live in, a referral from a general practitioner is needed to even get access to a psychiatrist. In Canada and USA psychiatrists usually do not take appointments without a referral. I live in western Canada, and in my case the process went like this: 1. Spoke to GP at walk-in clinic. 2. Referred to psychiatric assessment office of local hospital, did preliminary assessment with psychiatrist there. 3. referred for neuropsychological testing with clinical psychologist for "diagnostic clarification". Did the whole gamut of tests for a variety of suspected things which took seven hours across two separate appointments.

You may also want to check if there is a local autism clinic or center or organization. Give them a call and see what the local procedure is. But in general, go to GP, get referral to specialist. Keep in mind this can be a slow process. There may be a waiting list or two involved, have to wait a few weeks/months to get an appointment.