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ASPartOfMe
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08 Oct 2022, 9:26 pm

BreathlessJade wrote:
ASPartOfMe wrote:
Welcome to wrong planet.

Some things you mentioned are autistic traits and some preferences.

By the time we are old souls a lot of us learn either how to compensate for our lack of innate social and people reading skills or we learn these skills through close observation. This is called "masking", "passing", or "Pretending to be normal". Clinicians misdiagnose autistic adults because of the outward appearance of near normality. It is changing but there are still a lot of clinicians that do not understand how autism presents in adults.

Are you one of those misdiagnosed people? Based on one post it would be irresponsible of me to hazard a guess.

If it is a misdiagnosis that does not mean it was totally wrong. It might mean they are partially correct. Those mental illnesses you described are common co-occurring conditions with autism.

Everybody has a right to a second opinion. In looking back to the clinician that diagnosed you and looking forward to a possible future clinician I can give you some basic tips. Is the clinician a psychologist or a psychiatrist? A psychiatrist's job is to treat mental illness, often by prescribing drugs. Autism is a developmental disability, not a mental illness so psychiatrists are often not the best professionals to treat autism. Not all psychologists, not even all Autism specialists have the professional knowledge to diagnose and treat mature adult Autistics. This is because until recently Autism was thought of as a childhood condition. Therefore many Autism specialists do not have experience in treating adults or are working off of dated diagnostic criteria. They see the mental illnesses but not that the decades of trying to pass as not autistic caused the mental illnesses.

Everything you said was very helpful. I'm seeking a diagnosis and have years of masking. I also have people around me, including some mental health drs who follow that stereo typical concept. So when I sign up, I'm going to as those questions before I invest in a diagnostic evaluation. Its kind of angers me that they get to "officially" determine stuff they don't get full understanding about.

You are welcome.


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DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity

“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


OldSouled
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09 Oct 2022, 8:59 am

Double Retired wrote:
I hope you've stumbled across these:
=>- Autism-Spectrum Quotient Test
=>- Aspie-Quiz Registering is optional!

They won't give you a diagnosis but they might help confirm your suspicions.

And they're free.


My AQ Score back in April was 40. Got me thinking more seriously about getting tested.



Double Retired
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09 Oct 2022, 10:11 am

OldSouled wrote:
My AQ Score back in April was 40. Got me thinking more seriously about getting tested.
That's about what I scored. It convinced me that it wasn't my imagination that I might be Autistic. It persuaded me to get a formal assessment. But I had to find a psychologist that was reasonably near, who took patients my age (I was 64), who "did" Autism, and was able and willing to do an Adult Autism Assessment.

If you got a written report from your previous evaluation read it carefully. What tests did they use and what did they find? Were you tested for Autism? Did they use ADOS?

It seems psychologists have an assortment of specialties. They don't all work with Autism. Even if they work with Autism they might not do Adult Autism Assessments; they might not have the training to do one.

P.S. My Adult Autism Assessment was kind of fun!


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OldSouled
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09 Oct 2022, 4:22 pm

Double Retired wrote:
OldSouled wrote:
My AQ Score back in April was 40. Got me thinking more seriously about getting tested.
That's about what I scored. It convinced me that it wasn't my imagination that I might be Autistic. It persuaded me to get a formal assessment. But I had to find a psychologist that was reasonably near, who took patients my age (I was 64), who "did" Autism, and was able and willing to do an Adult Autism Assessment.

If you got a written report from your previous evaluation read it carefully. What tests did they use and what did they find? Were you tested for Autism? Did they use ADOS?

It seems psychologists have an assortment of specialties. They don't all work with Autism. Even if they work with Autism they might not do Adult Autism Assessments; they might not have the training to do one.

P.S. My Adult Autism Assessment was kind of fun!


They used ADOS-2. Part of the summary is shown below. One of the parts I have an issue with is the score of 0 in the stereotyped behaviors and restricted interests. They said I had no sensory aversion which I found interesting because I figured it was obvious to see I was hot and sweaty the whole time as I many times get when it’s not my ideal temperature. And because there were not many sensory factors in this plain white quiet room with only one other individual, it’s not a good representation of the world I live in most days. If we were talking in the hot sunlight around other people having conversations with birds chirping and cars honking in the background then they would see I would be having a lot more issues. They also said I showed no repetitive behavior but my feet were tapping the whole time and I moved in my chair a lot. But I am also really good at masking.

Part of the summary is below.

“Based on the results of the ADOS-2 administration, he obtained an ADOS-2 Imagination/Creativity score of 0 and a Stereotyped Behaviors and Restricted Interests Total score of 0. His score of 2 on the Communication section meets the autism spectrum cutoff score of 2 for communication. His Reciprocal Social Interaction Score of 6 exceeds the autism spectrum cutoff score of 4 for social interaction. His combined Communication + Reciprocal Social Interaction Total score of 8 exceeds the autism spectrum total cutoff score of 7.”



Double Retired
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09 Oct 2022, 6:27 pm

Well, it sounds like you were assessed for Autism.

As to how to interpret the scores, I defer to others on WP who actually know how to do that.


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When diagnosed I bought champagne!
I finally knew why people were strange.