What specialization is required for giving an AS diagnosis?

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It drives me nuts to see people on here dishing the bucks to ignorants totally unqualified to diagnose AS.

Why on earth would someone go to a Psychologist/Psychiatrist for a neurological evaluation? Do you find that you tend to go to a plumber for evaluation of your electrical installation?

AS has nothing whatsoever to do with brain illness (Psychiatry) or environmental trauma (Psychology). What do you expect from a Psychologist or Psychiatrist that claims to be able to diagnose a neurological condition but charlatan money-making?

Those who go to anything but a Neurologist for an AS/NLD evaluation deserve the ridiculous outcome they get.

I see you are undiagnosed...

What's your problem?

I think you say that because you think a neurologist could prove AS in some way? We're not there yet though.

But there are actually 2 reasons why your clinical psychologist or psychiatrist are your only real bet to get a qualified diagnosis of autism.

First one is that AS doesn't leave any neurological evidence which a neurologist could trace and diagnose you based on it. He would probably be able to validate your total neurological health even if you have some form of AS.

The second one is that AS is based solely on behavioural criteria as we do not know the causes for it yet. The only qualified professional to see about a behavioural psychiatric disorders (no matter if it's got a possibly neurological origin or not) is a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist.

I wouldn't trust a neurologist to diagnose me with AS anymore than a dentist who would attempt to diagnose me with a cold. Wrong specialism and thus he or she is unqualified to make or deny the diagnosis.

This is a good point, Sora.

My daughter was refered to an orthopedic doctor as well as a neurologist due to her "toe walking" issue. They needed to rule out any pysical or neurological reason for the toe walking (like MS or muscular issues). Since there is no physical reason for her toe walking they can now say that it is a habitual activity that she engages in when she is nervous or excited. As for the clinical diagnosis, the child psychiatrist is working on that aspect. It is likely that a speech pathologist will also assess her. I think that it takes a team approach in some cases. This is proving to be the case in my own assessment process. I have been to a few different doctors now and will likely see one or two more before a diagnosis will be finalized. I have actually had to undergo a psychoeducational assessment to differentiate between nonverbal learning disorder and AS. I am still waiting for the results of that assessment.

I haven't received any ridiculous outcome regarding my DX. I went to a psychologist who is a specialist in autism spectrum disorders and who has probably helped me and my family more in the past few months than all the other shrinks, doctors and counsellors i have seen over the years, put together.

My psych specialises in ASD's.
He is compassionate and he helps families and individuals with ASD's turn their deficits into assets. It is an approach that is working well in my life and i have learned more about how to manage my ASD in the past few months than I learned previously from all the bloody counsellors and doctors i ever went to.

So i now have strategies that help with sensory dysfunctions, with massive anxiety as a co-morbid, with living with others.
My ex and my son are also being educated about ASD's. There are areas where i can work on things and then there are areas where I simply cannot change or get very overloaded. The arguing and my meltdowns have been reduced significantly by this holistic, family oriented approach.

I am benefiting enormouslly, so the OP from the wonderful Greentea, on this occasion, is a little silly if you ask me. (But I couldn't do the poll. Couldn't dunce you Greentea, because of a minor slip in the quality of your posts and threads!)

My suggestion is - if one wants to pursue a dx...go to a specialist and do not waste time with any practitioner of any sort who does not know about ASD's.

millie, I'm talking about diagnosis, not counseling. What you're doing, if I could have it in my country, or even in a continent near here, I'd immerse in it with my all. Being taught how to make the most of my life with AS instead of how to torture myself to meet NTs' expectations of me is a dream I won't see fulfilled in this life cycle. And doing it as a family is a dream I wouldn't even dare dream. Then again, you do have a very unique family and life!! ! (wish you had let me continue interviewing you, it was fascinating).

Sora, I know Neurologists can't detect AS in the brain. Nor is any worker of the Psyche able to detect it any better. What workers of the Psyche can """diagnose""", we here on WP are able to """diagnose"" a hundred times better. They only have a little bit of studies on the subject, and each their own free (NT) interpretation of the DSM, too often wrong, oversimplified, stilted, clueless, false generalizations, prejudiced, from the outside looking in through the wrong assumptions window - while we Aspies have a lot of intensive reading, pondering, analysis, research, exploration, trial-and-error and personal experience behind us.

A DIAGNOSIS of a neurological condition can only be NEUROLOGICAL, even if the possibility doesn't exist yet. Therefore, everyone is UNDIAGNOSED, whipstitches.

edited for wrong bold format

Ok, I'll give you an example: I was fired today, not much of a chance of finding a new job in this economy and at my age. I've been offered a job in Angola (top money but the health system is horrendous and the epidemics are terrible there). Let's say I take the job and become sick in Angola. It looks like gangrene, but doctors can't be sure because they lack the equipment to analyse it. Should I let them amputate my leg anyway, because it LOOKS LIKE gangrene?

Our resident President topic

You read as pissed, greentea.

I was determined to be Autistic after 20 hours of intense observation, over a period of five days. But there was nothing on the EEG. AS is not brain damage, it is a brain difference. The psychologist was paid by a government funded source. I am hoping to connect with a special access to employment opportunity for challenged people. In this small town I have exhausted all other means of getting a job, so I welcome this service.

I hope you do not have to go to Angola, but if so, then it should be temporary and you should have all the benefits that other foreign workers get.

I suppose working on a kibbutz might suck after being in a more lucrative job.

I get your point greentea, but a diagnosis of AS isn't exactly on the same plane as an amputation.....

We will have to agree to disagree on the notion that we are all undiagnosed. That just simply doesn't make any sense to me. How can you claim to have something that isn't diagnosable?

Let me quote you here.......

Of course I'm pissed, I was fired today

But it also pisses me no end, after 3 decades of seeing workers of the Psyche and putting their kids through higher studies I couldn't afford for myself because I was paying these charlatans when they actually can't do anything to heal what is NEUROLOGICAL. AS is NOT in the psyche, period. They can't know better than yourself if you have AS or not. At this stage of scientific knowledge of the brain, and since all that can be done is check a list of common AS symptoms, we Aspies are the best capable of diagnosing AS.

What pisses me off the most is that, the moment they make AS the business of workers of the Psyche, they start treating us like we'd improve if only we made a bigger effort to behave as expected. AS IS NOT A BEHAVIORAL PROBLEM! Don't let the workers of the psyche anywhere near you. (It goes without saying, Sue, that you do whatever you have to in order to get social benefits. What matters is that you don't believe them yourself.)

Well, I went through 2 psychiatrists, before being diagnosed by a psychologist. The first one said that I "might" be AS. The second wasted my time with tests that were tailored to children, and then said that I didn't have AS, only PTSD. Even more interesting, it was a Licensed Social Worker who suspected AS, and encouraged me to get a 2nd opinion and a diagnoses!

AS SHOULD always be diagnosed by a neurologist, because it is a neurological condition. The problem is, they won't diagnose it. I've tried twice. They referred me to psychiatrists. Finally, I found a neuropsychiatrist (board certified in both) who diagnosed me.

Whilst it is a neurological condition, most of the readily apparent symptoms are behavioural in origin, hence; clinical psychologists and psychiatrists are the ones who diagnose it in most cases. They seem to get it right in most cases, and with good reason, as it's really evident if you know what you're looking for. This is for adults.