I am new... have I been misdiagnosed?

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I have not be diagnosed with Asperger's, just to make that clear. The reason I am here is to establish whether or not I should. Here is part of my story:

I was born almost 22 years ago with a genetic metabolic disorder known as Phenylketonuria (PKU). That diagnosis has almost no bearing on my actual mental status, but might be relevant to the determination of my current diagnosis. PKU can lead to brain damage, and has also been linked to a higher incidence of mental illness.

When I was a child, I displayed indications of impaired social development. I cannot accurately tell you what exactly, as I do not have much memory of those times. They did actually suspect some form of autism, but shot down that idea, and never concluded why I was such a "strange, isolated" child.

When I hit the age of 14, a series of events led me to end up in the hospital psyche ward, with a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder. I can definitely understand how they came to that conclusion, I was presenting a mood disorder (I was depressed), and I also had some psychotic symptoms. I also was presenting the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Medication quickly fixed the positive symptoms of the "schizo" part of my illness, but the negative ones cannot be combated with medication very well. I was also relatively stable in the mood department, although I still have my minor ups and downs.

All of that is fine and dandy. I fit the "profile" of schizoaffective pretty well. But there is absolutely no way I can deny the feeling of recognition when I read the characteristics of Asperger's. It was like someone had profiled me and put it on the internet. My jaw literally dropped when I read some parts. That feeling of realization, that is what is making me second guess my diagnosis of schizoaffective. So, I am wondering if anyone here thinks it's possible I got misdiagnosed, and they missed it when I was a child. I want to hear people's thoughts!

I am also wondering, is it common for adults to get diagnosed, or is it almost exclusively diagnosed in childhood? How would they test? What do people with Asperger's typically have trouble with? Is there anything else I can ask myself? Who would test me? (A psychiatrist I would assume)

PS: Autism spectrum disorders run in my family, I have two second cousins who have full blown autism


Anyway, here is an introduction thing:

What is your first name? Kate

Age: 21

Location: Ontario, Canada

Hobbies and Interests: metal music, reading/books, looking at maps, psychology, learning, internet

Why are you here? see above paragraph

When were you diagnosed?(skip if you don't have a disorder): n/a

Favorite subjects: biology, music

Year/Grade: 1st year Pre Health Science

Favorite music: power metal, thrash metal, sludge metal, prog metal, doom metal, stoner metal/rock, industrial metal, folk metal, viking metal, psytrance, goa, ambient, industrial, EBM, darkwave, stoner rock, prog rock, classic rock

Books: Incarnations of Immortatility series by Piers Anthony, Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, The Stand by Stephen King, anything by H.P. Lovecraft, Darkly Dreaming Dexter and Dearly Devoted Dexter, and more

TV shows/Movies: Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, Red Dragon, American History X, Resident Evil Trilogy, Kill Bill 1 & 2, Grindhouse, Apt Pupil, Donnie Darko etc.

Instrument: I play bass

Do you like sports? If so, which ones?: I used to play hockey and I loved it, but had to stop because I am too busy with school

Family: Parents (obviously) and a 19 year old brother

Clothing: my main outfit consists of jeans and a tshirt, sometimes band shirts, sometimes random shirts

How did you find this website? Wikipedia

Job: dishwasher at a restaurant

Plans for the future? I want to become a paramedic

Any comments? I want to know more about people with Asperger's and see how similar I am to them

Welcome to WP!

Tim

Hi and Welcome to WP.
I can relate to your feeling of jaw-dropping instant recognition when you started reading about Asperger's as that's how I learned about it,on Wikipedia. The
difference in my case is that I'd never been diagnosed with anything before
apart from mild depression - I just thought I was different due to a relatively
sheltered upbringing.
At my age of 48 it's difficult to get an official diagnosis because I imagine any specialist would want some independent feedback of exactly what happened during school years.I'm happy enough with my own consclusions and maybe
you'll find that yourself,although at 21 it's certainly young enough to seek
more professional advice if it would offer peace of mind.I'm sure there are a
lot of members on WP diagnosed as adults who could give more practical
guidance.

Hi AstroBomber,

You might find the Aspie Quiz at http://www.rdos.net/ worth a look.

I love your choice of books. Everything by Piers, Terry and Howard is good.

As an aside to Pluto, who said "At my age of 48 it's difficult to get an official diagnosis...": I'm 58, and had no trouble with an official diagnosis. After self-diagnosis, I just got tired of explaining to people that, while I thought I was an Aspie, I didn't have an official diagnosis. It took a few months - I'm not sure exactly when I started pursuing the matter in earnest - it was about eight months from when I first heard of Asperger to when I had the official diagnosis.

Welcome to WrongPlanet

I took it, and I scored 169 of 200, and that means I most likely have Aspergers. I'd say that's substantial

I took the Aspie quiz back in March.
Aspie = 145/200 NT= 52/200.
Felt like I was taking "Bladerunner's VK test."


http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... ht=#491708

I too had a thing about maps, and geography.

Yes, that happened to me, too... the "jaw-dropping instant recognition... on Wikipedia." Hoo boy. I'm now 52 years of age.

AstroBomber, I concur with Pluto: if it will offer you peace of mind (and, moreover, practical value in learning how to live your life) then I believe getting an "official diagnosis" will prove useful to you.

How do they go about testing for it? Is there an actual structured test, or do they engage you with conversation/questions and make a value judgment?

I can't say how they go about it in Canada. Here in the UK, and in particular, Somerset, I was referred by my GP (at my insistence?) and eventually seen by several people. Some tests were used, but nothing terribly structured, in a sense. I suppose, at the end of the day, it is really quite a subjective judgement on the part of the diagnostician(s).

The last interview before I received a letter stating that I had been confirmed as having AS, was quite an amusement, to me. I thought I was being remarkably "normal", only to have it pointed out to me that I had managed to exhibit a typical Aspie trait (failing to read non-verbal communications), in spades. I found it amusing, because I could recall the sequence in full four dimensionality, and see exactly where I had "gone wrong".

I don't know: I haven't been tested and, at this point, see no need to go through that process. However, I did spend rather a lot of time and money on therapy during my adult life. In the past, my primary challenge was dealing with depression. Thanks to meds, I got that under control years ago... then slowly realized that the depression was likely a by-product - "co-morbid", I think they call it - of the fact that I am hard-wired differently. Not "badly", or "poorly" (IMHO ) but definitely differently. I believe that, if the AS diagnosis had been presented to me early on (say, in my 20's), I would have made good use of the information in planning my career, choosing relationships, monitoring my behavior, etc. but of course, AS wasn't even a diagnostic option until the 1990's. I can honestly say that never in therapy did I experience a moment of self-realization that came even close to matching the "Wikipedia moment".

Getting a diagnoses just seems easier. I don't have to explain to people that I'm only speculating when I say I think I have it. It also allows me access to resources I wouldn't/should have. It's also something some people should know when dealing with me (although, by no means everyone)

Hello there. I was wrongly diagnosed with 'schizophrenic tendencies' when I was 13 but now, 6 years later (even for us young uns it takes FOREVER!! !) I have been diagnosed as having AS, TS (Tourette syndrome) and OCD. If you REALLY want to know whether you have AS or not, you need to keep bugging your doctors. Mine just got fed up with me and referred me to a specialist!

I should maybe go and get a DX, might make life a bit easier. I took the aspie test posted above, and scored 183 AS, 15 NT. Out of 200, which makes no sense, cause thats only 198... *highly bugged when numbers don't match up*

I got hit with the slap-in-the-face realisation when looking up autism online for my little bro. I just kept reading the pages on AS wondering who this guy was and why he followed me about all my life taking notes. Surely he had something better to do with his time...

And welcome to WP! Even without the DX, we know where you are, where you've been, and we are more than willing to hand you a shovel to get in there deeper! Oh wait... we help... I read something completely different... darn...

I think that misdiagnoses are common, maybe especially for people with AS. My Aspie Quiz results are:

Aspie score: 149 of 200
Neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 52 of 200

The AS descriptions fit me better than descriptions of any other category of abnormality. When I was a kid (in the 80s), I got a lot of negative attention for being "withdrawn", not interacting with other kids, not paying attention in class, being clumsy, ignoring social rules, being obsessed with animals, and freaking out over small things like having my hair brushed. I was diagnosed with ADD (inattentive type) and hypotonia (due to clumsiness). As an adult, I've done more research and concluded that I've never had hypotonia. I'm also skeptical of the ADD diagnosis.

In my early 20s, I was diagnosed with double depression and panic disorder. Later, I was diagnosed with bipolar II. The odd thing was that the meds for these disorders actually made my symptoms worse. The bipolar symptoms turned out to be the caused by another drug I had been on. Most of the psychiatrists I've seen have been very eager to diagnose me. They would base a diagnosis on my answers to a few questions. That seems like an unreliable method because a person's answers could vary day to day, they could misunderstand the question, or they could lie. They also seemed to want to diagnose me with something common and easily medicated. I think that was why the real issue was overlooked. Since I've learned more about AS, I've felt better about being different and the depression has gone away.

I've learned that the best way to tell a good psychiatrist from a sketchy one is to see how they react to your questions. They should have no problem explaining why they made a certain diagnosis or answering any other questions.

You can choose to think of it as saying that you are 91.5% Aspie, 7.5% NT and 1% cheese, or you could notice that they are each scores out of separate 200s.


No, I didn't seem to find anything better to do with my time.


Think more "The Great Escape" and lessons in doing trick [motor]cycling.