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I was tested by this psychologist. Western. NY Outside of Buffalo

Michael P. Santa Maria Ph.D

DeGraff Memmorial Hospital
445 Tremont Street Suite 323
P.O. Box 750
North Tonawanda, NY 14120-0750
(716) 690-2560

Dr. Santa Maria sent to this psychologist.

Drew C. Messer J.D. Ph.D
Clinical and Child Psychologist
5888 Main Street
Williamsville, NY 14221
(716) 961-9435
E-Mail: [email protected]
www.electronicgamingtherapy.com

Dr. Messer also has Aspergers Syndrome so he knows what you are going through.

For undiagnosed Asperger's/HFA adults in the NY area: stay away from the Cody Center in Suffolk County. Maybe their clinic is fine for the evaluation of children and some adults. I don't see how. My experience was awful. I was told upfront they're understaffed and underfunded.

The staff showed no empathy whatsoever (ironically). I was treated like a lab animal. The non-medical staff varied from stupid to rude to talking down to me. They didn't understand or care about how they were upsetting me. I started having meltdowns at home.

Self-administered questionaires to fill out at home. One hour intake session, over a month and a half later. No structured, organized interview. The psychiatrist had me go on about my past for the full hour while he scribbled on a pad and every now and then switched his eyes from me to the social worker next to me. I think he actually used what he knew of my past and the recent complaints I'd made to the administrator to deliberately provoke a distressed reaction, by recreating situations and behavior that upset me. Except I was too inhibited in person to outwardly react. If his behavior was deliberate it was sick and twisted. Another graduate from the Josef Mengele School of Medicine.
I was cleared for an evaluation with a psychologist. One standardized test-the ADOS. That was all the psychiatrist ordered for me. I cancelled the appointment. I don't think I want anything more to do with ANY department of the Stony Brook University Medical Center, based on past experiences.

I just switched to the Fay J. Lindner Center in Nassau County. The doctors and other clinical staff are all women. They give individualized attention, a full, proper evaluation and offer an enormously comprehensive number of services. The young woman who took my info over the phone was very kind.

Dr. Frank Ailleo
2021 Concert Dr
Virginia Beach, VA 23456
Phone: (757) 668-2840

He is a developmental ped. He also practices in Newport News I believe.

5j5j

albaemme, Very sorry about your experience. And, regarding albaemme's post: an important issue has been raised regarding AS individuals. Therapeutic abuse can be devastating and, at present, there are no stop-gap measures to prevent bad practice. Of course, there are gradations of bad practice and no real concern about minor upsets (& there is normal variability; not every practitioner works for everyone). However, in the remote event of therapeutic abuse (which has not yet been raised on this forum board), what resources are available?

The Human Rights Commission may be a resource but therapeutic abuse can be woefully ignored. In the remote event of an emergency, do not hesitate to call 999 (or 911) and for any Aspie who feels threatened by a practitioner, NEVER enter any office alone unless you have protection. Keep a log of what has occurred and contact legal authority right away.

I had a life-changing brutal experience with certain neuro/psych "professionals." Never again and the damage is very real. For one relatively minor instance, one who telephoned me at past 9pm, asking for sex whilst he was intoxicated. Then, he was sexually fondling himself in my presence. A stalker. This is scary and painfully unprofessional. Worse, I promise, there is no resouce for protection and the backlash I received was horrific. Cascade of nightmarish "professionals," including a public health nurse from Hades.

Ironically, I do not, at all (and never did) need their services. Unfortunately, they did complicate my life unnecessarily. Then, I did purposely seek them out to report activities. Now, there are fewer neuro/psych professionals as 3 are no longer in service - at present, at least one is in jail. Lab Pet, the Therapist Slayer at work.

In all seriousness, if anyone does know of resources for therapeutic abuse, please do let us know.

There are so many horror stories out there about mental health professionals. I'm sorry you went through what you did. For now I've given up on finding someone to talk to. I've had enough really bad experiences trying. I hope one day to meet a qualified psychotherapist who can work with me. It'll probably be a matter of knowing someone who knows someone.

A long update about the Lindner Center: it can take me awhile to process an unfamiliar experience, usually a few days. I realized soon after the intake appointment that something was wrong (besides what was happening to me at home). I was officially diagnosed early September, and I hated the entire process. The Lindner Center, sorry to say, was essentially no different from the Cody Center. I was encouraged by the kindness of the receptionists, and thought the psychologist assigned to do the evaluation was sensitive to my needs and accepting of me as an intelligent, insightful individual with my own point of view. She was not (neither was the other psychologist on staff there, who I spoke to on the phone several times, who was actually worse). She was young, inexperienced, insecure and dismissive of my account of my own past, reinterpreting it to cast me as the disruption in my family (my family was very abusive toward me; I had to leave my home this past August) and did not acknowledge the serious mistakes that had been made in my medical care by both my family and the psychiatrist I was trapped into seeing for many years.

As the situation at home escalated, which I told the receptionists about, she and the other doctor showed no interest or compassion whatsoever (the other psychologist told me that if my symptoms were acting up I should go to the emergency room, as though that was the issue). Both women were callous, uncaring and unkind.

During the evaluation she misunderstood one of my responses because of her own ignorance regarding a technological reference I made as I described the events in a picture book. I'd mentioned the picture tube-the primary component of analog television-visible from the back of an old-fashioned T.V. in one of the illustrations. She thought I was referring to the T.V. as the "picture tube!" This mistake and others went right into the 14 page document I received in the mail late September, most of which I threw away, except for the essential diagnosis and one page that wasn't so offensive. I sent her an email pointing out and criticizing everything she, in her arrogance and ignorance, had gotten wrong.

She applied a clinical definition of empathy-which she'd determined I was lacking in-as an ability to engage in superficial conversation, which is not what empathy truly is (also, had she brought up a topic that actually interested me, and not just her, and didn't remind me of bad memories, I would have been more responsive). She demonstrated a distinct lack of empathy since she didn't see how sad I was during part of the evaluation. I stated that had the situation been reversed, I would have noticed her sadness and been concerned. The document referred to me several times as a "he" (how many people worked on this thing?) and gave referrals to services I'd told her that I did not need and wanted no part of, such as psychiatric "treatment."

Because of experiences such as these, I'm done for life with autism resources run by neurotypicals. The attitude I've repeatedly encountered either in person or online is that familiar, false belief that autism is a disease (the document I received refers to Asperger's as an illness rather than a disorder) and that high-functioning adults are subhuman freaks that must be taught how to make NTs comfortable with them (and go on medication, as though that is an automatic requirement). I've spent most of my life until recently dumbing myself down and trying to fit in. I much prefer being considered strange or abnormal than trying to please people, including so-called professionals, whose own issues and deficiencies have made them so insecure they can't accept superficial differences in others. This evaluation reflected nothing of who I really am, and what I can yet accomplish. There was no interest in the scope of my intellect or my creative ambitions and not even a minimal understanding of the symptoms and emotional needs inherent to the disorder. These centers are disgusting. They represent control and ignorance-and greed; they look for pathology where there is none. What appears to have happened in medicine in general applies to human resources overall: all sorts of services and organizations that are supposed to help people are now following a business model. They've become businesses that place the needs of the patient or applicant at the absolute bottom. And businesses require steady customers. Especially the pharmaceutical companies.

It's probably much better to be evaluated and diagnosed by an experienced clinical psychologist in individual private practice-with the requisite sensitivity and ethics.

Southwest Pennsylvania: Allegheny General Hospital did a really wonderful job for me. They listened, they remembered things I forgot, they did not make a big deal out of it, they acknowledged the strengths I have. They made me feel like a person. I can only vouch for their adult program, but I know they have programs for kids, too.

West Virginia: AVOID the United Summit Center in Clarksburg as if it were a mutant-rat-infested nuclear waste dump. They're supposed to treat all kinds of mental issues. ALL the people in the waiting area were glassy-eyed and staring at the floor. Most of them would not speak even if spoken to (and I know they weren't all profoundly autistic). The therapist I worked with was derisive of the local culture and dismissive of me. The psychiatrist I worked with stuffed a bunch of risperidone down my throat and dismissed my concerns, comments, and complaints (all politely voiced) with, "This is the standard treatment for autism. Don't be combative." I should have run away after the first visit-- it would have saved me crawling off to die after several visits.

My once-sister forced me on risperidone. It gave me miserable sensations in my facial muscles. Must be a popular drug these days.

I was thinking I should put my old Pediatrician on here. Her name is doctor Eyla Boies and she is with the UCSD Pediatrics in San Diego. All i ever had to do was call and say I knew there was something wrong with Maddy....like when she broke her arm and she couldnt tell us where she hurt....she would tell us to bring her in. However I just looked her up and it says she is only taking newborns and siblings of established patients. She is older but obviously not retired (she is not that old anyway). So if you have a kid with ASD and you are having a new baby try to get it with her. She is the best Pediatrician that we ever had. We also had another doctor there that was so good she sat in the ER with us when our son had his blockage in his urethra and had a really bad infection....but sadly she left the practice.
Doctor Boies is just as good and she will take very good care of you kids.

Also Childrens Hospital is very good for getting a diagnosis for your kids but they are sooooo backed up. We did do speech and OT through them though. However I do not recommend them for a diagnosis because you have to wait months for each appointment, they start with speech then hearing then behavior and if you dont get in before you child is 3 you miss out on all the therapy plus you will not get the in home therapy that I got from the San Diego Regional Center. They will get you in quick and they diagnosed both my kids and the psychologist offered to diagnose me at my sons assessment but i had already been diagnosed . Also your insurance will not pay Childrens Hospital if you kid is 6 years old, with the Regional Center, they dont care and its free, no insurance needed.

Hampshire, UK:
Dr Richard Fry
http://drfry.org.uk/

In the North Texas area (DFW):
I highly recommend Dr. Stuart N. Robinson, Ph.D.

http://www.livemoresimply.com/

He works with adults with ADD/ADHD/Asperger's/general anxiety.

He dose evaluations and therapy.

I'm desperately looking for someone in my area for my son. He's seen occupational therapists (said he was ALL better!), and a few different psychiatrists. I'm thinking of a new one (his doesn't seem to care too much), and a psychologist now too. I live in Spotsylvania, and so far the closest I've seen is Va Beach, which is roughly 2 1/2 hours away from me.
Anyone know any good docs for Aspergers or even how you go about finding doctors that deal particularly with that?
Many thanks!

VL
Check out this link
http://www.cildrc.org/
This organization is located in Fredrickburg - a lot closer than VA Beach. You're closer to DC and Richmond than you are to VA beach, I would have to guess that there are specialists in one of those locations though I wouldn't want to drive in to DC on a regular basis if I were you.

Thank you SO much for that! I just spoke to a woman there that's sending over via email, their list of docs that they have. And she also gave me a Lynn Delamer of Mental Health of America in my area. If I should EVER find one that's good and that works, I'll be sure to put it here.
Thanks again!:)

Jelibean, is it possible to get an educational psych (that is an expert in AS) if you are home educating?

Dr. Natasha Cambell-McBride.
Google her.