So you were diagnosed, how did that go?

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Hey ladies,

I'm 29 and i don't have an official diagnosis. This month i will be seeing a psych to do some testing, interviews and what not to find out 'whats wrong with me'. They are going to do developmental disorders stuff and some personality disorders stuff and in total i'll be subject to investigation for about 12 hours.

Now i'm sincerely wondering, after the little stuff i read on adult diagnosis and diagnosis for females, how on earth they are going to find out i have autism or not. As far as i read 1. there isnt much info in relation to females and autism and 2. i dont know how much info there is on adults in relation to autism.

So, to be honest, i'm a little freaked out. I don't want them diagnosing me with paranoia or something just because there isnt much info on adult women and autism yet.

Now i'm wondering, how did your official diagnosis go? What did they do? Did you feel or think that they understood differences between males and females or is that of no importance?


Thanks!
- caeru

i was diagnosed at 17. They did IQ testing, they looked at my brain and brain activity with an MRI machine i think it was. They was also that thing when the psychologist read me short storys and then asked me questions about the interaction between the people in the storys and why they reacted the way they did. Also they did chromosome testing.

i think doctors are getting better at diagnosing females. For a couple of years ago aspergers and autism was being seen as stricly a 'male condition' but more and more girls are being diagnosed and at an earlier age.

Hmm so you underwent biological research. That's not common over here, they purely do DSM IV and other diagnostic tools.



Yeah, but i wonder what the characteristics for females and adult females are then. How they are different and how they are similar.

Just went through this.
I am a paraplegic, and my daily routine made a single visit impossible for this doctor (neuropsychologist).
My "session" was split over 3 visits as a result. Not sure how he would ever have been able to do this in one visit anyway.

I worried about his competency, and the possible result(s) if he made a mistake. All I wanted was an honest evaluation.. to finally know if I had found an answer (I will be 45 in December, wondered why I am "so different and alien" for most of my life). Discovering a description of myself was absolutely incredible. But, I also realized that my point of view could/would be skewed. I also wondered how someone with no observational history with me would be able to evaluate me properly. My better half pointed out that it was pretty obvious, and that all it would require is for a stranger to spend maybe an hour or two with me, and I would definitely exhibit symptoms. Someone who is supposedly trained to spot these things? Should be VERY obvious. So I went.

Total of about 12 hours, and Asperger's was the conclusion. Evidently it was obvious, but the doctor wanted to be thorough and be able to form a very comprehensive diagnoses. This was so that I could receive the proper types of help I might want and/or need. While some comorbids were quite obvious as well, some were not. I am hoping that I will be assigned a good counselor that will be able to provide some insight in coping with at least some things.

As far as the female aspect is concerned... I wondered this as well, since we are supposed to be better at assembling "facades." But, I thought about it and realized that any facade requires energy to maintain. I compared it to the Mangalores in The Fifth Element that could shapeshift, but the greater the stress, the more difficult it was for them to hold the shape. My better half said that under stress, I am never able to hold a facade.. my "Aspiness" comes through quite obviously.

I suppose if someone is REALLY well adjusted, it might be more difficult. I thought i was well adjusted until all the little things were pointed out to me, and then the obvious things that break down with me as the day goes on, as energy drains.. the more tired, hungry, anxious, frustrated, etc I become, the more my "Asperger Glow" will emanate.

I went through testing with a psychologist who wasn't a specialist ( ) which was, IMO, a huge mistake. Anyway, she said I had ASD traits but wouldn't give a diagnosis because I was married. I'll be going to a specialist as soon as I can.

-
She wouldn't give you a diagnosis because you're married? That's weird, I know several adult aspies who are married. I don't really understand what it's got to do with getting a diagnosis or not.

when it comes to the differencies in symptoms between the genders, i don't think there's a huge different. I went a special school program for student with aspergers and the girls were as 'aspie-ish' as the guys. Some girls were actually more 'aspie-ish' than some of the guys.

i lol-ed at this.
Thats some crazy stuff I hope you get a proper diagnosis soon!

I dont know who i am going to see, really. I know she's specialized in testing and she tests all sorts of disorders, personality, developmental, etc. But i know that if it does turn our to be aspergers or anything other autistic, there's a different office that specializes in treating autism related issues.

I don't know how it went because I hadn't been aware what the purpose of any of the testing done on me was for. I don't think the specific tests they do now had been formulated when I was younger. Rather, when AS was entered into the DSM-IV, I acquired the dx by proxy as my parents always had an issue with doctors suggesting I was autistic, as I was quite articulate when prompted, and no one attempted to dispute the suggestion of having AS, as I had quite extensive documentation showing that I fit the profile so well (what a horribly fragment sentence...). Anyway, I never flew under the radar, and quite honestly, spent most of my childhood wishing all of the psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers would leave me alone. I honestly didn't see what they were on about half the time, nor had I much of a clue exactly what it was I was doing wrong to warrant all the attention. I suppose I still don't really see because I see many parents in the parents forum recounting similar stories of their children and while my responses are better articulated, my sentiments and perceptions remain much the same.

A bunch of adults, though well meaning, and sometimes with valid concerns, harassing their kids for being different and not doing things the "normal", when those differences, and different modes of operation are really inconsequential....or at least in my mind anyway.

If I went in for an evaluation today, I'm not sure if it would earn me a new "official"diagnoses or not. Since my parents informed me in my late teens why I was so different, I have made very rigorous attempts to improve my social skills and my social relation of others, and have worked very hard on how I present to other people. I think I'm quite good at presenting as NT in most daily social interactions I encounter, as long as the situations are not so spontaneous. However, I'm afraid I can't do much about my underlying processing issues and apparently, I still don't have much of a clue what "Jimmy" is doing in the damn picture story (though I don't see why my interpretation of it is wrong).

I've seen the AQ portion of the test and quite frankly, I have a few issues with it, which I've raised in another thread. For example, a lot of the questions begin with "People often tell me", and will be something of the sort "People often tell me I say offensive things," but this question relies on the presence of another individual, and whether or not that individual is bold enough to tell another person they said something that someone perceived as offensive.

As a child, I think I did manage to unintentionally offend someone once or twice, but I generally didn't interact much with other people, and as an adult I generally don't interact much with other people, and when I do, I really don't contribute much of an opinion on personal matters pertaining to them unless they solicit me to do so...if they get offended, well they shouldn't have asked.

Other questions are something of the sort of "I would rather go to a museum than a party," This question annoys me because it doesn't elaborate on any details. Whether or not I choose to go to a museum over a party depends on which museum and what type of party and who will be at the party. I would need more information.

As far as the facial expression recognition test, if it's multiple choice, I can usually weed out the answer. If it's not multiple choice, I'm not sure I would do as well. I would do better if I were allowed to look at the photos for a few seconds and think about it, but in a real time environment where multiple things are occurring and the expression only lasts for a brief moment, I'm not sure I would pick up on it if it weren't one of the more obvious ones.
I think I can pick up on certain non-verbal things better than NT's though, because I compensate in an analytical fashion, which can reveal a lot.

WTF? You were able to form a close relationship, so you can't have ASD? Pft. I hate the "people with AS rarely get married or form long-term attachements" stereotype. Sure, that's the case for some with AS -- but you know one Aspie, you know one Aspie! I'm glad my psycolgist didn't dismiss my conclusion just because I am married. She and I did some diagnostic testing, then she found a specialist. He did more diagnostic testing -- no biological research. My psycologist nostly wanted to see if I agreed I had enough of the typical signs to go to a specialist, so her tests were quick and minimal.

Women and men often have a lot of the same signs -- avoidance of eye contact, sensory sensitivities, etc. You are right that most research to date pertains to young boys and autism. However, more scientists are looking at girls, and at adults. There is a lot more information out there than there was a couple years ago. I don't feel that being female influenced my Aspie traits in any significant way. I think the tests would have been the same for a man...but I don't know that for sure.

I don't really remember because I was 12 when diagnosed. I was going through depression and hard times at the time. I remember my mom and my doctor talked or my dad. I remember being left in the room by myself. I can remember staring in the room and messing with the toys in there and writing in my notebook. I also remember filling out a questionnaire twice, one when I was 11 and then again when I was 12 and even my parents filled one out and my teacher. I think that was the start of seeing if I have AS or not. At the time I didn't know what the test was about and why I was doing it. I didn't even know I was diagnosed until I was in my teens even though mom told me I had it when I was 12 but I didn't know it was a diagnoses. I didn't even know what it was then.

Things could have been different because I was a kid then but maybe for adults the testing is different.

My first day of testing



Today i had my first day of testing. It consisted of an interview, a few true or false questionaires, about 20-25 pictures that had to be interpreted, the Dewey Story test and some visual tests.


The interview was a thorough interview that wasn't specifically targeted for (?) autism, but she said she would also ask some autism related questions. The interview lasted about 2 hours and she asked about how i was from childhood until now, how i developed, what problems i had with social situations and that sort of stuff. I had the feeling that i was able to voice the core of my issues and elaborate on how i've developed to deal with those issues aswell.

The true or false questionnnaires were the kind of autism tests that you find online aswell. Very similar, perhaps just a little bit more thorough, but not much different.

Then she gave me two sets of pictures to interpret, each about 10. For the first set i had to watch the picture and then come up with a story with both a beginning and an end for all pics. I had to tell the story and she would ask me questions if i weren't elaborate enough. "How did it come to that?" was one of the questions she asked alot. The pictures were of all sort, looked abit artsy, there were also some photographs.

The second set of pictures were more cartoonstyle and involved alot of children. I had to tell what was going on and what all those people felt or thought on those pics.

The Dewey Story test was interesting, but imo a little stereotypical. It described about 5 to 7 short stories with a few interruptions in which i had to decide whether the responses given were, in general, normal, weird, really weird or shocking. Most stories involved characters whom all showed odd behaviour really, but with good intentions and never voicing their reasonings. They were all unable, imo, to use proper social codes. "What would other people think of these responses?" was the primary question that had to be answered, the secondary was what I thought of those responses.

I really wonder what hypothesis they want to test with this test, because if its in the line of being able to change perspective they imo choose really stereotypical examples.

The visual tests i kind of liked. I got a map of a fictional zoo and i had to figure out a route that would take me to a few animals, without crossing certain paths twice and such. Then i got the same map, with a different exercise.

I also got some abstract figure that i had to redraw as accurate as possible, and then at the end of all the testing i had to redraw it, only then without the example. I felt so tricked


On my next day of testing, in two weeks, we'll do another interview and i was asked to bring someone along who knows me well, preferably a partner. After that interview i'll have to do more questionnaires that are more aimed at specific autistic traits. If she gets the feeling that my responses might be autismrelated we'll do a third day of testing and she'll have to speak with someone who can tell her about my early childhood behaviour. I already asked my mom.


The four hours of these testing were pretty intense and i was really tired afterwards.
But i'm very curious

As for the "female/male" part of all this,
this all seemed pretty neutral to me. The Dewey Story Test involved alot of men and the cartoonpicture test involved mostly kids and adults. I thought that was a little weird, but yeah. I dont know. Can't judge

So, my next update is in two weeks

I was diagnosed at 7 years old with Asgerpers, I discovered it at 18 years old. When I discovered it at 18, that was a real shock. I literally stood there for 2 mins speechless. My parents didn't tell me I was disagnosed with Asgerpers for a good portion of my life so I was a bit confused and angry about it. I admitted I knew about my Asgergers to them and they were a bit "uhhh" about it. Apparently my brother and sisters knew all this time too. I remember the conversation with my Dad went something like this: Dad - "Uhh I'm sorry for not telling you about this for all these years .I hope you understand my actions, if you need to talk to me about anything just let me know...." Me - "Wow this explains everything". My mum didn't say much about it :/

I am really interested in seeking diagnosis for myself whenever I go back to the States. Are there certain doctors well-known in the field? And how much does assessment usually cost?

Ive only been recently diagnosed. I was so depressed that i was actually considering killing myself, so i was sent to the psych ward at my local hospital, they noticed a lot of things that didn't look like a typical depression i guess, because they diagnosed me with Aspergers. I was actually really relieved because it meant that there was a reason why i preferred to be alone, why i cry too easily, and why ive been so painfully honest with people.