Diagnosis or not?

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My son, 5 was diagnosed with AS in October of last year. After reading about AS I realized that I have a lot of the typical traits. My AQ was 37. But my mother and sister disagree and think I am being a hypochondriac. I'm not. I have always had hypersensitivity to smells, sound and light not to mention pain. I have always had "outbursts" as they call them. If I hear them tell me to "calm down" or "why don't you make some friends, you just need friends" one more time I'm going to vomit. As for friends, I have not had any in years. When I did have them, I was always being "scolded" by them for not acting "right".

I am not looking for a badge here, I'm realizing that something finally makes sense. Why are people so negative about this? I am 39 and am planning on discussing this with my doctor - but is it worth getting a diagnosis? I believe I likely need something for my anxiety although I don't really want meds.

Sorry for the rant, but is it worth getting a diagnosis at my age?

i'd say ignore your family and seek out a specialist, at least for a consultation. they can tell you if you are on the right path or not. you'll maybe never be able to convince your family but you can at least get an idea whether to proceed with the full diagnosis.

It's hard to say. You really have to go with how you feel and what you think a diagnosis could do for you. I'm 43 and have not been diagnosed. In fact I only started reading about AS a few weeks' ago, so all this is new and a bit scary for me. I've always felt a bit out of place, different, but then you hear all sorts of people saying that so I never paid any attention to it. I just struggled through life and thought everyone has problems, you've just got to get on with it. I've had trouble all my life making friends and keeping them, even though I felt like I was a good, loyal friend and couldn't understand what I was doing wrong.

But it was my struggles at work that led me to some on-line research about the problems I have been having and time after time I kept coming across AS. Did a couple of on-line tests - AQ 35 and Aspie Test came out 'More than likely an Aspie' and the more I found out, the more I saw myself and the situations I had been in over the years. But after 43 years on this planet that was a bit much and for a couple of weeks I was very upset. I felt a bit like I had woken up and I was now a 'replicant' (Blade Runner reference) and my life wasn't the life I remembered.

I went to my doctor (who is usually a pretty supportive guy) but he was incredulous. "You are too intelligent to have Asperger's" were his exact words. He obviously knows very little about AS. He sent me away to make some notes on the 'psychological' problems I'm having and said he would maybe refer me to a psychologist, but not necessarily one specialising in AS.

I'm 100% sure I have AS, but for me a diagnosis will hopefully help me get some support for the issues I'm going through. I haven't told my family (two of whom I also suspect have AS!) but I did confide in my wonderful husband who read some of the articles I showed him and he pretty much agrees that I do have AS. He has been amazing but I'm not sure how others would react.

If your son has AS are there any specialists that you've encountered through his diagnosis that you could talk to? Or could they refer you to someone? Diagnosis or not I think you need to talk this through with someone.

Take care.

Hello! I'm brand new here. You sound a lot like me....I have a 4 year old that was diagnosed in October as well. As I learned more and more I felt like all the traits I read about we're describing me exactly. I couldn't decide if I wanted to get assessed. I finally decided to just go for it....I'm so glad I did, it was a fascinating experience and I learned a lot about myself. Family and friends believe me now that its official. I also learned I have face-blindness (prosopagnosia) which was really interesting.

By the way, i don't know if its the same where you live, but here you can refer yourself to a psychologist directly for an assessment...you don't need to ask your doctor.

My main motivator for being tested was I wanted my son to know I understand him and share this with him (although he may resent me later for passing on the genes to him.)

I guess you have to decide how getting a diagnosis would make you feel. I was really happy because it explained things I had trouble with over the years and made me realize it was because my brain is wired differently, not because I didn't try hard enough. It also means that to some extent you get an owners manual to how you think because there is a ton of info out there about it.

Google "RDOS test" to get a really thorough questionnaire...it was very accurate for me.

Also, if you google "Asperwomen: Adult Women with Asperger Syndrome. Moving towards a female profile of Asperger Syndrome" you will find a blog that has a huge list of traits in females...it's one of the better lists I've seen...it described me exactly (I can't post a link cause I'm new).

Good luck with whatever you decide. I think for me, it was the best money I've spent.

Wow. Thanks for the insights. I am in Canada, Toronto area to be exact. My husband is also realizing he is an Aspie - which I had guessed for awhile now. He doesn't think I am but that's because he often doesn't believe anything I say unless he can come to a conclusion on his own. But that's another story. I'm positive I'm an Aspie - but I am "functioning" without issue, so I likely wouldn't get a diagnosis according to the DSM V according to the criteria "significant social impairment" - well, I hate eye contact/don't know where to look but I can do it. I don't have any friends. But does that count? Ah I don't know. I see my doctor later this month for my yearly exam (ugh) and will discuss things. I would feel better if I had the professional dx rather than my own self dx. Then my family could stop harassing me about what's wrong with me but on the flipside that "nothing is wrong with me".

It can be difficult to find people who recognize you as being on the spectrum when you're a woman. There are a lot of reasons for this. I went through the same thing, and had all kinds of people (friends, family and professionals) telling me I was wrong about what I knew in my gut to be true.

Now that I have my diagnosis, my life has changed drastically--for the better. Here's why I say you should pursue diagnosis if you are wondering at all.

Here I RAWR - Diagnosis? or not?

I would say, that as a woman, if you choose to pursue diagnosis, make sure that you hire a professional who believes women can be on the spectrum, and that adults can be diagnosed (some do not). Also make sure that the professional you work with also has experience diagnosing/treating women on the spectrum.