How do professionals "test" for aspergers?

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Hello,
I went to my GP and they are referring me to an autism specialist.
I personally hate not knowing what is going to happen, and I would like to know what types of things I can expect.
Can someone inform me of the possibilities? Thanks

I don't know how an in-person test is administered, but there is a lot of info at the bottom of this page: http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php (plus, of course, the Aspie Quiz itself).

Probably a questionnaire followed by asking you questions about your childhood and how you respond in social situations. All you have to do is remember and tell them. Its easy enough but it is very tiring indeed and you may need a sleep afterwards!

It might help if you start making notes now on anything you remember that other people thought was different about you or that people comment on, like if they think something you do is odd or it freaks them out.

As Toe says, take the Aspie quiz to see the kinds of things that may suggest you may be on the spectrum, that may help you make your notes.

I would say go with an open mind and just answer everything as honestly as you can with what you remember.

I contacted the ressource here then they gave me a questionnaire to fill where there was a lot of questions, then after a few months I got an apointment with the doc and after talking with him something like 90 minutes he diagnosed me with AS.

I "knew" it because I was self-diagnosed for years.

If you want to "screen" you, take these tests
http://homepage.mac.com/lpetrich/Asperger/Index.html
they can produce false positive but they are not that bad.

And with the NHS you will have a lot of time to find out. I have been waiting 9 months since my GP referral.

I get the impression it is a series of questionaires to fill out, questions asked and where possible talking to a parent/teacher etc. who knew you as a child.


Good luck with the diagnosis. I hope it explains a lot for and to you.

Mm. I'm sort of self-diagnosed, but I see a psychologist for depression anyway. Well, today I had a review, and she as well as my teachers who were there and my Mum all said they thought I could have mild aspergers, which I still think may not be quite accurate.

Anyhow, they were discussing amongst themselves, really, that a diagnosis can be a sense of relief.

Which brings me to my point:

My psychologist said, that because she is in fact a clinical psychologist, she can do an immediate assessment and diagnosis, rather than wait the 2 years to see the medical psychologist at my local CAMHS service, as almost everyone else in the borough has to.

And that ^ makes me quite angry. Very, very, VERY grateful, but angry.

List every detail and reason down you can think of why you feel your on the autism spectrum before your appointment, this will really help,back to as far as you can remember..
They use the Official Criteria AS list so you can use that as a start:
http://asplanet.info/index.php?option=c ... &Itemid=63

Also this list/thread of list of Characteristics of Children to Adolescences AS symptoms
http://asplanet.info/forum/index.php?topic=161.0

But really the more information you have written down, the easy it will be and your more likely to get a correct diagnosis first time round.

Twinklingstarlight,

Hi! I hope this helps a little.

I went to the hospital last January when I was horribly depressed and having almost continuous thoughts about my former girlfriend. To make a long story short I had dated her for a year and a half and we were talking about being married when she all of a sudden wanted to break up with me. What I found out later was that the entire time she was dating me she was also trying to seduce a guy in Norway (she lives in Wisconsin). Well, when she found out she could have him she dumped me and they got married. I don’t know how she expects that to work out with her living and working in Wisconsin and him living and working in Norway. Anyway, I couldn’t stop thinking about it and it was really affecting me so I went to the hospital for help.

At the hospital they thought I was in some difficulty so they put me on the Pysch ward. I spoke with two psychiatrists about the girlfriend episode in great obsessive detail. The next day one of the psychiatrists interviewed me about my childhood and my teenage years. Then, the next day I had a meeting with another psychiatrist about my childhood and my teenage years again. The, the following day, one of the psychiatrists came in and told me that they had a diagnosis for me. I asked what it was and she told me Asperger’s Disorder. I was very frightened but she told me that there were Asperger’s specialists in the city I live in and that they would be able to help me. So far, things have gone very well! I think I can deal with Asperger’s now that I know what it is and have specialists to help me.

When you speak with your diagnostician simply try to remember as many things as you can about growing up, how you related to and currently relate to others, and how you sense things. Just be completely honest and don’t worry about anything. It sounds like your GP is doing a good job in referring you to autism specialists and I will be praying that they can give you a diagnosis that is correct. If you find out that you have Asperger’s I hope that you can work with the type of specialists that I have. They have helped me a great deal.

Best wishes and good luck,

Paul

Thanks so very much everyone for your information! I feel a lot more relaxed now about it

My son's testing was done through school.

In school, they did an IQ test, academic testing, social pragmatics, evaluation from an OT that included handwriting, and more.

His abilities at social comprehension came out significantly lower than the rest of his scores. In all the various tests. Obviously different.

He did receive an evaluation from an neuropsychologist that confirmed the results, and offered us more specific information on his weaker areas.

Not to mention the observations his regular therapist has.

Kid enjoyed the testing process...saw the testing as a fun challenge.

often they ask you to tell something about your history of school, strange /weird hobbies etc and then they figure out you got as or not