Difficulties with the diagnostic proccess.

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Hi Mullion, thanks for getting back to me.

I don't know if it will affect my job. I am aiming for academia, which has always been an area people with social difficulties have been able to excel. Today, however, things have changed a lot, and a great deal more is acheived via networking at conferences etc. than used to be the case. Also, academic institutions have cut most of their support staff, so organisational skills are becoming more of a premium. As for children, I don't have any and don't intend to have any.



I'm in the UK too!

I went to my appointment yesterday, and although she was skeptical, the doctor did agree to refer me for tests at the London Institute of Psychiatry. She also wants me to go into counselling and/or group therapy. She said that she could send me to a counsellor who specialised in the "Independant British School" of psychoanalysis rather than the Freudian one. I tried to find information about the "Independant British School" of psychoanalysis, but I've not found much. I'm still skeptical as to whether psychoanalysis would do any good, and would rather wait until neurological difficulties have been confirmed or discounted by an expert. She reckons that the waiting list for tests at the institute will be 3-6 months. In the meantime, I'll try to make the best of things, and try to find the social worker who assessed me when I was 10. If she still has records of the tests she gave me I'll be able to get them under the freedom of information act. I'll also try to get at my medical records, as I was referred to a child psychologist when I was 3 yrs old for disruptive behaviour and there may be some records of this.

Does this sound like the right strategy to be using?

I waited about six months to get in to see a neurologist. The first thing he told me was that he wasn't the right kind of doctor for me. He did a checkup, testing my motor skills, and reflexes, shining lights into my eyes, just to rule out a brain tumor or some brain problem like that. But at the end of it he told me that he didn't deal with issues like Asperger's and that he was sorry I'd wasted my time.


I waited eight months to see a psychiatrist. That was a whole 'nother experience, and equally a waste of time. As soon as the psychiatrist came into the room I saw that he had a strangely fixed gaze, an odd smile that never left his face, he walked with a hopping gait, and fidgeted alot. I thought to myself, "Christ, he's got Asperger's." Of course I didn't say anything, that would have been rude. He spent the whole hour going in and out of his tiny office, hopping back and forth to see if the nurse's had brewed his coffee yet. Whenever he was in the room he asked me direct questions like, "Do you enjoy sex?" I was embarrassed because we'd hardly even gotten into the conversation when he asked me this. I said, "Well I suppose it's like eating a box of chocolates. Enjoyable, but you know not essential to life." He wrote furiously on his pad of paper.

At the end of our time together ( a half hour all told) he said that I might have AS, but there was always the possibility that anyone with AS symptoms might be pschizoid rather than AS. I'm ashamed to say that I agreed with him, half heartedly, because I didn't want to seem "resistant" to his views. He then quickly wrote me a prescription, told me I could take the pills if I wanted to or not, and shoved me out the door. He was not interested in doing any therapy, and he seemed to be very disinterested in filling out the 23 page form for my disability status.

I never went back. I don't like psychiatrists, I think they are all weirdos. But you might have a different experience. I hope it works out.

Oh yea, and the neurologist told me that if I did find a doctor who dealt with Asperger's to please let him know because he'd had a number of people sent to his office looking for diagnosis and he didn't know where to send them. I later did find such a doctor, a wonderful psychologist, and so I called the neurologist's office and left the information. Too bad people will have to wait to see the neurologist, at taxpayers expense, before being sent on to the right doctor.

Hi Anandamide, I'm sorry to hear you had such a rotten time with the neurologist and the psychiatrist. I'm inclined to agree with your views on psychiatry- to me, psychoanalysis tries to appear to be a rational science, but fails miserably. It is based on theories that have no base in objective fact, but were instead formulated using subjective observations and opinions. There is little (if any) empirical evidence prooving their effectiveness, and they are highly vulnerable to the personal bias of individual psychiatrists. I don't think there's much evidence that psychotherapy actually does any more good than, say, talking things over with someone you trust who knows you well. Psychiatrists are also pretty pill-happy (probably because they don't have much luck with their psychotherapy), but the drugs they use seem to be pretty crude and dangerous- I'd never take any of them unless I had absolutely no choice.

The place I'm being referred to actually does diagnose (and have people who specialise in) Asperger Syndrome and most other Pervasive Developmental Disorders, so I do have hope that they'll be able to tell me something useful.

I think academia is a good choice for anyone with AS. I have moved into it as a second career (I was a criminal defence solicitor) really enjoy it and my obsessive behavior is 'normal'. In fact most decent academics seem to have AS or HFA tendancies. I think that you will you will do really well.

Yep - the conferences are frighetning. I am presenting a paper at my first one in July...I am terrified - it is three days (and 2 nights) of being sociable - even the paper has 15 minutes of questions. It is an interdisplinary conference - so I cannot even control the situation by knowing what questions they will ask (over preparation with different systems in place for different outcomes is how I usually cope). I am actually toying with pulling out...for 'personal reasons'. My fear of the socialising and questioning is so great that it is actually affecting the preparation of the paper.

Having said that, generally I think RAE (and therefore universities) gives published work a higher rating than presenting papers at conferences (although it may in some regards be dependant upon the area) which may mean that it is possible to avoid attending too many conferences...

I also think it is one of the few careers where diagnosis will not be (subconciously) be considered a disadvantage.

I hope that you have managed to sort out why the Dr wanted you to see a Freudian psychologist (btw - I imagine that you Dr was male - it was not a suprise, bearing in mind how your Dr treated you, to learn that you are female).

You may want to read 'Women's madness: Misogyny or Mental Illness' Jane Ussher. Following on for the theory in this book I think that male Drs are unwilling to diagnose females with anything other than the mose severe AS because of the associations with high IQ. To maintain the dominant position men must maintain superior intellegence. Think of the current up roar that has been created by girls out performance by boys at school. When boys out performed girls it was natural - the other way round it is a threat to social order.


Jelly

I think academia is a good choice for anyone with AS. I have moved into it as a second career (I was a criminal defence solicitor) really enjoy it and my obsessive behavior is 'normal'. In fact most decent academics seem to have AS or HFA tendancies. I think that you will you will do really well.

Yep - the conferences are frighetning. I am presenting a paper at my first one in July...I am terrified - it is three days (and 2 nights) of being sociable - even the paper has 15 minutes of questions. It is an interdisplinary conference - so I cannot even control the situation by knowing what questions they will ask (over preparation with different systems in place for different outcomes is how I usually cope). I am actually toying with pulling out...for 'personal reasons'. My fear of the socialising and questioning is so great that it is actually affecting the preparation of the paper.

Having said that, generally I think RAE (and therefore universities) gives published work a higher rating than presenting papers at conferences (although it may in some regards be dependant upon the area) which may mean that it is possible to avoid attending too many conferences...

I also think it is one of the few careers where diagnosis will not be (subconciously) be considered a disadvantage.

I hope that you have managed to sort out why the Dr wanted you to see a Freudian psychologist (btw - I imagine that you Dr was male - it was not a suprise, bearing in mind how your Dr treated you, to learn that you are female).

You may want to read 'Women's madness: Misogyny or Mental Illness' Jane Ussher. Following on for the theory in this book I think that male Drs are unwilling to diagnose females with anything other than the mose severe AS because of the associations with high IQ. To maintain the dominant position men must maintain superior intellegence. Think of the current up roar that has been created by girls out performance by boys at school. When boys out performed girls it was natural - the other way round it is a threat to social order.


Jelly

I think academia is a good choice for anyone with AS. I have moved into it as a second career (I was a criminal defence solicitor) really enjoy it and my obsessive behavior is 'normal'. In fact most decent academics seem to have AS or HFA tendancies. I think that you will you will do really well.

Yep - the conferences are frighetning. I am presenting a paper at my first one in July...I am terrified - it is three days (and 2 nights) of being sociable - even the paper has 15 minutes of questions. It is an interdisplinary conference - so I cannot even control the situation by knowing what questions they will ask (over preparation with different systems in place for different outcomes is how I usually cope). I am actually toying with pulling out...for 'personal reasons'. My fear of the socialising and questioning is so great that it is actually affecting the preparation of the paper.

Having said that, generally I think RAE (and therefore universities) gives published work a higher rating than presenting papers at conferences (although it may in some regards be dependant upon the area) which may mean that it is possible to avoid attending too many conferences...

I also think it is one of the few careers where diagnosis will not be (subconciously) be considered a disadvantage.

I hope that you have managed to sort out why the Dr wanted you to see a Freudian psychologist (btw - I imagine that you Dr was male - it was not a suprise, bearing in mind how your Dr treated you, to learn that you are female).

You may want to read 'Women's madness: Misogyny or Mental Illness' Jane Ussher. Following on for the theory in this book I think that male Drs are unwilling to diagnose females with anything other than the mose severe AS because of the associations with high IQ. To maintain the dominant position men must maintain superior intellegence. Think of the current up roar that has been created by girls out performance by boys at school. When boys out performed girls it was natural - the other way round it is a threat to social order.


Jelly

sorry didn't mean to post the answer 3 times!!

Females in positions of authority can be just as disparaging towards 'low class' males; that is to say, those of us without any money.

There are more non-specialist Doctors who equate Autism Spectrum conditions with mental retardation than with superior IQ, this is why so many adults who are articulate, well-spoken, etc are presumed to be unable to have AS.


If men are 'maintaining the dominent position', then it is a tiny fraction of the entire male population are taken holistically, there are considerable numbers of women who enjoy far greater freedoms, status and economic Lebensraum than very large numbers of men.

There wasn't much uproar about girls being positioned to outperform boys, it was entirely on the cards, so to speak. I remember my time at school involved a lot of female teachers who obviously had considerable influence on final outcomes.

I also remember, when studying Computer Science back in the early 1990's, the positive reinforcements women enjoyed, while people such as myself were systematically and pervasively stitched up.