Where and how did you get tested?

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Do you have an official diagnosis? If so, where and when were you tested? Did you get your test from an educator, a doctor or a psychologist? I would like to have an official test and diagnosis but I don't know where to start.

"Official" is a hard one, as per my psychiatrist, something is only really official if it's logged somewhere in public domain, whether a schooling system or a government institution. You can get a diagnosis from a professional, and they'll write it down, but this still isn't "official" as it's a private...transaction so to speak; when you allow them to reveal it to an institution, is when it's official. I suppose "valid" would be a better term. i.e., a valid diagnosis from a professional who diagnoses such and such (who also puts it down in your folder), rather than compared to a GP or psyche nurse thinking you have it.

Anyway, yes, "official":

A psychiatrist I saw gave me some labels (basic run-of-the-mill psychiatrist who treats adults), and I was tested in '05
A clinical psychologist also gave me a label (a specific ASD clinic), and I was tested in '05

A clinical psychologist or a psychiatrist are the two most common professionals who diagnose such in adults, and you usually need a referral to see one from a GP. A specific ASD clinic is probably the best place to go, and there's probably one in most decent sized cities.

My psychologist, who i'd already been seeing for a few months, and another psychologist at the same practice did it. I brought up Asperger's at one point and she pretty much instantly thought it made sense with the kind of difficulties i had.. So in some of our sessions she we sort of discussed it, she asked me some questions from one of those asperger's diagnostic questionaires at one point, she went over the dsm criteria with me, and she basically said that from what i had told her she was sure that i have it. I asked about how to go about getting an official diagnosis, and she said that she was sure of it but they could still do some testing if i wanted it to be official. So, the other lady there did all the IQ testing and talked with me some, i filled out a couple of those personality surveys, they gave me some asperger's questionnaires(and an adhd one) for me and my parents to fill out... Then both of them discussed it, both were convinced that i had AS, and in a few weeks my psychologist had the diagnosis, along with a long report, written up. So, yeah, it wasn't that difficult. I imagine it would have been a longer process if i had just started going there to get a diagnosis and my psycholgist didn't already have a pretty good idea about my personality and all, though.

I got tested and officially diagnosed when I was 5 in 1988 in Oregon. God am I old!! ! I had symptoms before then shortly after birth.

Thank you so much! I have had symptoms since I can remember but never had a name for it. I just knew I was'nt like everyone else. It will mean a lot to me to have a diagnosis. It puts my whole life into perspective and makes me feel many of my difficulties are not my fault after all and don't mean I am doomed to be a failure forever.

I am older than you! I was 8 in 1988! I'm going to be thirty in six weeks. I remember the 1980s really well for some reason. Those were just better days than the 1990s for me.

In 1988 I was in third grade in Texas and dreaming of being an astronaut with NASA stuff and posters for sci fi movies all over my walls. A lot of my school struggles had not started yet so I still thought I could make it then. It was a very good year!

I haven't been diagnosed but have been thinking about this for the last three years.

I went to my doctor about some symptoms which he diagnosed as being stress related. He gave me some medecine for the symptoms but said I should go back again to talk about the stress and anxiety.

Is this a good opportunity to raise the question of aspergers? What's the best way to mention it?

I know the NAS in the UK used to have printed sheets that you could take to a GP with information on - I don't know if they still have them. Doctors really vary from one to the next, so I'd say be psyched for a refusal, but be persistent, and if one won't help you, try to approach another. Some doctors get really funny if you talk about having read about a condition on the internet. They see it as hypochondria. Better to maybe say you have talked about your case with a charity that works with Asperger and who have advised you to see a GP.

In the UK it's pretty hard right now to get a diagnosis as an adult on the NHS. The law is changing though, and in 2 - 3 years it should be a lot easier. I ended up having to pay privately to see a clinical psychologist in Manchester for a diagnosis, for which I paid £450. Psychologists in the north of England charge a lot less than in the south, where prices can be over £1000. If anyone is UK based, you can contact the NAS helpline and they can send you a list of people they recommend to make a diagnosis - see www.nas.org.uk

Thanks, I sent an enquiry to the NAS. I live in London and have thought about going private but it seems to be just too expensive.

I was diagnosed by an expert and her team, at the age of 5 and a half, in 1980.

I read 2TempleGrandin books and instantly I thought I have more in common with her than my son who was diagnoised at 22months.I spent my entire life wondering what is wrong with me?I wasn't officially diagnoisd until this year.I spent countless hours in therapy with numerous psychology answers to explain my behavior.

I have an official diagnoses. I got tested at this hospital up on the hill here in Portland where the other hospitals are. It was ran by OHSU and it was a children's hospital. I believe my tests were done by my psychiatrist. My psychologist also did some testing with me and it was with me having to fill out this questionnaire and my teacher had to do one about me and my parents had to do one about me. I did one when I was 11 and 12. I think that was the start of the testing to see what I had. Then I can remember my psychiatrist looking at them. I don't remember any other testing. But I was left in the room by myself so that could be one of them just to see how I spend my time alone. My parents and the psychiatrist always talked about me as if I weren't in the room.

It was my psychologist that brought up AS to my mother saying I may have it and my mom said she wanted an expert to look it over so she recommended the psychiatrist. Then she started taking me to him.
Before her, it was my speech therapist saying I might have it and my mom said no so my speech therapist said I probably have symptoms of it then but not enough for the label. I can remember my mom telling me this and she said she was a mule for it and then she said she wasn't a mule because she did have me tested for it once when I was 10 and my doctor I was seeing then said I didn't have it.

So that's how I got my diagnoses. I was tough to diagnose because of my early history. Most aspies, they get diagnosed after a few sessions or one. Me, a couple months but my psychiatrist said within the first month he would say I have an autism spectrum disorder, mild. Then he eventually placed me in the AS category.

I presented my GP with my AQ and Aspie-quiz test results, and asked for a proper DX, which I was granted, after answering a few questions such as "are you sure you want to do this, because there's no turning back once it's in your notes" and "are you sure it's messing up your life so much that you need a DX?" I'd been prepared for a big argument about it, but it was almost as if the GP knew I was well prepared.

But after waiting for a few months I decided to jump the gun and go private. So I found all the diagnosticians within 50 miles of home (using the NAS lists)...there were five of them. One of them I rejected immediately because his blurb said he wasn't into "fashionable diagnoses" (suggesting that he may consider AS to be faddish and silly) and that he always made sure his clients understood that an AS diagnosis would not lead to any benefits or services - suggesting he saw his clients as potential malingerers - I wasn't looking for benefits or services but I still smelled a rat in his comments.

I emailed the other four. One phoned me up and asked a lot of questions...he seemed quite sympathetic but wanted something like £2000 for the DX, so I eliminated him (from my shortlist, not physically ). Two down, three to go. One of them wasn't a clinical psychologist or a psychiatrist, so I rejected that one due to fears of the DX not carrying as much weight as it would from a more formally qualified diagnostician, though the method (whose name I forget) seemed more attractive than the traditional one, consisting of practical ability tests rather than a plethora of questions and answers.

Another one seemed rather too interested in testing me for every known mental disorder rather than coning down on the main question "is it AS or isn't it?" I checked out his Web profile and it didn't look as if he had much interest in AS, so I rejected him because of fears of getting diagnosed with his favourite mental disorder, and because there seemed to be a risk of getting sucked into a huge barrage of expensive and time-consuming tests.

The last one's Web profile showed her to have a longstanding interest in AS and that she was a qualified clinical psychologist, and she was reasonably helpful and to the point in her replies to my emails, and she assured me that the result would be completely confidential as long as I didn't seem to be a danger to myself or others. She got the job, and I was diagnosed with AS after a couple of "interrogations" at her home, which took about 3 hours. I filled in a lot of the questionnaires at home, so the process was pretty efficient. The fee was £750, which was about the lowest price I saw. Her name is Heather Moran and she practises in Leicestershire. She seems pretty straight and honest....£750 for a few hours' work seems rather steep, and I've heard of some cheaper options, but most charge in that ball park.

At that point I considered sitting on the DX and waiting for the NHS to do one, but I was rather desperate for something to show my employer so that the adjustments would be made to my rather scary workplace situation, and I didn't quite trust the NHS route - if they'd DXed me as not having AS, my clear-cut defense would have been lost, so I took my DX to my GP to be incorporated into my NHS notes, and I assumed they'd axe the NHS referral. I was concerned at the time that the NHS might be politically motivated to under-diagnose, but franky I didn't get any hard evidence that they do that, and it's hard to know how such a money-saving bias could be made to work.

She said that the only help I'd get from the NHS would be drugs for any anxiety or depression I might get........shortly afterwards the NHS diagnostician sent me an AQ test - obviously the word hadn't got through that I was already done and dusted - I ignored that, and a few weeks later they sent me another letter telling me not to bother with the form. They also said that they'd sent my GP some info about dealing with AS patients.......next time I visit my GP I might ask her what they said, which might lead to an interesting conversation, as my impression of her attitude is that she previously had no intentions of dealing with me any differently to any other patient.....so I need to tactfully let her know that I know she's been advised to make some changes to that stance. Just in case she was hoping I believed her "drugs" solution was the last word.

I even toyed with the idea of replying to the NHS diagnostician to say "I'm surprised there is any info on how a GP can help an Aspie, because my GP tells me it's just a matter of antidepressants and tranquillisers," but my experience of health professionals is that they often stick together when the outside world is trying to highlight the shortcomings of one of their own, so I doubt that it would do any good to stir up the dirt in that way.

Contrary to what the NAS suggested might happen (they advised me to get both a private and an NHS diagnosis to make my case watertight), the private DX was not challenged by my employer, and the only cases I've heard of in which a private DX has been challenged appear to be due to incompetent and corrupt benefits officials who seem desperate to save money by hook or by crook - shouldn't be an issue if you have the bottle to take them to a tribunal, and I'm surprised that the NAS ask Aspies to get two DXs instead of just supporting us when the benefits people try to pull a fast one. As my own diagnostician said, she diagnoses AS for the NHS mostly anyway, so there's no difference between a private DX and an NHS one, apart from the price and the timing.

I've been tested by psychologists and my psychiatrist all from the mental health care department of the local hospital. Testing started in Spring 2008 when I was staying in psychiatry ward in the hospital (recovering from psychosis and depression). After I left psychiatry ward I got my ASD diagnosis at the end of 2008 and my final Asperger's Syndrome diagnosis on October 22nd 2009.

I was diagnosed in the "child development center" at the age of 11 by a Paediatrician, it didn't take that many sessions. I don't actually remember them, except for about 2 seconds of it.

I was diagnosed when I was seven by my shrink and it was confirmed when I was locked up in the booby hatch at nine.