Wrong Asperger's Self-Diagnosis

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A good indication that your Dr. isn't qualified to help you is if he reaches for some book, reads a 2 or 3 line paragraph and then answers you.

Another problem is, so many indicators of AS can also develop in a person from social influences. I think as an adult, there just isn't any way to be accurately diagnosed unless you've been observed from early childhood for some other reason.

I feel for you!!

a) The first Dr. I saw: I said right away to him, “I want an evaluation for Asperger Syndrome.” In 2 minutes he said I don't have it. Just like you, he diagnosed me with depression, anxiety, and agoraphobia. He said, “You can't diagnose yourself.” I told him, “I'm not, I'm asking you to evaluate me.”

b) I went for a second opinion to a University that works in direct contact with Yale University. After a 3 hour evaluation, I now have an Asperger diagnosis.

c) Now, I am seeking treatment from a social worker. After the 2nd visit, she says I don't have Asperger's and that I can't diagnose myself. I told her, "I didn't diagnose myself. Stony Brook University did." Once again,


So I felt really bad. I thought maybe she was right. Even though I am already diagnosed LOLOLOL. So, I didn't come to WrongPlanet for a week.

The moment I started reading the threads again, I felt right about it. I felt home again. I have had a computer for 7 years and I never joined a depression, anxiety, OCD forum because I never felt that I fit or belonged.

The panel of Dr's that diagnosed me said that there were subtle differences in how he would diagnose a male versus a female. That women are more pressured to be more social, including female aspies. You may have picked up some NT behaviors that mask your aspie-ness or learned NT things. I know I did.

You know yourself better than anyone else. Get a second opinion. Universities seem to have the latest and most comprehensive information regarding Asperger Syndrome.

Best wishes and good luck.

Your friend,
Summer

And there could be 2 possibilities.

1. You go to another doctor, who knows much about AS.
And he examinates you.
And he tells you: You have AS.
And he says: There are contacts of a group for people with AS, you can go there and find people like you.
And you are very happy.

2. You go to another doctor, who knows much about AS.
And he examinates you.
And he says: You have anxiety/depression/schizoid personality disorder/(other disorder that also can be cured and isn't a part of you) .
And he says: Take these neuroleptics, they can help you get rid of your obsessions (though you enjoy your obsessions), your odd/psychotic beliefs (that actually is your need to maintain routine), your social anxiety (that is your formal conversational style).
Or worse. You say: ...but... I have read about Aspergers, I would like to know if there are any possibility for me to have it.
And doctor says: Oh, you have already self-diagnosed yourself. You're also hypochondric. Take these another neuroleptics too.


These two are not my cases yet, I am afraid of possibility nr 2.

well that would never happen to me, cos i have been stimming since i was born

And i forgot to add, like you said, everything that i researched on been happening since i was born, ermmm hmmm so
i could not possibly have depression/schizoprenia/whatever when i am less than 10 years old?

And of course, not forgetting my mum, who is just like me, afraid of socializing, loud sounds and always awkward
in social situations, and taking it all out on me when all of us in the family don't know s**t about asperger's syndrome or HFA.
And my dad who doesn't speak to me more than 10 sentences in a year.
I love my family.

It's true....it's frustrating

I'm looking for my own contacts. Also frustrating. But I think I have found a few resources. They're not too close to me and I haven't checked it out yet. I have to build up the courage.

That doctor is stupid.

> If you're not an aspie, that means that you're alone in the world, and you can't fit in anywhere.

That's exactly what I thought!

Long story short, I was referred to a specialist. Now my medical records say I hear voices (plus a lot of other weird things that are obviously not true), and that I don't feel or care about anything. I know you're not supposed to take that personally, but it really hurts.
Anyway, you're not wrong fearing possibility nr. 2.

Maybe I'm morbid, but it makes me feel a bit better knowing there are others who are going through the same thing.

For some reason, you shocked me because Everything the [first] post said was totally true aobut how I feel. I am like that. My doctor told me I am not even aspie, that I have narcissistic traits. But if you took a look at http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/12-11-2003-48500.asp there is something there I wanna show him to prove to him How i feel. He doesn't even work with Autistic children. He only specializes in other things. He didn't even give me the right examination. I felt hurt... Good thing I am hoping to go to a hopsital to get checked on something they know about and can test me for. Gooodddd Thing.

Go see a pshycologist. Sometimes it can be diffuclt to diagonis aspergers and you might have a better 2nd oppion.

did the specialist said you hear voices?

I think so. The actual report was written by a doctor I never saw before. When she asked me about hearing voices, I answered with a simple "no". She must've heard me right. But the specialist wrote something like (translation) "denies auditory hallucinations in clinical settings". So, what? In other settings, I wouldn't? He also got my age wrong (I was 24, not 23). The other doctor made the same mistake, which suggests she just copied what he wrote.

I discussed this with my contact a couple of months ago. I'm so used to people misunderstanding me (and clinging to their misbeliefs) I was surprised she just said it was a factual error. We discussed my medical history and she said "...but you did had these fears, that there were cameras in your apartment". This is how it went: people kept asking me if I experience weird things, like that someone is watching me all the time. I told them about a tv-show where someone put a camera in someone elses apartment, and that afterwards I wondered if that could happen to me. But I never thought that for real, let alone feared it. My mind is like that, I immerse myself into everything I do. Like after I played the game Bloodlines as a Nosferatu, I saw ventilation ducts everywhere and wondered if I could crawl through them.
Does anyone know if that's a regular thing, or a sign of something? I've read that AD/HD-people often live in crazy fantasy worlds, but aspies "lack imagination and creative play" (whatever that means in reality).

I guess it's a game of luck which diagnosis you land. Depends on the doc. I had this really nice one for a while (she was the one who thought I might have Asperger's), but she left for another job.

i don't think the people who said this have any idea what they are talking about... my imagination is so strong i don't need to act with it. Everything happens in my head, i usually just pick a space on the wall and set my eyes to it then off i go...

i think people say this because they don't see autistics playing imaginary games.

the rest of what you said... your DX does depend on the doctor, i had a different DX everytime i change doctors... i am pretty sure they are right with AS

Thats sound exactly like what I'm going though...except for the second half. I don't think I'll ever see a doctor about it unless things get really desperate. I just don't see the benefits.

The 'advice' I got was to seek counseling for my low self esteem.

The more I learn about AS, the more I relate. The trouble is that I hardly help myself with a pro diagnosis in some areas. For example I tend to presume everything's 'normal'. I only learned today that I have 'specialized' interests, and only because my friend confirmed this when I asked. Hence why I've always checked the 'no' box to that.

Another thing that surfaced today was my hearing. Everyone around me was having real issues with a loud machine someone was working with. Not me. I was completely unfazed. But then, I was the only one who found the sound of sandpaper on plasterboard unbearable. For me, it had the same effect as fingernails on a chalkboard, but nobody else was bothered at all. I was the only one almost incapacitated by the sound.

I had always thought that, because I listen to loud music (various forms of metal), loudly, on my mp3, I do not have any kind of hypersensitivity. However, on closer analysis, I think it may be significant that I always seem to 'tune in' to the hi-hat rhythms more than the lead guitar.

Oh, don't worry about that! The specialist is just being very literal. It's a way of trying not to assume anything. They'll write down only their exact observations, without extrapolating.

In this case, what they know is that you say you do not hear voices when asked about it by a doctor, which is the literal truth. They don't, technically, know that you don't actually hear voices, because in some cases people who hear voices will deny it; so they cannot safely say, "Patient has no auditory hallucinations." In fact, they can never say "Patient has no auditory hallucinations," because hallucinations are subjective experiences and they cannot crawl into your brain and experience things the way you do in order to check out whether or not you hear voices.

They are just being very careful not to add any assumptions into their diagnosis--or at least they are using customary language that is designed not to add assumptions. You will see this often enough in doctors' reports--things like, "Patient reports he has had a 102-degree fever for the past three days," or, "Patient reports a difficult relationship with his brother." Rather than assuming these things are absolute fact, they write these statements down by referring to the source they came from--you--rather than letting anyone who read the records assume they came from direct observation.