Question on who can diagnose Asperger's.

Post Reply New Topic

I was wondering... What doctors are able to diagnose Asperger's Syndrome? I have an official diagnosis of NLD, ADHD, and BPD from various psychiatrists and psychologists, but my parents and I think AS might fit better because I also have the limited, restricted interests, rocking and hand flapping, changing my voice to fit the people I'm around instead of monotonous voice, lack of empathy and theory of mind, hard time with small talk unless it's a subject of interest, need for routine and rituals, poor social skills, hard time reading facial expressions and tone of voice, poor eye contact, etc. that we've been told usually happens with AS and some of them not with NLD. My psychologist doesn't test for AS and my psychiatrist really scares me because she is a new person that I don't really know... I am worried about misdiagnosis and the fact that I will soon be off to university where they have to know the exact problem in order to qualify you for extra help also worries me. Not to mention that where I live you have to have a diagnosis of AS instead of NLD usually to qualify for things like school help and social skills training and counselling. I was wondering if maybe family doctors could diagnose it? Or pediatricians? I am very hesitant to go to my psychiatrist for fear of her saying I am wrong or calling me crazy or something... Sorry if this is a stupid question...

General practitioners and pediatricians would probably refer you to a psychiatrist or psychologist for something like AS diagnostic testing. Find another psychiatrist if you don't like the one you have.

It's not that I don't like my psychiatrist... It's that I don't know her which makes me nervous to talk to her. Plus she diagnosed me with ADHD and BPD in about ten minutes and had me on medicine for it five minutes later so I have no idea if she'd do the same thing this time or the opposite and take five minutes to say no way. It's more or less the fact that I don't know her that makes me nervous. I was just wondering...

A psychologist familiar with assessment for AS explained to me that in recent years it is typically performed by neuropsychologists and psychologists rather than psychiatrists (who apparently do little to no psychoanalysis and mostly just write prescriptions these days). A psychiatrist who isn't familiar with the disorder can do more harm than good with a misdiagnosis if he or she doesn't keep up with the literature on autism spectrum disorders. And why would a psychiatrist have an incentive to keep up with information on a disorder that isn't conveniently treated with a prescription? Unfortunately, failure to stay abreast of information isn't enough to prevent some psychiatrists from ruling out AS for ridiculous reasons and slapping a more familiar label on you instead.

Why don't you ask your psychologist to refer you to someone that he or she knows is qualified?

Well my old psychiatrist said there was no way I had AS, because some teachers from my school told me I needed to be tested for social skills deficits when I failed a class that involved interacting with autistic students, but he ordered psychoeducational testing for me which said that I have NLD which is closely related to AS so I doubted him a little... My psychologist says that she is happy with the results of my psychoed testing and that I do have NLD, but I am a little skeptic because the psychologist who did my testing took away the diagnosis of ADHD that I'd had for two years but when my new psychiatrist reviewed my psychoed and asked me questions she re-diagnosed me with ADHD in a matter of five minutes. She doesn't ever mention my NLD, only my ADHD and BPD. She is, however, a specialist in Autism, which is why my psychologist said that we would check with her around the question of Asperger's. I am afraid to have her look into it though because if she diagnosed me with two things so fast who is to say she won't just deny the possibility of AS that quickly as well? Where I live if there's a question about developmental and mental health issues you go to the Children's Hospital in the psychiatric department which is divided between two hospitals consisting of psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers. There really isn't anyone else that you can see if you think they aren't helping. I keep trying to explain that all I want is the proper answers before I get too old to have this all figured out, because after 19 things like AS are rarely diagnosed here, but they don't seem to understand that. It doesn't help that my mother lied on the development questionnaire that would have pointed out things to suggest AS... Hence why I live with my grandparents now.

it's scary someone would diagnose you with BPD so flippantly. it's a hard diagnosis to get out from under, as once professionals think you have it, they perceive everything you say to explain your behavior as a denial or manipulation.

there was a discussion of AS vs. BPD here recently you might want to search for.

based on that alone, my advice would be to seek a different doctor. women with AS often get misdiagnosed (BPD, bipolar, etc) en route to a correct diagnosis.

I think that it's wise to find an expert who knows, what they're looking for.