My therapist doesn't believe I have aspergers

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nuttyengineer
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09 Feb 2014, 5:19 pm

If it makes you feel any better, the first therapist I talked to about potentially having autism responded with "Just because you have no friends doesn't make you autistic."

1) I never said that, and I do, in fact, have friends.
2) There is plenty more evidence for it than just me having awkward relationships.
3) What the hell? I couldn't believe she actually said that.

I definitely agree with others in this thread who say that ignorant responses like this are the result of the therapist not actually knowing anything about ASDs other than what the general public knows.


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Callista
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09 Feb 2014, 10:55 pm

MjrMajorMajor wrote:
I've had a therapist doubt my diagnosis because if I was truly autistic I'd be "rocking and lining things up on the floor". That was about a decade ago. I think knowledge about autism is expanding greatly, but there are still many misconceptions in the medical community.
Try "wiggling my fingers and organizing data in spreadsheets", and you'd have it about right. As we grow, many of us shed the old stereotypies, but we still have that same need to stim and the same detail-focused or pattern-focused thinking. It really troubles me that people expect autism to present the same way in adults as it does in children. Yes, the basic differences are the same, but a decade or five of development and learning time really changes things.


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Acedia
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09 Feb 2014, 11:10 pm

edit**



Laryfary
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12 Feb 2014, 12:29 am

This is sad reality. Even doctors, therapists and teachers don't know much about ASD. When I finally (for a year I had been telling myself I would tell him the next visit) told my psychiatrist about my suspicion having AS, he said: "Well, you have a boyfriend, job and you went to college; it's not possible." Now I laugh at the memory but back then it was a terrible disappointment. Then I told my psychologist, she did some random test and told me the same. Then I made an appointment with a specialized psychiatrist in the capital and finally found relief. It was already mentioned; you have to find someone who specializes in it.