Diagnosis

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Can anyone tell me what to expect when I go in for my evaluation for AS?

I would expect to get evaluated for AS.

Ok, I am being a smartass.

I would expect to be asked a lot of questions, and depending on who is evaluating, and where, probably some sensory integration type tests.

My psychiatrist did some things like asking me to stand on one foot with my eyes closed (I cant' do this), and put a radio to one ear and started asking me questions (can't hear).

I am 24, so it was a lot more of me answering questions than observation, which is the majority of the diagnosis for children.

One more thing. BE HONEST. Skewing the answers to make them sound like what you think the person wants to hear will only hurt you.

I just got re-evaluated for Aspergers. I was first diagnosed with ADD in 1998. Then in 2001 I was diagnosed with Aspergers, but the source was a mental health center and the tester was an intern, so the tests were nearly all psychological and they didn't really know a lot about Aspergers.

Then, this year I went to the Autism Treatment Center at University of IL Chicago to be rediagnosed because there were some inconsistencies among my different support people. This new testing that was done had some psych testing, but focused more on things like health history, balance and reflexes, and physical, mental and social developement. My mother was there and they got a lot of history stuff from her that I wouldn't remember.

I'm getting the results a week from Thurs. I know I have Aspergers, but I don't know what other things they may put along with it, and they may be able to recommend some local resources besides mental health which is pretty much all the help I've been able to get.

i got asked a bunch of questions, including what kind of nervous tiks i had and my behavior was observed and recorded by my shrink.
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Same as axelkat. Plus, my therapist just observed that I was stimming while talking to her, had problems expressing myself and understanding her, and I talked about the social problems I'd been having.

my shrink asked me to play with my shoe so she could observe. It made me a bit uncomfortable
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Hmmm....that sounds weird. Why would she make you play with a shoe? How old were you? It would make sense if they asked a kid to play with legos or toy cars or something. But a shoe? Especially if it's your own, you've probably already examined it as much as you can. Atleast I have.

shoe string.. forgot to add string. its my stim(i think thats the word). I squat down, jump, and kinda twirl a string in my hands while making ticking sounds with my mouth. I do have massive calves from it though. Have you ever heard of something like that?
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Nope, but I can picture it.

Thanks to all. I have not had an experience like this before, so I am a bit nervous about it.

Don't be. Its not that bad alltogether.
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I Agree. And to add to that; make sure you see someone who knows what their talking about (who has the necessary qualifications) because there could be people out their making large amount of money, who shouldn't be diagnosing.

Yes, my insurance company is good because they keep a list of doctors on our plan and what their specialties are. So, I was able to look for a female psychologist in my area who specialized in autism and autistic spectrum disorders. An added bonus: the list was online, so I could look through it repeatedly over several days and not have to bother my insurance company on the phone.

AS has been getting a lot of attention lately. Is it safe to assume that any doctor who specializes in autism should be able to discuss AS with me and make at least a tentative diagnosis? I went to a web site that lists doctors around the world who specialize in AS but there are only two in Canada and they're both in Toronto (and I live in British Columbia). The thought of flying 3/4 of the way across the continent to see a doctor isn't appealing, and I don't think the Canadian health care system would pay for a visit to the USA even though there's a clinic within driving distance of the border....