Diagnosed with Aspergers 2 years ago, now told I never had i

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To find a direct path of out the confusion this psychiatrist has brought about, I suggest you start immediately by watching Tony Attwood's videos describing how Aspergers presents differently in girls and women.

Then read personal accounts written by women on the spectrum who also faced diagnostic error and invalidation (there are many, you could start with the Autistic Women's Network online).

Google can offer you a massive amount of information on this. There are some very informative blogs too.

Also bear in mind that psychiatrists are trained to be oriented toward diagnosis of mental illness, not AS which is not a mental illness; there are all sorts of factors that could bias them away from recognising AS, especially in women.

From your description, you are very probably on the spectrum. Misdiagnosis of AS women is still a common experience from reports filed here and elsewhere.

Start with the video, make your way from there. We have some resources stickied at the top of the Women's forum here, though they are more general. Self test yourself also and post your scores on this thread, later, and update us on the results of your search outcomes.

Hi everybody, thank you so much for your replies and support. I really appreciate it, I think no-one without Aspergers really gets this stuff!

I had an interesting conversation last night with my boyfriend who (not knowing much about Aspergers) said, I don't think you have Aspergers now. I think you definitely had it when we met though, it was extremely obvious. You're completely different now though'. He then asked why I take 4 different types of medication and change the way I act and speak to people etc and I said 'to be less like I have Aspergers', and he just said, exactly, and after 18 months, you've succeeded, apart from the difficulties you still have understanding people and in social situations, but you're a lot better'.

I realised from speaking to him that the difficulties I had before haven't stopped being difficulties, it's just that a bunch of different medications make it all so much easier, and through coping mechanisms, meditation, exercise, self-help books and lessons in socialising etc. I come across a lot differently now. That doesn't undermine or discredit all the fighting I had to do to get to this point or continue to do. I will have Aspergers forever, but that doesn't mean I have to be confined to a range of expected characteristics. If I grow beyond that, I prefer to think of it as me being successful at overcoming some challenges, rather than having to believe it means I never really faced those challenges in the first place.

Aspergers is a developmental disability, which means you have a much harder time learning to socialize. This doesn't mean you can't learn to socialize, it just means that you may have to work very hard to do something many people take for granted.

Also, the level of anxiety and the med you take depend on your surroundings and the support you get. Most Aspies are constantly anxious (general anxiety disorder, hard to figure out the cause) because there are so many anxiety triggers in their environment. You may be constantly triggered by bright lights and loud noises. But, no two Aspies are the same, which makes it very difficult for the typical professional to wrap their thinking around unless they work with many different Aspies. It may be hard to realize that the genius and severely disabled on the spectrum may have more in common then than they differ, even though the genius wears a sharp looking suit and the other needs to wear loose fleece clothing.