Getting Diagnosed / Assessed - DON'T

Post Reply New Topic

Quote "I have a somewhat similar history from school, although things took a different turn than they did with you (I didn't end up near special education until the 5th grade and almost through high school), but my parents interfered directly in terms of interventions, diagnoses, and accommodations, because they believed I was "too intelligent" to be developmentally or learning disabled."

Their are people with official diagnose of learning disability that are intellingent. Their IQ are above average yet they rely on disability benefits because of thier learning problems.
Only bright people succeed. Only bright people go to UNI. IQ can play little part if some one has a disability.

People are put into catergories of gifted, bright, average and slow. IQ corresponds to the abilities of a person is an illusion.

This is my opinion regarding getting yourself diagnosed / assessed for Aspergers.

Do not go to your GP or whomever and say "I think/know I have aspergers/autism". And then go on to list all the symptoms you have which you feel means you have autism because you researched it on line. They're just going to think your symptoms are psychosomatic based on what you read and that you're being a hypochondriac. That's what they're going to want to cure you of and they're going to probably focus more on what's not autistic about you than what is.

Just go in and tell them you think something's wrong but you don't know what - and you don't know, that's why you're getting tested.
Tell them your symptoms, but don't do it in such a way that you sound like you're quoting from a list of AS symptoms. Act like you don't know what it is (because you don't for sure). Just go in with the attitude that you know something is wrong, you think you might have a screw loose or something and you want to be tested to find out what's wrong. Be unassuming.

You probably won't even have to ask to be tested, the GP or whoever will probably prescribe it. Doctors seem much more ready to make a diagnosis and suggest further testing make referrals etc when it is their idea not yours.

Aspergers is becoming more and more readily known. There's a zillion articles about it online now, Scores of You Tube videos. Big forums like this one, Lists of famous people who supposedly have/had it etc.. And I'm sure a lot of GPs and shrinks etc, have people coming to them all the time telling them they read about Aspergers on line and now they're sure they have it.

I think anytime someone walks in and says, "I think I have Aspergers" they roll their eyes and think to themselves "take a number, you hypochondriac".

And to be painfully blunt, even I think some of you may be hypochondriacs. Because some stuff people write about themselves just doesn't jive with being autistic. You know, when I was a kid, they all said "this kid has some serious problems" and gave me batteries of tests (all at the US government's expense) and then yanked me out of the public school system and placed me in with developmentally disabled children. If you don't have that kind of a background, you may not have autism. You just may be socially awkward and somewhat OCD or whatever. So don't go in announcing "I have Aspergers". I certainly don't have to. All I have to do is show them my documented history of behavior, diagnosis and treatment.

Hang onto that doctor, he is like gold dust. To find a doctor who has enough humility to accept superior knowledge and to even thank you for it is wonderful. Most of them seem to cut you off when you start informing them of evidence and are way too superior to acknowledge the validity of your evidence. This is where OP is coming from.

There you go. You have something more substantial than a suspicion based on something you just learned about online. I'm not saying online revaluations aren't legitimate. But I do think if that's all someone has, it might be better to have the doctor tell that person they have it, than that person trying to tell the doctor what they think they have.

With you and me it's a no brainer. It's obvious.

Here's a sample of my history starting at age 5:

K: Dramatic, immature. Needs to learn to listen. Academic level is extremely low. Needs to work on eliminating aggressive behavior. Keeps to self does not interact well. Inattentive. Wanders off.

1: Requires close supervision on playground, wanders off assigned areas. Has improved somewhat in controlling temper. Must not be pushed. Needs constant reinforcement.
Still applies as above.
Responds to quiet talk and sympathy when he explodes. Does not participate well with others. Isolates self and is standoffish. Excellent verbalization stills but has poor social skills. Accident prone; poor motor skills. Perceptual difficulties.
Behavior problems.

2: Has been segregated from classmates and given remedial assignments. Is still very far behind academically despite excellent verbalization skills. Still unable to read beyond sounding out basic words. Inattentive. Hyperactive, has difficulty staying still. Spins back and forth in chair and fidgets. Sketches and scribbles instead of performing assigned tasks. Is working hard at improving academically and has made progress, but is still far behind. Seems to learn better on own than within classroom participation. Has difficulty conceptualizing. Motor skills have improved somewhat but still uncoordinated. Requires constant supervision. Does not interact well. Becomes easily frustrated and loses temper quickly.

B2 Has difficulty paying attention, mind wanders considerably. Does not maintain eye contact. Daydreams. Just sits and stares. Wanders off. Truant. Expresses high intelligence when communicating verbally but academically and socially inep.

This is all very interesting as I have an appointment with a psych on Monday and I'm not really sure how to approach them.

My mom described me to a social worker over the phone a few days ago and the social worker pretty much said "Yeah, she's probably autistic. Some of the things you've described are classic." But I don't know if I should bring it up directly in my appointment. Unfortunately, I don't know that I will even be able to speak clearly enough to describe it properly.