How did you describe AS to your doctor?

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I understand the idea of describing it to your doctor but I'm confused. Going off of this site http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1045) I'm confused on what to mention but looking at the following article http://autism.about.com/od/aspergerssyn ... once=true&

I can relate to that top 10 but not the different triad of impairments from the first link. Hopefully you guys have some advice thanks! Hope you enjoyed the articles I found. I found both very informative myself.

What's there not to understand? You might not have all those traits.

As for me I wrote my psychiatrist a nice and long essay about my symptoms. I knew quite a lot about autism and my own symptoms by then.
To get a referral to the psychiatrist I wrote down my symptoms to my GP in point form.

Aka:

*social anxiety, freezes up in group conversation
*Poor fine and gross motor skills
*Obsessive interests (photography, music, etc)
*Needs a routine to get things done
*Difficulty with small talk, talks more about facts.

It was something like that. I don't have the little sheet of paper I wrote it on.

I took in twenty or so (it may have been more or less - knowing me - probably more) pages of typed written documentation.
I compared my presentation against the Gillberg criteria and had this systematically presented.
I had written pages from my son's father, who also went through some of the criteria and wrote out exact examples of his dealings with me where i would frequently exhibit the traits listed in the triad of impairments and/or the Gillberg criteria.

I also took in a folder on my main special interest, with about fifty examples of my work in this area.


I think he took one look at all of that, also noted my anxiety problems at the time and my lack of eye contact and my decision to move the furniture around in his consulting room to suit me so that I did not have to face him directly and thought "yep...clever, weirdo female aspie....."

testing...I keep being denied access to this thread so as to prevent spam

I wrote a rather long response but lost it...

I hate it when that happens. That's why using Word Pad helps.

I didn't have to describe AS to my doctor at all - I took a file with me containing my Aspie-Quiz results and the AQ test, plus a statement from my wife who was living with me at the time, but the doc didn't want to know - quite possibly she realised that with that volume of info, she'd have a hard time denying the likelihood that I have AS. She put me on the waiting list for the DX with very little protest. Her manner seemed overbearing and insensitive, but I got the DX lined up so what the hell.

The laptop they let me use here at work shuts itself down without warning every week or two, so I've lost a long post or two by that route ..........but what I don't get is, how can denying your access to a thread prevent spam?

"I'm a bit autistic." It works. Though the correct statement would be simply, "I'm autistic," there are too many stereotypes associated with autism, and if I just said, "I'm autistic," I might not be believed because many doctors (though not usually psychiatrists) think autism means only the sort you see in profoundly autistic young children; and I would have to spend a long time explaining and hope they would actually listen to me. If, on the other hand, I add, "a bit," they know to expect the same sort of thing on a smaller scale, which is a good enough approximation for communication purposes.

WHen I explained that I have AS to my doctor (as opposed to the clinical psychologist I see,) it was easy.
I have a fantastic and rather eccentric and odd doctor. He has a pretty good ponytail, also practices acupuncture so his patients can be bulk-billed for it, believes in the need for welfare for those who struggle in our society, hates picking up the phone at home and mixing with people too much, and he goes on a bit......

I said, "I have AS."
He said "I think I am a bit AS too....."

then we delved into a discussion of the spectrum and his reason for believing he may possibly be on it.
Needless to say, we got on rather well.

Do you mean to a general medical doctor or...

my GP regular doctor.

I haven't been to a regualr doctor in years because they are so arrogrant and imcompant. I should not have to explain a medical condition to the medical community and even when I try they are like, "Oh you mean like Rainman?" or think it's a "children's condition" or that I am just being a hypocondriac and don't really have it at all. Doctors are unable to realise that I have a HIGH pain tolerence when it comes to things such as sutures or IV's but a light touch makes me feel as if I am being killed. I would probably die from their incompetence rather than my actual affliction.

Last edited by PunkyKat on 13 Jan 2010, 12:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

First, go to an autism specialist, usually a child psychiatrist. Check OASIS for a list of recommended specialists by state.

I told my doc a bunch of stuff but what he said clinched it was when I said I didn't know people couldn't read my mind till I was 15.