During your assessment....

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Do you suppress your quirks like stimming and excessive talking about interests or do you just let go and let it all out, warts and all?

I am getting my formal assessment soon and i am unsure of the protocol involved in how i act.

I would just be yourself. Act natural. Don't even try and be more AS nor try and be more NT. I think doing either will mess up the results on the assessment.

Oops

I meant to say I wouldn't suggest suppressing. Just be yourself.

You might as well be assessed for how you really are. Otherwise it kind of defeats the point.

I do understand your misgivings though. When I used to go to a therapist I always felt pressured to be "normal" and somewhat upbeat or it felt impolite.

I constantly stim at my medical appointments. I don't really choose to so much, I just do. I don't really feel pressured to be "normal" although after the last appointment I do feel presured to be somewhat upbeat.

I hate it when the doctor or therapist asks me how I am when I come in. The standard reply is to say "fine" and it feels expected, but the whole reason I am in the office in the first place it because I am not fine! Then I feel like a liar by discussing my problems after I just said I was fine...

At my second appointment, my therapist asks me how I am, and I say "I'm okay" and start to tell her about this thing that happened that I needed to talk out. She interrupts me and says, "Just okay? What do you mean?" So I say that my literal interpretation of the question seems inappropriate, and she says that my literal interpretation is wrong and tells me it obviously means something else...so after letting me flail for a minute or two without being able to work out what she actually means, she finally asks "did anything happen since the last appointment that you want to talk about?" And so I go back to what I was saying when she interrupted.

I held nothing back durring mine. The doctor said he could tell from the first coversation with me that I had Aspergers.

Verdandi, yes!!

Apparently "I'm ok" means that something is wrong. I have gone through this a couple of times with my therapist . But the first few times I saw her, I think I said that I was "good", so maybe that's why "ok" worries her now .


Concerning the original question, just be yourself. If you really want to make sure that the psychologist gets a completely accurate representation of what you are normally like, you might write down a list of things (behaviors, sensory issues, etc...) that you want to make sure you mention. Whether or not you end up having to consult the list, just having it with you will help you to relax and allow you to act in a way that is normal for you (rather than how you act when you are nervous).

If you already think you have it, you probably do. Just be yourself. If you are suppressing anything, just tell your clinician. I used to act more "aspie" when I was younger, but I learned and outgrew some traits, as is with many people here. I just was honest, to a copious degree, and the diagnosis confirmed what I already knew.