Is there some kind of fast track diagnosis?

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Sorry this is such a long post. It's summarized in the first part.

I saw a mental health expert 18 months ago, and he refused to give me a yes or no regarding AS. He said all the research is on children, adults have too many coping mechanisms to reliably diagnose, so he refuses to diagnose adults. However, events this week mean it would be EXTREMELY helpful if I could persuade someone I do have AS. I have asked my doctor to refer me again, but that could take six months. Is there anything I can do before that, to go beyond simply saying "I think I have it?"

The reason:
Last week my boss put me in a position that is a nightmare for AS, but merely annoying for an NT. I have a job that involves coping with crises, dealing with people, and facing down a boss with a forceful personality and skill at getting her way. Last week it got so bad that I could not cope. I got signed off work with stress. It was very inconvenient for my boss, who thinks I am being weak, lazy, and vindictive in letting the side down so badly. If I could persuade her that I do indeed have AS then she can pigeonhole me as "ill" rather than "evil."

The details:
The past year:
For the past year I've done a well defined job and done it very well. During that year the business went through chaos due to long term mistakes by senior managers (they didn't train the boss, so she made mistakes, so they sacked her, then her replacement had even less training). Every other person except me left - EVERY SINGLE ONE - for stress related reasons.

As the only one left, they asked me to be supervisor. I said no for months but finally said yes. BIG MISTAKE. The new boss has even less training than the last two. so makes frequent mistakes and is herself under stress, so takes it out on me, as the convenient underling who "should know better." Any small thing I do wrong is treated as the worst thing ever, and all previous errors are then brought up. She is a very dominating personality, with no empathy. Add to that the fact that supervising means dealing with (a) people and (b) emergencies where everything goes wrong at once, and it is a nightmare job for an aspie.

The past week:
Last Tuesday I could take it no more and wrote a letter saying "give me back my old job or I will be signed off with stress."
On Wednesday she read the letter, spoke to her boss, and said no, I had two choices: either I improve (impossible as the is determined to find fault and has told me to my face I am to blame for everything that has gone wrong since she arrived), or I resign. She put it more diplomatically, but that was the meaning.
On Thursday I could not face going in to work and on Friday I was signed off with stress, so got a family member to hand in the letter. She argued with him saying I had to bring it myself. No way. That is not a legal requirement, and being around her is the whole cause of my stress.
On Saturday (the busiest day of the month) I was supposed to be in charge. Rather than come in herself she closed the business for the day, blaming me.
Some time I will have to go back and face her again. The thought of it makes me shake.

Other options
Could I appeal over her head? I mentioned how bad the senior management are. They can't even get the pay right (I was owed over a thousand pounds last month). They are constantly changing, and generally hopeless.
Could I resign and sue for "constructive dismissal"? No, because the key events were witnessed only by my boss and me, I was not keeping notes at the time, and of course she will interpret it differently. Plus she is a much more forceful personality with people skills, the company and personal wealth behind her, and the bottom line is that what I did was reasonable for an AS, and less reasonable for an NT 9an NT would have stuck it out for a few more weeks I think). Plus the stress of fighting her... I can't face it.

I wish I had that bit of paper that would explain everything to her.

If you have AS though, you are neither ill nor evil. And frankly, having read through your post I don't think you should give a damn what this woman thinks; she's borderline psychotic...



I've heard about this; they take someone who's good at their job and promote them to a different job where they cannot cope. It's been used as an argument for promoting people over the heads of others, but in some cases it makes sense.







Wouldn't be a bad idea at all to follow suit.. and if you do, I'd hold off on disclosing the diagnosis if I were you. I doubt she'll be any nicer whatever piece of paper you show her, and it's a sad fact of life that disclosing AS will make it trickier to find another job. Also, what you describe would drive anyone nuts so I wouldn't measure your AS-ness on this episode!

Thanks for the quick reply

Agreed. but she is also my boss, and my current role is to work closely with her all the time.



Agreed. But I live in a remote area where any job at all is hard to find, or I would have left last year. All my experience of employers tells me that I am better off working for myself - I did it before and made more money than any time before or since. I do not relish working for ANY boss. I always think I know better. But it will take at least a year to earn enough to be self employed again. (I did computer work and the industry has moved on).

My dream solution is for the benefits people to be a little more sympathetic for a year or so until I can become financially independent. I live in an area with high benefit dependency and I think it would help my case if the benefits system could label me, so they don't give me such a hard time. On the surface I look very able, so I don't get any sympathy on the times when I have to sign on. In fact last time they didn't give me any benefits, but I'm pretty sure I would have got them if I was diagnosed - for complicated reasons, it was a borderline judgement thing.

Do a google books search on aspergers and employment i was eeading the teaser of something on there yestarday that seemed like it would be a useful resource for you in this.

If we disintangle the employment issue from getting dx'd let me share how i was proffesionally dx'd (i knew for a while)
Went to a new shrink (who is very up on current research) i had my aq and raads scores (and tests) with me and proceeded to tell him the short version of my life story highlighting my aspie symptoms and how they had influenced me from childhood in interactions with damily freinds and educators to the present with a littiny of failed ibterperskbal relatiobships and how it has affected me in my carreer. (covers your GAF section if the dx) I essentially came in and declared that it was the most viable dx in my oppinion and backed it up with lots of evidenxe. Mind u the respobse i git was (yeah obviously you are but what do u want me to do for u about this)
Having the potential legal issue does cloude things however diagnostitiobs in the know are becomming easier to find.

I went through a similar situation a few years back, my honest opinion is that you should get legal advice ASAP, you may be surprised at how much evidence you already have - the number of people who have already left with stress problems would be verifiable for example. Companies are VERY wary of being taken to tribunal for stress cases because they have by far the highest payouts. The company I was with paid me 15k not to sue them, I had to sign a statement to that effect but they even paid for my solicitor. It certainly sounds like you shouldn't go back to work there, your health is at too much risk.

Also from personal (and recent) experience you really do need a diagnosis if you need to go onto benefits, it's next to impossible to get ESA or DLA without one. The "expert" you saw was to be blunt an idiot, he was probably covering up the fact he didn't know enough about it. I was fast tracked for diagnosis but only after becoming close to suicidal, sadly other than going private that seems to be the only way.

Seeing as how I am 27 and have already had 40+ jobs, I am not able to advice you on your employment. I did, however, want to go back to one of the first statements you made in regards to the psychologist refusing to diagnosis you (or not) with Aspergers. First of all, I would start looking for another psychologist. There are lots out there who will work with adults. Sure, there might not be as many as those who work with and diagnosis children, but they ARE out there and they are qualified to make the judgement about whether or not to diagnose someone. It is true that many adults have learned coping strategies; however, many have not. Also, if you want a proper assessment, it would involve looking at your early childhood development with a parent or someone else who knew you as an infant. Today, many psychologists will diagnose based solely on the screening. I tried to get out of the complete assessment with the parents, but I was told by numerous psychologists that if I wanted it done correctly, I had to go through the standardized tests which required an interview with a parent/guardian. My psychologist said it is more important what you were like then than what you are like now, so with information from your childhood, a good psychologist will be able to tell if you have Aspergers with some coping strategies or no Aspergers at all.

Also, the interview and other test (both required), take about 2-3 hours total (mine was over the course of two days). It is just a matter of having the funds and hopefully not having too long of a wait list (I only waited about a month--and it would have been far less but I was sick and had to cancel my first scheduled appointments). Good luck, and hopefully you can find some answers soon!