Diagnosed AS: The letter from shrink to my doctor GP

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This is the letter the quack who would diagnose me as aspergers syndrome. Are they trying to work out if I have Aspergers or find out if I am a complete ret*d? One thing I am going to tell them is that I am not my worst enemy, even slightly. I am capable of taking care of myself. Finally because I might almost seem normal doesn’t mean that I am a borderline aspie, I am an aspie in its purest form.

Anyway when I give this letter to my doctor should I add anything to it or not.


Rees House
2 Morland Road
Croydon
CR0 6NA

Tel No: 020 ********
Fax No: 020 ********

Your ref:
Our ref:

Team Managers:***** & *********
E-mails:*****@croydon.gov.uk
*****@croydon.gov.uk

Dr ****
106 ********
London
SW16 ****



11th July 2006

Dear Dr Ramanan

Reference: Gerald Davis

I write to you from the Joint Community Learning Disability Team in Croydon regarding Gerald Davis after he had contacted us requesting an assessment of his needs. Gerald has given us permission to contact you.

I am requesting relevant information regarding Gerald’s history. Information in relation to whether he had a statement of special education needs and a clear medical diagnosis of a Learning Disability or Aspergers Syndrome will be greatly appreciated.

We are trying to ascertain whether Gerald has a learning disability or mental health issues.

This information will help us to determine whether Gerald will be eligible for services within our team.

Please do not hesitate to contact us on ********* regarding this matter.

Yours Sincerely


Owen Chiguvare
Student Social Worker
Joint Community Learning Disability Team
London Borough of Croydon

I am totally confused....?I thought the "specialist were writing your GP to tell him if you were AS...it sounds like they are asking him if you are....didnt they do tests to DX you....?I thought they were the experts in the field...it doesnt seem to me that they are saying you do or dont or that they know anything and they want to know if the GP thinks you do(how would he know...he isnt a specialist)...really confused,here....

This reads to me like the referal letter from the GP to the specialist asking the specialist to assess you for learning disability.

If if the specialist determines you have a learning disability (I think dyslexia is one), then you may be eligible for services from the Learning Disability centre where the GP? works.

If the specialist determines you have mental health issues (I think bipolar or schizophrenia might be some) then you might not be eligible for services with the learning disability centre.

This gets exciting because I think Aspergers rates as a "developmental disorder", like ADHD (I think), and is frequently mistaken for both Bipolar and Schizophrenia. If the specialist asks you if you can hear voices, make sure you check whether he means from the next room where anybody could hear them or in your head/imagination where nobody else could possibly hear them.

I think it's a 'cover their ass' form letter. Imagine if somebody found out they didn't check on stuff like that, it would be on TV how negligent they are. I wouldn't give it a second thought. It's not a diagnosis.

Wobbegong...I always had problem with that on the MMPI...(Do you hear voices)I hear voices in my head all the time...they are conversations with people I am imagining talking to...that doesnt count as hearing voices either...(unless it is Jesus or an alian?)

I'm from the US, so I'm not familiar with the way the UK operates as far as medical things go, but...
It sounds like this new doctor is simply asking the old doctor about your history, both medical and mental. Getting a history from a source that isn't the patient is a pretty standard thing. He's just trying to get more information to get you a proper diagnosis.

The shrink is responsible of diagnosing Aspergers Syndrome and discipline. He is getting in contact with my GP so the GP tell him anything he needs to know like about me; do I have screws lose like Norman Bates, or am a complete ret*d.

Aspie Chav

It seems like you feel there are only two possible outcomes and you don't like either.

I don't think you're like Norman Bates - I could be wrong - but unless you start screaming and yelling at the shrink and chucking stuff at him, or sneak into his house when he's trying to shower and stab him - I doubt you will get the "Norman Bates" rating.

As for "complete ret*d" - I equate that with extremely low intelligence. Like couldn't work a computer or type a sentence that anyone else could understand - and can't do anything else that suggests an ability to learn or understand anything at all. Probably will never learn what a toilet is for. Not to be confused with someone who doesn't have the physical ability to use a toilet.

While you do seem to be imagining the worst from the letter and not other possibilities - this could be caused by anxiety about the outcome and stress.

So I don't equate Aspergers with "Complete ret*d" - but I think it is possible to be a bit of both. A learning disability center would be about helping people who are a bit slow to understand things using methods that work for most of the population (theoretically). "Tard" in French means "late" or "slow". If you need the learning disability centre it might be true to say that while otherwise intelligent (or maybe not) - you are slow to pick up on things by the usual teaching methods. Ie your regular teachers can't get you to understand thinks like the rest of your class.

There is lots of information on the net about how this doesn't actually equate to you being a "complete ret*d" (or academically stupid), it may just mean that your teachers suck and you need smarter cleverer more patient and creative teachers to keep up with you.

Krex

I learned long ago - not to admit that I talk to myself or that I have discussions with bits of myself in my head. I guess maybe a difference between me and crazy is that I know all those "voices" - more like "thoughts" are aspects of me - like the cartoon character with an angel version of them on one shoulder and a devil version on the other. A crazy person might feel like the voices are not part of them. Ok, Stuffed if I know how the doctors tell or ask the right question. But I do know I never have any problems with "voices" making me do things I don't want to do, or wanting them to stop. I think every novelist (and some cartoon writers) have this ability to have a conversation in their head with various characters and they use this to write their books.

I wonder if it anything to do with the CBT concept of "automatic thoughts" - "I don't have to do that assignment now - there's plenty of time later". "I'll do that when I feel like it" (and I never feel like it) etc. "I can't do that, what if I get it wrong?". "I should be able to do everything and I'm a loser if I don't" (nevermind that the time it would take to do everything exceeds the available time).

waterdogs

Did you have a point (besides mine)

Because I can't see anything else.

He will probably diagnose me as an NT with same learning difficulties. Being considered an NT is an insult as it is. just have a feeling I probably know more about Aspergers then he does.

Aspie Chav

Does this learning disability centre offer services you actually want to use or could benefit from?

If yes - then NT with Learning disability will probably get you what you need. At that point - who cares if he got it right or wrong, so long as you get to learn the new skills you need.

"Learning Disability"=one area in which the person has difficulty learning. For example, a learning disaiblity in math would mean that you're not good at dealing with numbers--maybe your brain scrambles them, or maybe it's not well-suited to working with them. But if you're defined as having a "learning disability", that means a deficiency in just one area of operation--not all of them. You can even have a "learning disability" if, for example, you're in the sixth grade and doing math at a sixth grade level--but you're doing everything else at a tenth grade level. That would be a high overall intelligence combined with (and probably disguising) a learning disability.

Obviously, mental retardation means a brain that's got difficulty learning all subjects, not just one; unless your IQ is under about 75, they won't diagnose this; and from your writing, I doubt it is. (IQs above 50 can still finish high school, though they'll do it via vocational classes and in their mid-20s... it seems to me that, at the higher end of it, mental retardation means "slow" not "incapable"... these people can do what normal-IQ people can do; they'll just take longer. I had two people with IQs in the 50-70 range in my high school; they were both in sixth grade work and slow-but-capable in it.)

AS is totally different: By definition, it excludes mental retardation because you must have a normal IQ to qualify; otherwise they'll diagnose autism or PDD-NOS (note that most people with autism/PDD-NOS do not have mental retardation as well; some do, but not all). Some people with AS also have learning disabilities; in fact, it's common, because AS often comes with large differences in IQ scores from section to section of the IQ test: You may have a 90 when you're dealing with images, and a 120 when you're dealing with words, for example. And, of course, AS will affect all areas of your life, not just your learning: You'll have social difficulty, some degree of communication difficulty (not in speech, but in the exchange of ideas during a conversation), and some sort of stereotypy (repetitive movement) and/or focused, intense interest. AS often comes with some degree of distractibility; if you are intensely interested in one thing, other things will seem totally uninteresting. (AS is often misdiagnosed as, or comorbid with, ADHD.)

BTW, don't worry if you're diagnosed learning disabled. Most people with learning disabilities have corresponding strengths--for example, dyslexics are often very good at working with images. Chances are you'll be able to find ways around whatever you're not too good at.