why didnt they think aspergers?

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i just found my old psychological evaluation from 3rd grade it mentions everything about social skills and distractibility etc. and scattered skills and everything even the classic high verbal iq but low performance iq but they diagnosed it as ADHD i mean it was 1998 4 years after asperger's was put in the dsm why didnt they realize it was asperger's?
why did it take so long for my diagnoses of AS in 2007

im just venting here

IMHO, it was probably because most of us (aspies with ADD) deviate from the profile of "classic 1994 Aspergers" in some major ways, and it took ~10 years for the medical establishment to figure out that "ADHD-PI" is basically a synonym for AS+ADD.

I know the first time I read about AS, it never occurred to me that it fit, because there was a popular misunderstanding that you had to be:

* obsessed with exactly one bizarre, useless topic... as opposed to having a whole constellation of perseverative special interests, some of which could end up turning into useful careers

* detail-oriented... as opposed to ADD carelessness, where you happen to notice lots of inconsequential details.

* fixated on rule-obedience & rigidly enslaved by routine... as opposed to liking unambiguous expectations (defined by rules you might decide to break anyway) and being perfectly cool with ditching routines *as long as* you're firmly in control of the decision to do it, and it's not *imposed* by others

* being a total perfectionist, vs having the (valuable, in an AS context) ADD "f**k it" reflex to act like a circuit breaker and kick in often enough to be useful.

IMHO, if autism is primarily a sensory-anxiety issue, and ADD throws a bit of impulsiveness into the mix, you could argue that it's ironically a beneficial combo, compared to AS alone, by partly neutralizing one of AS's more debilitating issues. We're still socially clueless, but we have a slightly easier time because the impulsivity overcomes enough anxiety to let us stumble blindly into social scenarios where classic aspies would (almost) never voluntarily tread.

I was evaluated in 2002 and reading it now it's petty textbook Asperger's, I called them and asked how they could not see it and they said they did not even check. Apparently it was not a popular diagnosis...

Same, I was first Dxed with ADHD in 1993 or 1994, I was very hyperactive so it wasn't PI.

But I've seen some of my more recent files and there was talk of obsessiveness, I was also a great student and really only had trouble in class to due social/behavioral issues. One teacher wanted me to go to private school because she thought I had a lot of potential. Possibly my being so hyperactive is what made them think it wasn't AS.

I think in my case it was especially too early, they were probably only DXing very textbook cases back then and have to say, I wasn't socially impaired in the sense that I couldn't connect to anyone or had zero friends, I had a few and I was sweet kid, but EXTREMELY Aspie in some other ways and a "problem child", I just couldn't be reasoned with.

I was screened for epilepsy, is what my other says the MRIs and CAT scans were for, but I didn't have it.

Same for me! Only my evaluation & observations were in 2nd grade. AND I didn't get the ADHD diagnosis until I was 33 years old.

I guess because Aspergers wasn't really known back when I was growing up. I mean, it only became really known in the early 80s, and I was 7/8 in 1984/5.

Maybe they didn't know what AS was then nor had they ever heard of it?

My school didn't suspect it either in me. It was obvious in my school reports I had it but they failed to mention my stimming and my obsessions. They probably didn't take notice. It was my speech therapist that guessed it and consulted my mother about it and then the following year, my shrink brought it up. I was also labeled as having ADD and my performance IQ had always been normal. But my verbal IQ had been low.

A few reasons.

1. It was still relatively obscure in 1998.
2. Most professionals who had heard of it had never heard of it in girls.
3. ADHD was still on everyone's minds.