Psychiatrist with Asperger's

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There must be a Psychiatrist with Asperger's somewhere. Surely the best person to diagnose AS is a qualified psychiatrist with AS. You would have thought that someone with AS would have obsessed so much that they would have worked in that field. And why can't you get diagnosed by a panel of AS people they could ask you questions, set tests, discuss and reach a conclusion.

And why can't they do a DNA test for AS.

So frustrating only a few Psychiatrist's in the world that truly understand.

Perhaps people on this forum could come up with a series of tests and sort our own diagnosis out.For some reason the whole AS diagnosis is a grey area or do the powers that be know something we don't.

Professor Gillberg is supposed to have AS by people who know him, but he lives in Sweden...

Its a relatively new diagnosis so the criteria are still being refined.

To complicate matters the syndrom can manifest wildly different symptoms from one person to the next and the older the patient is the better the symptoms are hidden from public view.

As for a genetic test the problem is that its not a single gene that causes the problem but rather a genetic chain reaction and series of complex interactions that they havent even begun to understand.

To go on a tangent though the complexity of the genetic processes that cause ASD lend credence to the theory that at one time the syndrom was a functional adaptation possessed by a subspecies that had begun to deviate from homo-sapien rather than a random mutation.

But also due to the complexity of the reaction its hard to tell what form it originally took as the genetic "program" has become corrupted and transfered into genotypes (operating systems) that it wasnt designed for, resulting in debilitating and malformed manifestations.

Judging by the reaction from a small percentage of people on this forum it would be tougher to be diagnosed AS.

It's not tough to get the diagnosis, the tough thing is to know whether the diagnosis is right or wrong. You can always find a psychiatrist that has AS as his favourite diagnosis...

And contrarily you'll often encounter psychiatrists who dont believe it exists.

Maybe.

I have a BA in psyc and a recent DX of AS (which I still dont know iff I believe)So I would be a great candidate for this role as ASer as counselor....to bad I hate mornings,driving and problems reading body language,faces,eye contact and am uncomfortable talking to people....that might make me a very "interesting" counselor....I avoided going to grad school ,in part,because I was afraid if a suicidal person came to me and told me all their reasons,I would have to repress my natural inclination to tell them I thought it was a good idea and that I would do the same thing in their position...YIKES..

I think a psychiatrist without AS would be better. Not only would they have a better idea for what "normal" social interaction is, they also be able to objectively see AS in all its forms, rather than searching for their own personal form in other people.

My personality is such that when I find something challenging, I focus on mastering it. That is why I am majoring in sociology and psychology. These are the most challenging subjects for me as an individual with AS. But because I am so obsessive and can be so emotionally objective, I believe my "disability" actually proves to work to my advantage. Studying in this field has also helped me understand life a bit better all the way around as well. The systems are laid out for me in textbook detail; understanding is not dependent on "inherent" ability. I think many NT psychologists (my own included) are very biased to their own systems of thought and they cannot fully understand the systems inherent to a person with AS. The systems are so different. As any psychiatrist will tell you, the most insightful texts about AS are written by those who have it. I can actually relate and even empathize with others who have AS, but I also have the advantage of knowing intellectually how the NT population works as well. I can analyze, theorize, and verbalize the details of their social, emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and perceptual systems. Thus, I feel I can work better with both groups. One may try to argue that having AS would do me a disservice in working with NT subjects but I say that being more objective, logical, and less emotionally directed would give me a huge advantage over those who may be more "empathetic". Contrary to popular belief, "empathy" is not a good quality in a therapist. Empathy implies past or similar experience, or at the very least imagined experience, which automatically rules out objectivity in context of human nature. The natural tendency for human beings is to give advice or encouragement based on one's own experiences rather than on logical and systematic approaches. That's why therapists spend so much time learning how to supress their own emotions and values. For me, it is automatic to default to the applicable system, regardless of my own experience - "my own" just isn't there to get in the way in the first place. I can understand AS subjects in ways that I may not be able to understand NT's, but that doesn't mean I can "empathize" with either. The system rules in any case.

My personality is such that when I find something challenging, I focus on mastering it. That is why I am majoring in sociology and psychology. These are the most challenging subjects for me as an individual with AS. But because I am so obsessive and can be so emotionally objective, I believe my "disability" actually proves to work to my advantage. Studying in this field has also helped me understand life a bit better all the way around as well. The systems are laid out for me in textbook detail; understanding is not dependent on "inherent" ability. I think many NT psychologists (my own included) are very biased to their own systems of thought and they cannot fully understand the systems inherent to a person with AS. The systems are so different. As any psychiatrist will tell you, the most insightful texts about AS are written by those who have it. I can actually relate and even empathize with others who have AS, but I also have the advantage of knowing intellectually how the NT population works as well. I can analyze, theorize, and verbalize the details of their social, emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and perceptual systems. Thus, I feel I can work better with both groups. One may try to argue that having AS would do me a disservice in working with NT subjects but I say that being more objective, logical, and less emotionally directed would give me a huge advantage over those who may be more "empathetic". Contrary to popular belief, "empathy" is not a good quality in a therapist. Empathy implies past or similar experience, or at the very least imagined experience, which automatically rules out objectivity in context of human nature. The natural tendency for human beings is to give advice or encouragement based on one's own experiences rather than on logical and systematic approaches. That's why therapists spend so much time learning how to supress their own emotions and values. For me, it is automatic to default to the applicable system, regardless of my own experience - "my own" just isn't there to get in the way in the first place. I can understand AS subjects in ways that I may not be able to understand NT's, but that doesn't mean I can "empathize" with either. The system rules in any case.

Psychiatrists aren't the only diagnosticians out there. Neurologists, Psychologists, PsyD's, and MSW's can also diagnose people.

I am sure there are Aspie diagnosticians out there. As for whether they advertise themselves as ASD diagnosticians, that's another story.