Appointment tomorrow morning

Post Reply New Topic

So tomorrow morning I have an appointment with a doctor to discuss aspergers.
I have wanted to do this for a few years and I'm finally forcing myself.
However I know I will not be able to actually say it so I intend to write a note.
Even then I don't know where to start, anyone who's done this before give me some advice on maybe layout, pointers and when to give examples? What to include? What did you put?
I need to do this tonight because otherwise I know I'll have a meltdown and panic and probably not go if I'm not a little prepared!

Well, I had my appointment with my GP today to discuss aspergers syndrome. I did everything like you, wrote a note for him and everything, in normal linear notes. I was very clear I think in what I said and gave plenty of examples. However, because of my awful doctor, he practically ignored the notes I had written and yapped on about panic attacks and that I was a square instead of a circle....sigh.

I pasted a copy of my notes on the thread I posted earlier today if you want to take a look, I think they're a good example.

The forum will not let me post an link because I am a new member but the post is on the first page called "very new and very upset with my doctor *long post, sorry*"


Good luck with it all though.

i had my first appointment with a professional in the mental health field this past tuesday. he's a certified nurse practitioner who is a therapist and trained in mental health. i went to him after calling my general practitioner and the nurse suggested that i see the therapist.
i went into the appointment with ideas in mind of what to say to him but did not really need to lead the conversation. he asked me why i was there. i told him that "i suspect i may have aspergers and would like a professional opinion". i had rehearsed that to myself after asking here on wrongplanet how i should introduce the matter to a therapist.
he took out a book of the dsm codes and asked me a few questions. i answered them and after 15 minutes he let me know i exhibit enough asperger's symptoms to warrant a full evaluation with a psychologist. my appointment with the psychologist is two weeks away. he said he'd stamp a diagnosis if he had the credentials.

i was nervous as well going to my first appointment of this kind. after the appointment, i felt that the apprehension was unwarranted, yet i'm certain feeling as such enhanced some of my as-like characteristics.

my suggestions: give honest responses. let the questions be asked. ask for clarification if the questions seem ambiguous. our literal nature is part of being an aspie. try not to have preconceived notions of what to expect or say, or of a diagnosis. if after the initial visit, if you are not handed a referral for an evaluation, ask for one and be assertive. let it be known that regardless of his opinion, that of a psychologist would be the most practical way of knowing.

some of what was asked of me by the therapist were questions regarding why i think i've got as...symptoms, how it affects me.
he asked a bit about my childhood. teen years. employment. academic career.
he asked about my perceptions of how others may perceive me.
he asked if and how symptoms have interfered with my life in general and relationships and what i do when they do.
he also asked what a diagnosis would mean to me and what would i do with knowing if indeed i have as (which later he stated strongly that he believes i have aspergers and requested an update after the evaluation).


it was a reasonably tolerable visit. at the end, he handed me a referral to a specific psychologist.

the only part of the experience i found difficult to manage was the therapist's continuous eye contact. i found myself trying to find a focal point, but wound up watching his hands, eyebrows and chin.

My advice is based on the assumption that you are seeing a GP in a standard 10 min appt and are essentially looking for a referral.

Your note should contain:
1. Basic statement that you think you have an ASD
2. A simple request for a referral for an assessment
3. The top 3 reasons (in brief - one sentence each) why you feel this way.

Keep it to one side of an A4 sheet of paper, and make it easily readable with large text and plenty of white space. Anything longer and the GP will not read it because it takes too long to read and absorb and you only have 10 minutes.

It worked for me.

I hope it goes well for you.

Its a 20 minute appointment as I didn't want to be rushed!
Thanks for the advice, from others as well.
It's pinpointing and writing down the reasons I'm finding difficult as I could go on and on and I just don't know how to explain things briefly in writing or out loud, my thought jumble and I get sidetracked as to the exact point

What YellowBanana said. I did pretty much that and after a false start I got seen by a psychologist last week, and tomorrow I find out if I officially have AS.

It would probably be helpful to write down the key points of what you want to say. I'm terrible for thinking I've forgotten something or actually forgetting something, and if you've got a checklist to refer to you can avoid being sidetracked and ensure you've said everything you need to.

I just want to mention something that might be of use. After over a year of therapy and then months of seeing a psychiatrist I still couldn't get any of them to refer me to an actual MD who diagnoses ASD. I had to search online for any doctors in surrounding areas (I live in a small town) that specialize in ASD and then contact them, first via email, then by phone (super scary as I have phone phobia stemming from my social anxiety). Eventually I found a MD who wasn't completely booked.

I had to take a bus with a ton of scary people repeatedly and get the tests done in an unsafe hospital (where there had been shootings early this year), that was plastered with Autism Speaks propaganda but I did it it. I eventually got my PDD-NOS diagnosis.

For me it was worth it because while I still struggle with many things I have tried to be less hard on myself and have actually become more social since then because I'm more able to explain my limitations to people who are important or potentially important to me.

So I went to my appointment.
Eventually last night I wrote stuff down but not as a note to hand over, I didn't even need it anyway.
True to form I was late (always been an issue of mine) but because I booked a 20 minute appointment so it was okay.
She asked what it was I wanted to talk about and I sort of forced out 'aspergers' and she asked questions from there.
I am already on 50mg of Zoloft (setraline) so she has upped my dose to 100mg for the anxiety and referred me back to the psychiatrist I saw earlier this year (but was so nervous couldn't really say much and ended up just being prescribed Zoloft for anxiety/depression)

Its a start at least, she seemed really nice and open to what I did say, which was mainly answering questions and stimming with my hands. I didn't get across any specific points but we were short on time and she is taking it further.
Huge relief just to get the ball rolling finally, still anxious about the outcome though.

I feel you are not an Aspie.We are all very time conscious and are extremely punctual.

For correct diagnosis, you mum will be asked questions and there are questionnaires to fill out ,both by you and her or father.

Why do you want to have Aspergers, or another austistic disorder?

I've decided that as soon as I get my new insurance card, I'm making an appointment with my GP to get a referral for an AS assessment.

I wrote about 6 pages of stuff explaining why I think I have AS, but I'm gonna try and condense it down to one page. I may ask my friend who is an OT and who has suspected for years that I have it write something down too.

I finally told my oldest brother about all of this and he pretty much said "stop kicking the can down the road and get it done" So I am.

your mum/dad will be interviewed about you as a child. but first you will fill out questionnaires, so will your parents about you, before you get an appointment at the psychiatrist/clinic. this is what happened to me.

I went to the CLASS clinic in England.

I am very time aware it is other things that make me late that may be related.
I almost had a meltdown because when I went to register at my local gp/get an appointment the form asked for ID and I didn't have any with me so it destroyed how I planned it to go. I left the building to calm myself (I usually do this instead of staying and snapping/getting angry) and my mum came out saying she spoke to the woman and didn't need the ID. Also had meltdowns from waking up late for work or something and not knowing what to do now that I was late usually causing me to be later plus more anxiety about being late.

I don't want it, I'd just like some clarification as it would make sense to my life for a variety of reasons.

@ davidgolfpro:

A parent doesn't necessarily have to be interviewed. What if your parents were dead? Would you be unable to get a diagnosis then? You generally just need either for you to recall personal experiences or records for school personal, or even someone that spent a lot of time with you.

Also I don't think that being punctual or time conscious make grounds for disqualifying a diagnosis, as many people with Asperger's have problems with organization and lack of organization can lead to being late for appointments, assignments, or other such duties. I personally am very organized and I am usually an hour early to appointments, but I have met plenty of people with Asperger's that have no system of organization whatsoever.

I personally like to think that it's not an exact desire to have ONLY Asperger's, but to have a name or reason for not being/feeling neurotypical.

I don't know if it's what the original poster feels, but I wouldn't be so quick to rule out a diagnosis of Asperger's or an ASD.

@vicariously:

I hope you find some type of peace with yourself whether it be in diagnosis or acceptance of self.

Hiddencreation...Yes you need a family member that knew you as a young child of age 5 and growing up.There are the questionnaires ti fill out..EQ and AQ. the if you score suitably, you will be offered an assessment.
The assessment takes around 2-3 hours, then a diagnosis will be made.

This happened to me, but thanks for the info anyway. i was assessed at the CLASS clinic Cambridge,Uk. It's the leading place in UK and therefore they performed a thorough assessment.

Many people for some reason want to be an Aspie, this is so weird as I would rather be an NT,but accept what I have.

I think the difference lies in the location because that is not how it functions in the United States, as there is an understanding that you may not have family or you may be estranged from them. Also, that you may not be close to anyone or have kept a relationship with someone that knew you from your childhood. So I understand why there is a disagreement on the evaluation process and who is involved.

In the United States, you do not need to take an inventory before they offer the assessment because as long as you or your insurance pays they'll do the inventories and test once it is verified that you can pay, though generally they will just do a basic talk for an hour just to have a preliminary diagnosis. I went to both a developmental psychologist (one that specializes in adhd, autism, and other neurobiological) and a regular therapist, each had me fill out a developmental history and the regular therapist had me fill out an ASD inventory for my mom, but I've definitely heard of people in the US where they don't have their parents involved in anything as their parents don't believe in labels.

There are many ways to perform a thorough assessment, all varying from location to location, clinic to clinic. I guess this shows the variability and the lack of standardization of assessments of mental disorders. That every diagnosis is subjective to the assessor.

@vicariously: did they mention any further testing or evaluations? Or did they just want to focus on the medication for now?