Aspergers assessment: scraps AS and goes for ADHD in 5 mins!

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I got referred to an Aspergers assessment place in 2011. They messed it up several times and I ended up getting seen in 2012 a few months ago.

Now the thing is, when I got there he tells me he didn't recieve the indepth letter from my psychologist referring me there and he only has stuff from 2008/9 with him.

Then I begin to read out my notes I've prepared and he tells me to stop reading them after around 5 minutes and say in my own words what my problems are without thinking os aspergers. I begin to tell him and he stops me again after 5 minutes and says he thinks I don't have AS but ADHD.

His reasoning is that my stimming is a sign of hyperactivity.
I start to cry because I worried this would happen and I was freaking out so badly about missing anything to avoid this happening but it happened anyway.
He goes on to say I can communicate verbally very well, which tells him it's not AS. WTF
Then he tells me he knows I'm sad right now, which also tells him I'm not AS. WTF?!

Then points to my mom saying in 2009 that I was hyper sometimes as a child and bases his idea of ADHD on that. He begins to ask loads of questions and assume every answer is to do with ADHD.

Stimming - Hyperactivity.
Need for routine - Over compensating for disorderly behaviour typical of ADHD
Over analysing things because I don't understand them - ADHD thought process
Sensory sensitivity - Overstimulated mentally due to distractibility
not understanding hints, flirting, social cues - too distractable to pay attention or ever have learnt them.
OCD traits seen in both (reasonable)
Lack of eye contact when talking to person - fine because I learnt to do it when listening to person so as to not annoy them, so he doesn't see it as a trait now.
I've also learnt to use facial expressions more effectively so he is fine with that.
He even went so far as to suggest my hypomania was actually hyperactivity until I explained it further and he went '... OK that's mania.' lol

The only thing that makes me think I have ADHD traits is;
many thoughts going on at once in my head

I really want a second opinion. What are others opinions on this? I have mentioned it before and been told he made his decision far too quickly. I only just got his letter back from the assessment and he's suggesting an ADHD assessment.
The first paragraph says that I show normal verbal and non-verbal communication.

I think my communication with people is fine. My main problems are;
UNDERSTANDING others, in terms of when they are lying, why they would lie, when they are hinting (see lying), when they flirt, when they get jealous. I just don't understand these things and as such often don't even notice them. Which means I think people who hate me are my friends, or I upset people and don't know why. etc

I can express my thoughts very well. But I can't express my emotions very well at all. People seem to assume if you can express thoughts then your emotions are as easy to explain. Complex thoughts take a lot of time and attention to formulate and understand. Emotions are swift and confusing, all similar sometimes, and I can't find words that suit it.
One aspie guy asked me what the >_< face meant and I said it was a sneeze face and I use it for some feelings but I don't even know the words for them... Not sure if that's typically aspie or something else, but it's something others will say 'that's normal' but get annoyed at me for being unable to do something related to it, thus implying it really isn't normal.


I forgot my other thing I was supposed to say (Oh noes, ADHD got me again...) so I'll leave it at that.




I think I do have traits of ADHD but Aspergers is more important to me. As of now I've decided I will just say I DO have it to people. Because a diagnosis is someone elses guess.
I've studided psychology, ADHD, Bipolar and Autism are special interests of mine. I've also studied myself; I do it every day. I think I would have a farily good chance of knowing whether something is causing enough of a disturbance in my life and whether it suits the traits or something I've studied.
But the diagnosis would just make me feel like someone were saying 'it's normal, you're not stupid.' rather than 'that's normal, but you're still stupid'. The latter makes no f*****g sense, but that's the message I get.

The lady in my aspergers support group is going to look at the letter with some of her workers about the possibility of a second opinion. I'm so nervous they'll say I'm not worth it and there's clearly no aspie traits. =[

Being aspie isn't a problem. But being told I SHOULD understand this stuff, and if I don't, just like an aspie, well, I'm not an aspie, I'm just playing dumb, pretending, or dealing what every NT person deals with even though I get so much s**t for it? I don't get it. The only reason I think I get this response is because I don't LOOK aspie, Whatever that looks like.

Your whole post just screams aspie. Need i say more?

You might want to see if you can be referred to a reputable Neuropsychologist or Clinical Psychologist whom specialize in AS and Autism. Tell them your seeking a second opinion and a more thorough testing regimen.

Last edited by ravenloft68 on 30 Nov 2012, 4:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well, a lot of people with AS also have ADHD. So, I'm not surprised a quick, sloppy assessment would focus on the one and miss the other. (Maybe he has ADHD, so he couldn't focus for long on what you were trying to tell him. )

I also wonder - and I'm not trying to say the NHS is all bad, but I think this is an area that would concern me - if since the government pays for health care, and people like this work for the government, if they're subject to a certain amount of pressure to downplay diagnoses that might involve extra expense. Even in the US, private insurers do a great deal of this sort of thing.

Obviously, if you want a formal diagnosis, this is frustrating. But, in the end, you are the one who knows yourself best. I know, in my case, if a professional were to tell me I wasn't 'on the spectrum', I would only believe them if they could show me how some other issue was a better fit. Because this is the first thing which has really made sense of all the things that have always been "wrong" with me. (I probably do also have ADHD, by the way. But the trouble is, ADHD can explain some issues, to some extent, but it can't explain them all.) You seem to feel similarly, and I'd encourage you, no matter what happens in a formal sense, to continue to use your own understanding of yourself as long as you find it helpful for you. If it starts breaking down, then you might want to look for another answer. If it does you no good, then why bother with it? But if it helps you (and now that I understand myself, I've made more progress in two years than I ever managed in fifty-one years of trying to make sense of myself before that) then I wouldn't allow some rushed, half-baked "diagnosis" to derail that.

I know there are some on here who are going to beat me up over that. After all, he's a "professional". A degree on the wall does not mean you're always right. I was helping to care for a neighbour's guinea pig, and I suggested what I thought might be wrong with him (my only knowledge of veterinary medicine comes through taking care of my cats - I was far from sure, but thought it should at least be looked into). My neighbour spoke to the vet who was taking care of him, a professor at a veterinary school. He dismissed it as a possibility without even testing for what I thought it might be. Since the poor little guy was still getting worse, she took him to my vet, where they finally decided to test for this - and it was what I'd thought it might be all along. (Kidney problems.) Yes, it was a professional vet who confirmed that diagnosis - and I happen to respect those individual vets, or I wouldn't take my cats there. But it was not only a professional, but a professor of the subject, who got it wrong. And in your case, such a rush to a conclusion is a sign that would have me running for the door...

Mostly what they said sounds like tosh, but the above always makes me wonder, in myself.

There's that, too.

The trouble is, I could come up with a million explanations for almost anything, that would have you wondering - and most of them would be so much hot air.

I learned this by accident. I grew up when "autistic" meant kids who never spoke and rocked in a corner, and even they were "tucked away" and never spoken of. So, since I'm hyperlexic, and was born legally blind and also picked up the "genius" label by the time I was six, no one thought I might have other issues. It was always my eyesight, or my intelligence, and that was it. According to them. I even believed it for a while. I was so convinced that I came up with elaborate explanations to link those two "causes" to whatever other weird issues I had.

And, as a result, for fifty-one years, I could never figure out what was "wrong" with me. Then, I figured it out. Formal diagnosis is incredibly difficult and expensive at my age, so I haven't bothered. But, in the past two years since I figured out how my mind works, I have made more progress than I was ever able to before. Because now I have some understanding to guide me, instead of smashing my head into the brick wall of how every NT tells me it "should" work.

If you sincerely doubt your diagnosis, after thinking about it, by all means, investigate that possibility. But please don't let plausible sounding horse puckey cause you to doubt yourself.

I just find it interesting, sort of a chicken and egg thing. I suspect the order/routine thing came first, because much of my childhood memories seem to revolve around sorting things, arranging them and lining them up etc. But at the same time a lot of my routines and habits as an adult also seem to stem from compensating for the occasional forgetfulness.

Nothing wrong with wondering, certainly. At least in my experience, I've noticed something which might shed light on your question. I have noticed that some of my preference for routine seems to be compensation - but, not for forgetfulness or being 'disorderly' in general. My need for routine is so extreme it would cause more problems than it would be worth, if that were the only issue. The trouble is, if I don't follow a routine, I wind up facing an 'unscripted' moment, and that is what I am desperate to avoid. Because confronting such moments will often lead to a "system crash" of my brain. (Which, as far as I can tell, is one typically autistic reaction.) I simply don't know what to do if my routine is disrupted. Someone with only ADHD might very well develop routines to compensate for their lack of focus - but they would presumably also be able to recover on those occasions when the routine was disrupted. Whereas, I stand there with my mind whirring: "Unexpected parameter encountered; system is halting."

Routine might be a useful tool for me, apart from that. But I am desperate not to have my routines disrupted, because the disruption is so far reaching and, well, disruptive to me. (This, by the way, is specifically so even when the routine in question has nothing to do with my vision. Since I'm also legally blind, I do have some routines which are designed to cope with my limited sight. Now, many of those tend to be routines I can only use in certain situations - since the rest of the world ignores such niceties as putting things back where they came from - and so, although I find those routines hugely useful, I don't rely on them, and thus, although annoyed, am not brought to a halt when they are disrupted.)

First of all ADHD is not a diagnosis and could easily be caused by someone being stung by a bee in a lecture hall.
That person would not be able to suit or pay attention. ADD is also not a diagnosis but a symptom of something.

It is like a cough; could be smoking, could be from dust, could be tuberculosis.

That guy stole your money, just happened to me with my son Neurologist said ADD.
I told him my father, his 4 brothers, myself and my 2 brothers have been diagnosed with aspergers, as well as my mother.
That's alot of aspie's and I think my son shows signs of it as well. The girls in my family have it to their advantage in a way so many just don't bother with a neuro-phych test.

The best thing to do is call around and get a neuro-pschycological evaluation performed, they are not cheap but you will learn a lot about yourself.
We are getting one for my son , He is having a little bit of trouble shutting down or zoning out in school.
I want to know;
PIQ
VIQ
social level
anxiety
sensory

You can get enough out of that, It allows an NT person a visual look into your head.
They only seem to believe things they can see. So unless you are physically disabled it's hard to prove others wise.

Haha aww thanks guys. Being told I sound aspie is like a big compliment right now. hehe

I think it's to do with the feeling of acceptance. Being told you're part of a group makes it feel like less of a problem and more of a way of living, a way the brain works.
If all evidence suggests I am NT, then there is no reason, no excuse, and thus something IS wrong.
>_< But people around me think saying I'm normal will make me feel better. I find those on the spectrum much easier to get on with, THAT is normal to me. *shakes head*

I'm still trying to figure out how my post sounds aspie! lol

Jacked, do you have to pay for it, and not get it on the NHS?
I need to sort out my physical healthy too so might need to pay for an allergy test too as they won't check that!

I spoke to my mom today and she thinks I worry about it too much.
The thing that bothers me, maybe this is an aspie trait, but I don't worry a lot, I think a lot, thus I talk about it a lot, and people then say I'm worrying too much. I'm not upset about it, I'm just annoyed when I'm told I'm lying, or playing dumb.

My mom, when I pointed out she said I was playing dumb about not understanding hints and flirting said 'Well you say you don't understand flirting and are asexual but you have been out with people!' This made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.
When I said I'd probably just SAY I have AS, just like how I did with Bipolar and eventually professionals agreed with me (in fact they diagnosed me with it in 2009 but I only got told this month!).
All these assessments are so subjective but I feel like it'd be a sort of proof to those who disagree so much, if I got it in paper.

Mine actually ran cognitive tests to rule out ADHD. The problem with certain physicians is they are not thorough enough. They also assume that ASD manifests itself much worse than it actually might.

I thought there would be tests. He didn't ask for any school reports. My mom lost them anyway and my parents weren't able to come. And he didn't let me speak freely for more than 10 minutes,
His judgement on my appropriate non-verbal communication was crying to show I'm sad.

Yep.

It did feel rushed.

He told me he saw a lot of people with Autism and you can tell by how they sit, with their speech being monotone, and that I wasn't showing any such immediate signs of it. Then continued to say what he heard sounded more like ADHD.

Ah, that could be it. Within 1 minute, my physician interrupted me and said "you talk without prosody." Maybe that's what they look for. Also I have a blank face. I don't have AS, though, but a hybrid form with more cognitive problems and fewer behavioral problems than AS. Maybe the AS symptoms are different. I even had environmental factors that I thought could explain all of this. He still saw it.

I'd get a second opinion. My first opinion was an Army doctor who sounded as cursory and ridiculous as yours & never did any testing. A reputable physician should be able to see beyond the things we do to adapt, like learning to make eye contact.

Last edited by Tyri0n on 30 Nov 2012, 5:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Aspergers is not the same as autism, I know it's on the spectrum but they were happy to have it in the DSM at all.

You would never ever know I had aspergers unless you were a neurologist and spent alot of time around me, as one of my customers pointed out.

Or if you have it yourself, as others have pointed out.

Or if you are bi-polar, I usually completely piss them off. Then they point me out.

You can see it clearly on my pchyc-test, and then observe me at a party. Not a happy place for me or for them if I'm talking special interest

It's too bad you can't sue for malpractice over there qwan. I've seen a few 'professionals' and the best one was a woman who asked questions but never interrupted. This woman kept a poker face the entire session and only broke it once when I commented on her stomach making noises at which she laughed. She gave me no indication at all about what she was thinking until I received her written report. Within 3 hours of meeting me this woman understood me better than the therapist I had been seeing for 6 months (and it was one of the reasons I dropped him). having seen the difference between the good and the bad I have to say you got screwed. I would definitely dispute this guys assessment and see someone else if I were you but I don't know how the system works over there. There are a lot of people who get into psychology, or related fields, that are in it to stroke their own egos. Sounds like you met one of those people.