Help with diagnosis of Asperger's during adolescence?

Post Reply New Topic

I am currently 16 years old and think I may have an autistic spectrum disorder. Throughout school, I have suffered from relatively severe social anxiety and am often accused of being impolite and rude when I see no fault in my actions. I also have several other of the common symptoms expressed, such as restricted interests and routines which I follow somewhat obsessively. However, I'm incredibly nervous about being diagnosed. I have been fostered and do not feel comfortable talking to my foster parents about it. But I worry that if I go to my GP alone they will not take me seriously. I was hoping that somebody could give me some advice on the diagnosis process and is it unlikely that I do have asperger's if I have not been diagnosed as a young child?

Given your age, any professional who would diagnose you would likely want to get a family history from your foster family. How long have you lived with them? Would it be reasonable to expect them to provide such a history? Why do you not feel comfortable discussing it with them? I can't imagine anyone not taking you seriously just because you're young, your primary difficulty with diagnosis would probably be having no one to provide a second-hand account of your childhood. As far as the likelihood of your having it, age has little to do with it; I'm 21 and only being diagnosed now, and if you were bounced around a lot as a kid, it's doubtful any adult got a detailed enough picture of your behaviour to notice any autistic signs you were showing, not to mention foster kids typically come with a lot of other issues, so any problems anyone did notice may have been chalked up to your response to and unstable living environment.

look for a practitioner that has experience and expertise in treating autism spectrum disorders. I can't stress enough how important it is that your healthcare provider be autism literate.

that said, I was first diagnosed as "different" at 15 when I got a major depression diagnosis. this was almost entirely due to me being on the autism spectrum, but because I have "shutdowns" rather than "meltdowns", I was treated as someone with depression. when I was a young child (6 or so) I was really, really obviously autistic...but I was also so high-functioning up until my teenage years that a diagnosis of *anything* wasn't ever considered, even though I exhibited a great many "symptoms" of autism much, much more clearly at a young age than I did as a teenager or do as an adult. it was only when my aspergers began to negatively impact my life that I was even on the radar, and it took nearly a decade for me to get an accurate diagnosis after that, because the diagnosis process is heavily biased towards identifying young children, not adolescents and adults...we've usually learned to mask most of our symptoms.

in my experience, the evidence was stronger when I was younger...so if you can find anyone who can attest to your behavior etc as a young child, you may be more likely to be successful in receiving a diagnosis. it's also resoundingly clear that the majority of health practitioners are completely ASD illiterate (I was once told it was impossible to have autism after childhood...) and that finding someone who understands what autism is is important. this can be hard as a teenager with limited control over healthcare choices, but please feel free to ask people about their credentials and training and to look for those who are actually qualified to evaluate you.

my history:

15: first major shutdowns, diagnosed with depression
19 or 20: diagnosed with social anxiety disorder
26: seizures, conversion disorder, finally diagnosed with aspergers (would not have known to look for an ASD literate practitioner had not a friend with a masters in special ed suggested I was probably on the spectrum)

I switched schools a lot, and aspergers wasn't even recognized until after most of the child development specialists in my schools were trained, so it's easier and easier to get diagnosed at a young age...

I think you should start off with talking to a school counselor for guidance.
And he/she could actually be the one to spearhead you getting tested, instead of you doing that on your own.