That was a useless psychiatrist appointment!

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So I was really looking forward to my appointment today! I thought I would be assessed or at least partially assessed - perhaps be administered a test or two.

Well this guy was totally useless - first of all I was on time for my appointment yet I was made to wait for half an hour in his freezing cold waiting room.

Then he calls me into his freezing cold room and basically just talks to me for only 10 minutes (if that!) He asked me about work so I told him about my POTS and I mentioned being unable to take the BS where I worked anymore and mentioned I am getting worse with that. Asked if I was on any medications. Asked if I ever thought about harming myself. When I started talking about work I really started rambling on, too!

Did not ask anything directly related to Asperger's or autism, really.. didn't ask if I had special interests, didn't ask if I stim (I started flapping my hands at work the last few months I was there, first when I was overstressed, then even on good days)

I thought he'd get around to asking those questions but he didn't!

Then he blurts out "frankly I don't see it" (meaning Asperger's in me) so I asked him "aren't there any tests for you to administer?" and he basically said no. At the end when he was opening the door and it was so obvious the interview was over, he said something vague like 'there might be some tests that some psychologists might use and not even all psychologists but not a psychiatrist' meaning he was a psychiatrist - well I thought my doctor had referred me to a psychologist! Guess not.

Why would a psychologist administer those tests but not a psychiatrist? Because he wants to prescribe drugs and there are no drugs for Asperger's so I won't line his pockets? Alot of his reviews I read said that he is a major 'drug pusher'!

I really fail to see how he did not "see it" - nearly the whole time I sat there (again, 10 minutes!) I had a hard time looking him in the eye (I was mostly looking over at his air conditioner running full blast, I wanted to see if I could see what temperature he had it set to ~ -10C?) I looked at him directly when he was explaining about not testing but only because I couldn't believe he was dismissing me so quickly! I'm sure I must have had a flabbergasted look on my face but I couldn't help it!

And because I had to wake up early for this I had a very hard time sleeping last night so I was very tired, and when I get overtired my POTS gives me worse heart palpitations than usual, which makes me fidget, so the whole time I sat there I fidgeted with my necklace (it's a tiny locket, so I repeatedly open & close it with one hand - dunno how he failed to notice that, it makes an obvious clicking noise)

I can see now why the online reviews of this guy are so horrible! And I found out that the first referral my doctor sent me for was also for a psychiatrist, not a psychologist! (The first doctor I wouldn't have been able to get in to see till November but I didn't want to wait so I got my doctor to refer me to this guy, at the suggestion of the receptionist, well maybe that's why the other one is so booked up, maybe he's better!) But if the other one's a psychiatrist too then maybe waiting till November is pointless as well! Maybe he won't administer tests either - after all, they both work out of the same office, maybe they think alike.

Do I need to go back to my doctor and insist on a referral to a "psychologist"? When I first asked him about this I remember specifically stating that I wanted to talk with someone who could "test me for Asperger's" - well I don't consider what happened today to be "testing"! Or perhaps he'll just take this guy's "assessment" (if you can even call it that!) at face value and not even co-operate with my asking for a referral to someone else...

I'm so pissed off/disappointed! I keep going back and forth between the 2 reactions! Mostly disappointed though. Pissed off takes energy that I haven't got! I was so looking forward to this.

I'm very tired from all this BS. I think I'll go take a nap. If anyone's read this far, thanks

I'm really sorry to hear what a wash-out of an appointment that was -- it does sound completely useless. I don't get the feeling the person you saw was likely to be an expert in diagnosing adult autism/Asperger's. This is why it appears to be a it of a crap-shoot as to whether or not one gets referred to the truly right person. There are psychiatrists and psychologists who aren't experienced or knowledgeable enough in all presentations of autism -- particularly in adults -- and if you get sent to one of those, they're not going to see it.

Is there a list of autism specialists specializing in adult diagnosis, in your area, that you can access, and then go back to your doctor and point out one or two of those people from the list?

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Thanks, BirdInFlight!

Good idea, of me trying to find a specialist myself! After all, I'm the one who had to go hunting online to come up with the name of the POTS doctor I asked him to send me to! (My doctor is super nice, believes me when I tell him my symptoms, and says 'no problem' when I ask to be referred to someone, but why do I have to do the legwork he should be doing? )

I am too overtired right now but after I rest a bit I will investigate where there could be autism specialists in my city or even a larger city I could take a bus to.

Thanks for the tip

The job of a psychiatrist is to prescribe medication, so I don't know why your doctor sent you to one. Maybe your doctor doesn't know a lot about Aspergers, because it would make more sense to send you to a psychologist than a psychiatrist.
I agree with looking for specialists in your area.

I find most shrinks are nothing but pill pushers and all they want to know is if you're taking said pills and they don't treat you like a human being. I've seen only maybe fifty different shrinks during my life, long before I was finally diagnosed with Asperger's, and they treated me as little more than a nuisance. I see a doctor now who is actually pretty nice, the only problem I have is that he speaks in a very low voice and I have trouble hearing or understanding him.

Well, this is bizarre.

I just looked up AutismOntario. "The Brant & District Chapter is not currently active. To inquire about re-starting a Chapter in this area, contact ........"

Hm. I did find a list of "Regulated Professionals with Experience in Providing Services to children & youth with ASD" but they're basically speech pathologists, social workers, pediatric dentists, etc. for after you're diagnosed, not a list of anyone who does diagnose!

I'll get a fresh start on hunting tomorrow - I'm just overtired right now and getting confused easily. I slept only about 3 & a half hours so I'm pretty much zombified right now

You are correct on all counts.

I live in a place where we don't have psychiatrists so our only option is psychologists, but I had a similar experience the first time I tried to talk about ASD. I felt like I was bullied and they wanted some song and dance show and didn't really want to delve into the depths, I left feeling rejected and depressed and angry. Consequently I dismissed ASD and resumed my theory that I was just a freak.

I recently started seeing a new psychologist, I just went for a little top up therapy after a few years without. My doctor is really good and thorough (even refreshes herself with your case before you go in!) and suggested this guy as a suicide specialist. I liked the idea that he was a bloke as I had only seen women psychologists before and the suicide side I thought might be helpful. Fair dinkum, this guy picked up on the ASD within half an hour, without any prompting from me at all. It was such a relief that I had found a psycho who wanted to look beyond the depression.

Anyway, all I am trying to say is that you don't have to settle on one opinion, get someone who is a specialist in the field, this guy is a clinical psycho rather than a consulting psycho, I don't know if that makes a difference or whether I was just lucky in finding this guy. Good luck with it.

I was going to suggest this as well. I had quite a similar experience with a psychologist my doctor referred me to. After stewing over the situation for months I ended up doing my own research to find someone myself. An online friend who is autistic actually volunteered to phone the person I found and interview her a little to see if he could suss out whether she would be a good person to see. He thought she was, which helped me have the courage to make an appointment with her. As it turned out, she used both interviews and a barrage of tests administered over the course of three two-hour sessions to diagnose me, so the psychiatrist you saw was rather ill-informed on that aspect.

The interesting thing is that her first impression of me, despite much experience on her part with working with autistic clients, was that I was probably not autistic. What was cool was that she was willing to seriously entertain my suspicions despite her first impression. To me that was a mark of her professionalism. She knew enough to know that her first impression was not the last word.

I would say you have every right to ask when you call for an appointment what to expect--how the person you are going to see generally goes about determining if someone is autistic or not. Will you be asked to provide a detailed history? Will you be taking any specific tests like an IQ test or an MMPI or such? If you have family members who can provide insight as to your early childhood, is there some way to involve them, maybe a questionnaire?

Also, would it help if you maybe wrote down the symptoms and life events that have made you suspicious you might be autistic? That way if the psychologist isn't asking just the right questions to bring all your concerns to the fore or if you get to rambling about work and run out of time to get to everything important, you have it all in writing and can leave it for them to look at.

Good luck. Don't give up. You have a right to be taken seriously and to receive a carefully considered diagnosis.

I'm sorry things went badly Blue Jay, I'd be disappointed too if I'd waited all that time to talk to someone only to have them give me the brush-off. You're right to go back to your doctor and tell him what happened, then request an appointment with a proper psychologist. I'm not surprised the psychiatrist knew little about AS: you are correct in that it has no medication associated with it. If your doctor keeps referring you to psychiatrists because he doesn't know what a good AS specialist entails, the others are right; going private and finding your own doctor, while potentially expensive, is probably a good choice.

I don't know if they work the same way in Canada as they do here in the US, but I got diagnosed through my university's psychology department. They offer services for students and non-students alike. Because I was unemployed at the time, I also paid the lower end of a sliding scale fee; $500, about a quarter of what a regular psychologist would have cost down here. If you live near any major universities, it may be worth a try to make some calls and see if they have what you're looking for. Even though I was assessed by a doctoral student, all our sessions were taped and scrutinized by her supervisor, a doctor specialising in autism spectrum disorders, so you won't have to worry about getting sub-par service because you're being tested by students.

I had exactly the same experience as the OP. I specifically stated to my GP that I needed a referral for Asperger's syndrome assessment. I got one and made an appointment, which I had to wait for for a few months. The psychiatrist was absolutely useless. He got the purpose of the appointment completely wrong and did no assessment although I had stated that I was there for that particular purpose. He thought he knew better than I did what I needed. $140 and my time wasted.

The lesson I learned was that you need to find a psychologist (or psychiatrist) that specifically does autism assessment. I looked at the Asperger's Syndrome organisation website and contacted them to ask for a list of names and contact details of local psychologists and/or psychiatrists that specialized in autism assessment. Then I went to see a different GP and got him to write a referral to one from that list. This time the psychologist was fully aware of the purpose of my seeing him and efficiently did the job. I'm in Australia but I believe the same works in your country, too.

Unless a psychiatrist is fairly new or has a specific interest in Autism, they really won't have a clue on testing. They have no training in that during medical school.

Autism is not a mental illness. My husband' s psychiatrist is 60, and during his schooling Autism was barely a blimp. He worked on a ward for mentally impaired children for a bit, but those kids had no differentiation other than mentally impaired but trainable. The ward was a collection of who knows what. Autism, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, brain damage. ..
So it was managing symptoms through drugs. There was really no testing back then.

All a psychiatrist will do is help manage the symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD and OCD. They can do talk therapy to help untangle confusions with dealing with people and social situations.

My husband's psychiatrist does no Autism testing. He will refer out only if there is a huge pressing need, like you are losing a job and need a paper trail, involved with CPS, getting a divorce and the spouse is raking you threw the coals. His view point (I disagree), that now you have a diagnosis, there is literally no help for adults who are not at the very bottom of the spectrum. We can't find a speech therapist to work on pragmatics or PT to work on spatial skills. Even if we offer cash.

Jay went through a psychologist who specializes in Autism testing. I specifically asked what tests the psychologist would administer. He did the gold standard tests. When I called around, some testing places only did interviews, no testing. That is just a scam.

You want a psychologist who will administer the different tests to diagnosis adult autism. If they can't tell you the tests they do, don't bother going.

My husband has s**t social skills. His psychiatrist doesn't think they border on "bad". When I brought up the lack of eye contact, this guy told me very few people have decent eye contact during the initial visits. So lack of eye contact can mean different things, not just Autism.

Sorry you wasted your time. You can't get disability due to POTS? That's how my friend got on SSDI.

I hope that you will be able to talk to someone who's more qualified in the future.

Just got in contact with the local university's testing center, like StarTrekker had done. Am now on a waiting list, though from what I understand, the testing is not specifically for Autism Spectrum related disorders, but to build a general cognitive/emotional/social/learning profile. Still haven't heard back from them about a date(s), but will keep you posted. So far, this seems like the most promising option yet.

I'm amazed by how little help there is out there for adults seeking qualified assistance. I guess that's part of why raising "Autism awareness" is a thing.

I happened to know the psychiatrist I went to see - because he is the only psychiatrist at a hospital where I work. It might be that because he is young and progressive and only out of his residency for a few years - he seemed to actually know something about autism and Asperger's. He listened to my thoughts and asked a number of questions. He expressed an opinion that he thought that it was quite possible perhaps even probable that I have some type of high function autism spectrum disorder. When I told him that I had been previously diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - he asked some questions and then expressed an opinion that he doesn't think I fit the OCD criteria - But I may very well fit the Autism Spectrum criteria. He did ask what problems do I experience today in my life that might be rooted in an Autism Spectrum issue? I told him that really the issue of anxiety and nervousness is the only significant problem at this time. Though I am socially awkward - I have adapted over the years and can function socially much better than I did when I was younger. He did recommend that I start on Zoloft to help deal with my anxiety and he also recommended that I acquire something like a stress ball or some comforting fiddle object to dissipate some of my energy in a less demonstrative way than some of my nervous ticks like flapping my hands. As he wrapped things up he recommended that I think things over the next couple of months and he will plan to do a full proper assessment and to see if other causes of anxiety and nervousness might be present other than autism related issues. He did say that if I want to - He would be willing to make an official diagnoses after completing a full and proper assessment.

So, anyway - I guess I was very fortunate. I think it is true that until the mid 90's most psychiatrist and even psychologist had virtually no knowledge whatsoever about Asperger's or autism. I suspect I was diagnosed back in 92 with OCD because that was the flavor of the time and the catch all diagnoses for anything people in that work didn't understand. I'm sorry you did not have the positive experience I had. Clearly you need a better shrink. Besides, I don't trust the type of shrink that thinks they can just "read" people. That sounds more like superstitious psychic nonsense than serious assessment.

Shrinks want cash; all the psychiatrists and therapists I've met have not helped me one bit and pushed for meds.