I had my first real evaluation appointment today (questions)

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So I was told I'd be doing an IQ test and probably some other tests, but seeing as the first psychologist I saw was getting ready to move at the time and is now gone, I hadn't met this new psychologist until today, so he instead decided to do a more extensive personal interview for most of the 2 hour session.

He asked me why I thought I might have Asperger's, and I just told him the story of how I came across information about Asperger's, and that I felt it was the first thing that really explained my difficulties. After this he told me that, at least when it comes to social interaction, there are several reasons for why I could have these difficulties, one obviously being autism, also social anxiety, and certain personality disorders. He also said that some people are simply a lot more introverted, and in a society like this where everyone is highly pressured to be a social butterfly, people like that could easily think something was wrong with them. I don't think he was trying to say that's what he thinks my problem is, I think he was just informing me there are several possibilities for social problems. I didn't really get a chance to tell him specifically why I think I have Asperger's, I was just answering the questions he had, which were mostly just about my past in general, and that's how the social issues came up.

He did give me a test, I had to press the space bar as letters popped up on the screen, for every letter except X. That tests for ADHD, right?

For some reason I'm just worried I'm going to get diagnosed with something I don't even have. Like, I'm pretty sure I don't have social anxiety. I just don't enjoy socializing simply for the purpose of socializing, nor am I good at it. I can do it without feeling anxiety, usually I just feel uncomfortable, and like it's a waste of time because I'm not going to connect with the person. I'm not incredibly awkward, but I think people probably notice my discomfort. I think I was able to explain that, but I worry about it.

Should I tell him next time more specifically why I think I might be autistic, or maybe give him a list of reasons to look at? Or am I worrying too much, and I should just let him do his job?

I wrote dot points on each area - social, communication, sensory etc particularly to address the question of why I thought I had Asperger's because I knew I wouldn't be able to verbalise it. My psychologist even asked me for a copy of the dot points to write his report.

I wrote out a ten-page bulleted list of all my autistic traits and how they changed as I grew up, and printed out my results from the online RAADS-R test I took. I know my psych looked at them because there were references to things I'd written in my diagnostic report. I say it couldn't hurt to write everything down; at the very least it'll demonstrate your autism through your attention to detail and need for structure

I agree with the others. It sounds like you might have the same problem some of us have had with verbalizing why we think we're autistic. The first time I actually contacted a psychologist about seeing me, I decided to include a long list of symptoms and reasons why I was concerned (I also included online test scores). The person who ran the clinic I contacted showed it to their two psychologists and told me they felt that it was worth looking into. So I'd definitely say writing it down could help you explain your concerns.

I had the same concerns - I think its normal. especially when you have anxiety going into the evaluation anyway. Hopefully - if your psych is worth his salt - it will all come out in the wash. I left my evaluation genuinely impressed at how well trained the staff was and how easy they made everything.

Good luck.

Thank you for the responses. Luckily the psychologist seems to have at least a decent understanding of autism; he gave me a brief description of it by saying that "it has a lot to do with functioning and communication problems", which is a pretty accurate summary.

Ironically, the communication problem part is why I've always had problems in evaluations and therapy, and thus why it has been impossible for anyone to figure out what my problem is. I've answered questions literally on questionnaires which led to the psychologist being confused, because then when they ask me about my answer, I realize that it meant something else and my answer should have been the opposite. But I didn't know how to explain this (I didn't even realize that I was taking it literally, I would just start wondering why I lied).

I have a week until my next appointment, I will try to make a written list of reasons in that time so I will have something to give him. The problem is, I've tried to do this before, but I can't figure out how to organize what I'm thinking. And like you said, rebbieh, I don't know how to filter out what's more important, so it ends up being a long process because I have to write everything, and then I start feeling frustrated about having so much information that it's impossible to organize... ugh. But I will try.

After I first learned about Aspergers (in mid-December 2012), I spent the next 4 months reading everything I could about the “condition”. I became interested not only in Aspergers, but also other “conditions” (i.e. certain Personality Disorders) that could be “confused” with Aspergers. I spent many, many hours each week reading Wrong Planet (and other online forums) as well as more than a dozen books (about both Aspergers and Personality Disorders).

During this “discovery period” I began documenting a whole bunch of stuff including: online test scores, therapy history, work history, list of anxieties, list of “obsessive” traits, list of social interaction difficulties, list of sensory difficulties, list of motor difficulties, list of work difficulties, list of special interests, list of stims, rituals/routines, work history. Just about everything I could remember, beginning from when I was around 3. The entire document was > 30 pages.

I also identified a list of "conditions" that I "could" be "diagnosed" with (including: Aspergers, Extreme Introversion, Shyness, Nonverbal Learning Disorder, Social Anxiety, Generalized Anxiety, Avoidant Personality, Schizoid).

I sent the document to the clinical psychologist, before our first meeting. During the diagnosis process (which consisted of 3 x 2 hour sessions), we did not discuss the document. Though, it was obvious she read parts of it, as some of my personal observations were referenced in the final diagnosis report.