Failed to get an autism diagnosis

Post Reply New Topic

So I went in for my autism diagnosis and it came back as 'non-spectrum' but she said it's hard to get an adult diagnosed without information from my parents about my childhood.
The did give me a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, which both my wife and her mother (who is a LICSW) disagree with wholeheartedly

I'm pretty confused and even more depressed than I was before... no idea what I should be doing next.

Sorry to hear about your experience! Unfortunately many on the spectrum are miss-diagnosed with such areas like yourself, whether BPD, schizophrenia etc...

Only judging by what you have said it seems the people doing the diagnosis have very little experience with those on the spectrum... Yes it is often masked throughout life as many of us adopt coping mechanisms, however there are many subtleties that unless one is aware of or has spent time in this area can easily be missed... Best option is to see some one that is specialized in this area as i put my faith in the system here also and it has failed miserably as i was dealing with people that openly said they had no experience in such an area... If you have done a fair amount of reading on the subject as well as maybe try the RAADS and RDOS online and fall in the spectrum criteria, then you have a higher chance of maybe being on the spectrum... Online tests such as these are used by clinicians but should only be used as a tool... As you have family members that have a specialty in health care and have made clear your current diagnosis doesn't add up, i would strongly suggest getting a second referral to someone specialized in the Autism spectrum..

Take care!

edit: seen your signature you have done one of the tests... My bad

When I take that online test I get either even-steven between ASD and NT, or I get flat out NT. But the good doctor officially diagnosed me as having aspergers when I took the real deal exhaustive battery of tests (my parents were no longer available, but he did have my sister, and my GF to interview).

But I think that you got your subforums mixed up.

This is the "Adult Autism" subforum where 'adult' just means 'obscene',. Lol!

You want "in depth adult life" down the hallway (where 'adult' means 'older than adolescent'). That's where they talk about stuff related to being a grown up with autism. Here is where you talk about the naughty stuff hidden from the kids in the brown paper bag (like booze, drugs, and sex).

Autism is a developmental disorder meaning it does have to be present in early childhood. If there is no proof of autism in childhood some clinicians like yours will not diagnose you. There used to be a diagnosis called Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) that was used for people whose autistic traits were severe enough to be impairing but did not fully meet the diagnostic criteria. It was considered part of the Autism Spectrum. PDD-NOS was subsumed into the Autism Spectrum diagnosis in the manual that came out in 2013. Some studies have suggested that people who would have been diagnosed with PDD-NOS in the old manual have less of a chance of being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the new manual than people who would have been diagnosed with other old diagnoses that were subsumed such as Aspergers Disorder.

Some clinicians will take into account that
1. Anything but the most severe levels of autism was not known about
2. Old school records are hard to find.
3. Parents are dead or their memories from decades ago are not reliable.
And if they do see clients have most of the autistic traits and it is impairing them will diagnose adults without proof of early childhood autism.

At age 35 your school records and teachers notes and may not be gone. The records will not say you were autistic, but if you are they will show autistic traits. Your siblings knew you in childhood, ask if they are willing to be interviewed.

So my current autism therapist (Eva Mendes, who i would highly recommend getting her book if you're in a neurodiverse relationship) said she can actually give me the diagnosis and she believes the standard test I received simply doesn't do the job.

It seems like "Borderline" is some sort of "catch-all" diagnosis these days.

Just like "Oppositional Defiant" disorder is for kids who are stubborn and throw tantrums.

It might be that this psychologist was too lazy to "dig deeper," or he/she had old-fangled notions about what autism truly is.

I would go for another opinion, preferably by someone who specializes in adult autism, and who is hip to the latest trends in autism.

The one thing I find most troublesome here is the Borderline diagnosis. It's one thing to refuse to give someone a diagnosis based on not having enough info. Although it's unreasonable to make a blanket statement that you can't diagnose without a separate source on childhood behaviour, at least there is some justification for being conservative about handing out diagnoses.

But when they follow up that reluctance by handing out a Borderline diagnosis, when there is doubt about the issue, it seems unprofessional. They'd better have some solid reasons for dagnosing Borderline in you - particularly when your family does not agree! From what I understand, Borderlines act from completely opposite reasons than autistics, so if they are wrong, any treatment for Borderline (if there is any) would be completely different from what you'd give an autistic person.

Make them explain in writing their reasons for choosing Borderline as an explanantion. How long did they spend on you, anyway?

Borderline personality disorder is a thing - https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/ ... ndex.shtml

it's not an adjective assigned to the personality disorder. It denotes that the personality is literally always on the borderlines (like giant mood swings)

They said the BPD diagnosis comes from the Personality Assessment Inventory

I know it's a thing. I don't understand what you think I don't understand.

It might be correct then - but I'd still ask for a more detailed explanation - how this applies in your specific case, otherwise it is not very useful for you. Just like no two autistics are alike, I doubt that Borderlines are carbon copies of each other. What does your therapist think of their answer?

The important thing is whether you yourself feel that this applies, and can be of some use to you.

There are quite a few people on WP who have at some point been diagnosed with Borderline. Some autistics have horrible mood swings, often due to sensory issues, frustration and trauma. I don't, so I'm curious abut why there seems to be so much misdiagnosis in that direction.

As my mother was still alive when I was diagnosed as an adult, the psychologist I saw asked me to interview her, providing him a window to identify my autism from my childhood days.
Are the OP's parents still alive? If so, perhaps they could also provide said window into the OP's past.

I misread your comment, sorry