Psychologist says he doesn't think I have Asperger's

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I talked to a psychologist last week. I told him about my social awkwardness, about my problems with eye contact, about my inability to make small talk, about my tendency to fiddle with office supplies, about my obsessive thoughts, about my attentional problems, about my anxiety, about my idiosyncracies which are consistent with those of many people who have Asperger's Syndrome, about not having friends, about never having had a girlfriend, about being underemployed, and in spite of all that he told me he didn't think I was autistic or had Asperger's Syndrome. This psychologist seems very professional, and it's obvious that I don't have a case of classical autism, but I'm furious by his claim that he doesn't think I have Asperger's Syndrome. He didn't test me or anything, and after talking to me for less than an hour he just reached the conclusion that it was unlikely I was on the spectrum.

All this is my fault, though. You see, when you tell a doctor or mental health professional you think you have something, they tend to play it safe and assume you don't have it. That's the way they play their game. If I hadn't mentioned the words autism or Asperger's Syndrome there would at least have been a chance he would have thought I was on the spectrum.

I am furious at myself for being so stupid!! ! And I don't care if saying this makes me sound stupider or hypochondriac or delusional, but I don't care if I never get formally diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, because I have it. This won't be the first or the last time people downplay the magnitude of the problems that affect my everyday life. I just need to learn to be confident and stop seeking external validation.

Feel free to comment.

It's possible that this psychologist has studied and diagnosed many people on the autism spectrum in the past, and in comparison you don't match up to the people he has seen. You should be encouraged by the fact that you aren't as 'bad' as the autists he may be familiar with...

I'm sure that is frustrating. It sounds like you already have a decent attitude about it, which is not to worry about it too much. It's just a label, and if the label helps you to organize your thoughts, to understand yourself, and to live a productive and happy life, then go for it. A lot of psychologists don't know very much about Asperger's syndrome. I was seeing a shrink at my school's counseling center, and I told her about my AS suspicions, and she said that AS is not something you have from birth but a set of behaviors that can be changed, more like OCD or something. What an idiot. That was the last time I went to see her.

I understand your frustration completely. I had an extremely difficult time getting a diagnosis for my son. Really, it seems to me that professionals don't want to make a diagnosis. They describe it in vague terms. It's like they are afraid to make a decision.

If the psychologist was an older person, he might be set in his ways and doesn't really believe in the spectrum. I took my son to one psychologist. I even asked the guy up front if he believed in autism spectrum disorder (as my son is clearly not classic autistic). The psychologist assured me that he believed in the spectrum and he did a full neuropsych evaluation.

It was a total waste of time. In the end he said, some people would say that my son has autism spectrum disorder, but that he couldn't use the word autism because he had a patient who couldn't talk. He gave my son a generic label of developmental delayed (but not ret*d). I was so mad that I wasted time on it with that psychologist.

You should find a place that specializes in Aspergers. I found a place like that in my area.

Mw99, you've been around this site, longer than I have. How many times have we all seen a similar story, or the sharing of such stories on the way to a diagnosis? It's very frustrating. All the symptoms get written off to this thing or that thing. It "could be" this or it "could be" that. If they find several things wrong with you, and give you treatment for those things, they make more $, and perpetuate the medical community's much beloved axiom "better living through chemical dependancy". If what they do to treat the things you 'do' have overlap what you 'actually' have, then they're still covered.

Keep your head up. You don't sound stupid to me, or delusional, and you never have.

mw99--if ever I was going to put my faith in anyone to give me a diagnosis, it would be Tony Atwood. Live near this guy? I believe he's in CA. He is the guru with Aspergers and even congratulates you when you get your diagnosis.

Anxiety IS an offshoot of Aspergers. I had one jerky psychologist skirt around the real issue of AS and list a bunch of symptoms in his two page report (school's report). I had already had my son dx'd -- a thorough evaluation by reputable ASD specialists in my area. His dx is pdd-nos with aspergish tendancies (I do think he's probably AS) but he switched topics too well.

I should invite this psych to the library one night. My eight-year old son's spending two hours in the library photocopying a phone book and magazine articles in order to create flyers to pass out, is not merely anxiety. There's something else going on there. I know this already. I don't need a doctor to tell me it's anxiety or attention seeking behavior. I know atypical behavior when I see it. Try to get him to hurry and he bites his bottom lip and shakes. He used to hit his head with his fist when he was frustrated so this is an improvement.


I'm certainly not a professional, but when something seems to elude professionals and make their heads spin, it's probably a spectrum disorder.

equinn

You could still get a second opinion. I agree that the phrasing, "I think I have . . . " might tend to bias any medical professional. When I went in for my diagnosis, I said, "I've been reading a lot and looking back on my life and I've begun wondering if I might have AS. What do you think?" When she asked for more information, I handed her a detailed list of my AS traits. It included references to my medical history (things that could be verified if necessary).

I think that phrasing it as a question conveys respect for the diagnostician while downplaying the possibility of hypochondria or something similar. Providing a list that they can study is also helpful because it increases the probability that they'll understand why you suspect you have AS. With the evidence in writing, they may not be as distracted by your tone of voice. I think that a lot of doctor's are easily biased by a patient's tone of voice and nonverbal communication, which could be very misleading if you do have AS.

I've never been diagnosed as having Aspergers. I've never even sought diagnosis. I think it's wildly obvious that I do have it - anyone who knows me reads the wikipedia article, or a journal description or a forum like this and then immedately comes to the conclusion that I have aspergers.

I think I probably did better as a kid, not having the 'label' to fall back on. I think I function better as an adult because I've never been treated differently or had a social 'excuse'. I've always just had to work a bit harder to get along.

I've been diagnosed as Dysgraphic - which is good because it let me do my university exams on a Laptop or a computer which is MUCH better - my marks went up by about 30% when I stopped trying to handwrite - or fill in those stupid circles on the multiple choice forms. But I've never seen any benefit in having an aspergers diagnosis. I know what I am - and I don't think I need meds for it. Hell I'm terrorfied of the personality changes my friends on meds have experienced.

I don't mean to discourage anyone from getting diagnosed - I just want to say - if you know why you're a bit off kilter and you know enough about yourself to manage that fact, not having a diagnosis isn't the end of the world.

Its a bit strange that he didn't test you but maybe he felt you do well enough that its not really important. If you really want to know for sure go to a diagnostic specialist and request diagnostic testing, not just a sit down consultation.

I thought we have MRI scan to biologically diagnose Asperger's now. Has anyone gotten diagnosis with MRI? If such a test is available, you can take the result back to your psychologist and tell him to send his patients to you for Asperger diagnosis.