How are people diagnosed with Asperger ?

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I was wondering how people were diagnosed with Asperger because I've just read a blog where a French girl tells her story and what she had to do, it seemed very difficult.

I know that my dyspraxia was diagnosed by my GP because it had been suspected for years, he did not even make me take an IQ test though some dyspraxic people have to take one (it is not compulsory though). It was not that hard to get diagnosed.

As for Asperger Syndrome, this girl wrote that she had to take many appointment, first she had to explain why she suspected she had AS, then how she developped as a child, then she took a sort of IQ test which took a long time and included questions about general culture such as "who wrote Hamlet ?", there were many tests : exercises with numbers and signs, math problems, words and definitions, link between two words, etc. There was also and interview with her mother to prove that her development was not normal as a toddler.

(And I really think I would totally fail and have a low IQ and by the way).

I wonder how it was for you.

My diagnoses came in stages. First, it wasn't until I went to college that a professor suspected a learning disability. He referred me to a specialist on campus, who gave me a series of tests. I was working with Voc Rehab at time, and they took the test results as in indication that I needed a formal diagnoses. So, I had to take a really long series of additional tests that were broken up over the course of several evenings. The outcome of this, was a diagnoses of dyscalculia. Years went by, and started counseling for depression. The counselor, upon hearing of my sensory issues amongst other things, suspected AS. She arranged for me to get an informal screening. This was inconclusive, so she referred me to a psychiatrist for still more testing. This woman was an idiot; first of all, she tested me with materials better suited for grade schooler, and then said that I had PTSD. I searched until I could find someone who would at least do more towards learning my past history and such, before assigning arbitrary test results as my sole truth. Finally, I found a psychologist who observed me over the course of several weeks, asked a lot of questions, etc. She formally diagnosed me with Aspergers, and was amazed that it hadn't been caught before. But TBH, I am older, and when I was a child, Asperger's was not as widely known about as now.

It's different for everyone.

I was IQ tested, my parents had to answer a bunch of questions and I was under general observations by multiple people.

It can be done several different ways.

A child psychologist, neuropsychiatrist, or autism specialist will do an interview. That's the one thing present in almost all diagnoses; and if the person is really specialized in autism, they may be able to get a diagnosis without doing additional testing.

They usually do additional testing, though, including things like IQ tests, concentration/memory, academic achievement, physical coordination, etc. These are useful because autism often comes along with learning disabilities and sensory integration issues, and if you have those, they will want to catch them at the same time. For example, if you have auditory processing issues, there is testing they can do to check your auditory processing ability. (Mine is 52 percentile points below my visual word-recognition ability--a huge gap--which suggests I have auditory processing disorder).

Incidentally, your results on an IQ test cannot rule out autism, because autism is not limited to any range of IQ scores--high, low, and average IQs can all be associated with autism. However, an IQ test can be useful to discover whether you have a large Verbal/Performance gap or the characteristic sub-score scatter expected from autistics; and if the doctor is considering an Asperger's diagnosis, he will rule it out and probably put you in PDD-NOS if you score below 70.

There are social-perception tests like face-reading or "here's a hypothetical situation; what do you do?" sorts of tests. These can be used to assist in diagnosis, but can be more difficult to use in adults because we have often drilled ourselves, brute-force style, to learn these things that are instinctive to NTs.

They may also do personality tests, symptom inventories, and screenings for psychological problems. And any good doctor will check to see you've had a physical checkup lately, and do tests for physical conditions that may cause your symptoms, especially if they're new ones.

One unofficial way is to take the Aspie Quiz. This is an anonymous questionnaire composed of 150 mixed questions. At the end of the quiz, the site calculates your "score" and says "You are most likely an Aspie", "You have both Aspie and NT traits", or "You are most likely NT". Remember, it's just for reference and doesn't provide an official diagnosis. A more official way to diagnose Asperger's syndrome is to consult the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) criteria for Asperger's syndrome. Here are the criteria:

(I) Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:
-----(A) marked impairments in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body posture, and gestures to regulate social
--------interaction
-----(B) failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level
-----(C) a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interest or achievements with other people, (e.g.. by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of
--------interest to other people)
-----(D) lack of social or emotional reciprocity

(II) Restricted repetitive & stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:
-----(A) encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus
-----(B) apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals
-----(C) stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g. hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)
-----(D) persistent preoccupation with parts of objects

(III) The disturbance causes clinically significant impairments in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

(IV) There is no clinically significant general delay in language (E.G. single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years)

(V) There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self help skills, adaptive behavior (other than in social
----interaction) and curiosity about the environment in childhood.

(VI) Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia."


The best way to diagnose Asperger's syndrome is to refer to a specialist. He/she will take a detailed analysis of your history and have you fill out several questionnaires. This is the most accurate way and provides an official diagnosis but costs money.

I was diagnosed through working with and talking to my psychiatrist, and having undergone a thorough battery of neuropsychiatric testing, including IQ testing and brain scans and EEGs. It was thorough, but not really that hard. But, I am older, and there were some things that couldn't be done, like interviews with my parents and teachers from when I was a child, as both my parents are deceased. That had to be taken on my word alone on the difficulties I faced as a child in things that pertained to things related to ASDs and such.

After much thought and consideration, I brought up the possibility, and after much research on my own, I brought in my own findings and had a lengthy consultation with my psych, and after reviewing all the previous testing I had done, and his own notes in previous sessions, he agreed with me, and thus I was diagnosed.

Thank you for all those answers.

Darth_Barbie(your username is quite funny) : May I ask you why was the EEG and brain scans necessary ?
I have done an EEG at 14 to determine the cause of my fainting episodes (no cause was found ) and a brain scan at 18 to determine the origin of my migrain (no tumor, great) but I have no idea what else they can determine with these.

EDIT : Probable answer this website : http://www.autism-pdd.net/checklist.html
It seems that it's mostly used to search for brain tumors or other diseases which could be linked with autistic behaviours.

I'm going to guess EEGs and brain scans were there to diagnose epilepsy and rule out anything caused by a physical brain injury or abnormality.

I was sent to the school psychologist to discuss my depression, that's when I got diagnosed with Asperger's. I wrote a little vignette about it on my WP blog.

My psychiatrist didnt run any test he just kinda guessed it after 15 minutes but didnt tell me. By the hour and half point he was confident enough to tell me and explained the whole mini column and short connection theory. He is giving a talk next month at a local college about AS which leads me to think the he is either really good or a "fad diagnosis" guy.

I still have my diagnosis on paper. It was released when I was 4-5 years old when I was diagnosed. It said that although I answered the questions they gave me, my answers would be a bit off. Foe ex, when they asked me where did you go to school? I answered September. It even said that I was unable to know my address. I didn't get Aspergers, I just got PDD/NOS and was classified PDD/Autism. Because of my diagnosis, I had to go to another elementary school with a special needs teacher who helps kids with ASDs. Plus, I was said to have many problems as an autistic kid. Day cares that I went to wanted me to leave because they couldn't handle my behavior. I was a unique kid back then.

There's a lot of different ways.

I don't recommend the way I was diagnosed (with autism rather than AS, but same thing really). I attempted suicide and ended up in a mental institution. The psychiatrist there immediately thought of autism, especially after my mother told him my developmental history. But he waited a long time. He did a huge number of tests, which involved me leaving the ward and going to his office for testing several times. Then he observed me for weeks on the ward. Then he finally diagnosed me. (And confirmed this again several times over the course of the next year I was in and out of the place, and confirmed it again when I was an adult after several years of his being my psychiatrist.) He was randomly assigned to me and I was lucky back then to meet someone who understood autism, given that the place I went wasn't specifically for developmental disabilities (although plenty of people there had them), and given that this was 1995 and people still barely knew it existed, let alone what it was. (These days I would have been diagnosed as a toddler.)