How do you get diagnosed with Asperberger's syndrome?

fiona · Emu Egg Joined: May 12, 2007 Posts: 6

I would like to know how the diagnosis is made. Is it done by a psychiatrist? Psychologist? Team of specialists? Is there a comprehensive evaluation or is it a questionaire (like the Beck inventories) that you fill out yourselF?

As soon as I read about Asperbergers, I recognized myself. I have always felt different and not connected with people. As a child, I did not know instinctively how to play with other children; as an adolescent, I was way behind socially and I am suffering many decades later.

When I read about symptoms such as "does not make eye contact" I was astonished. I had no clue that you were supposed to. I tried making eye contact with someone at work this week to see if it was what I thought they meant. I looked directly at her eyes and it was not just difficult, it was painful. I don't know if I will ever do it again.

Not only do I not pick up on social cues, I also have difficulty distinguishing one person from another. This is not race or gender based. I worked in a law firm for several years. There were about a dozen white male lawyers mostly of Irish or Italian descent. Except for those with very distinguishable features - such as extremely heavy or had a beard, I could not tell who they were if they were not sitting in their office. If I met them on the street, I could figure out who they were. In other social situations (and there are getting to be less and less social situations) I have to be introduced to a new person over and over again.

Strangely, I graduated college and law school and am now working as an attorney. The fact that I definitely have an undiagnosed problem was reinforced last night when I was sitting at my desk at 7:00 p.m. when all the other attorneys had gone to a dinner function for a charity that the firm is involved with. When asked if I could to attend - I said no. (The unexplained reason beingI didn't want to go to dinner with a group of strange people). It hit me later on that the purpose of the function is not just to eat dinner, it's part of the business, I am obligated not only to attend but to
represent the firm, network, etc. etc.

I was so angry with myself. I had been frequently turning down dinners and other "networking" opportunities because I did not see them as business obligations and I still do not know how to "mingle' with strangers. I know that my bosses were annoyed about this but I did not understand why.

Why is it that some people instinctively know how to interact with other people and some, like me feel like they were deposited as a baby on the "wrong planet?" Is there a way to teach adults social skills when they are not, on their own, able to pick up on any social cues?

Any suggestions would be welcome. I have never been a happy person on this planet. Thanks.