Self diagnosed aspergers

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I self-ed diagnosed in the beginning because of my age and position in my career ( I was 55 ). But upon having some problems in my work that I felt related to my possible "Asperger Syndrome". I decided to go the official diagnosis's route, I was diagnosed with Aspergers.

This was a much more painful task that I had thought possible. In the process I discovered some things others may find helpful and greatly reduced the likely-hood of a false diagnosis :

1. Make sure the diagnostician is a board certified clinician and very experienced with ASDs in you age group.

2. The test should be neuro-psycological in nature, I will not list all the test here, but it is not an one time office visit evaluation process. Make sure both the RAADS-R and the ADOS are included, or equivalent. There are no purely neurological or DNA test for ASDs at this time. It should take 3 to 4 visits and about two hours each for the testing regime. Again a good clinician will know all of this.

3. Make sure the diagnostician does not engage in selling therapy programs or sessions after diagnosis. This is a clear conflict of interest. If you use a board certified clinician this should not be a problem.

4. Make sure you get a full report, it may arrive sometime after the test are complete, make sure it is discussed thoroughly with your diagnostician and that you understand its full import. It took me six months to adjust after diagnosis, just to get my head around it, both for the positive and negative.

5. If you have and an ASD, your report will say something to the effect that your condition will affect you to a degree sufficient in both your occupational and interpersonal functioning. This is important, that it says both!

6. In the event of a diagnosis be very careful about announcing this to your family, as Asperger's is highly genetic and some will not want to hear about it, regardless of how you may feel.


Self-diagnosis can be sufficient in some cases but worthless in others, bottom-line self-diagnosis is just your opinion. If more than your opinion is needed, a professional diagnosis will be necessary and worthwhile. Question whether you need a diagnosis, it will follow you the rest of your life. It is not cute, it is serious.

Hint:
If you are self-diagnosed with Aspergers and you find yourself satisfied with teleological explanations of life and world events, your probably need a professional diagnosis, just for your own sanity.

That being said good luck!




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normal2357 - Excellent advice...

My diagnostic testing included a battery of tests:

- Cognition/Information Processing
--- Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV)
- Attention/Executive Functions
--- Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test (IVA+Plus)
--- Brown ADD Scales
--- Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST-R)
--- Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRiEF-A)
- Memory
--- Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS-IV)
- Adaptive Behavior
--- Vineland-II Adaptive Behavior Scales
--- Advanced Clinical Solutions (ACS)
--- Adult Asperger Assessment (AAA)
--- Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2)
- Social/Emotional
--- Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III)
--- Multidimensional Anxiety Questionnaire (MAQ)
--- Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS)
--- Rorschach Psychodiagnostic Test

The testing was completed in 6 hours (3 total sessions). The questionnaires were done at home.

Are all tests required? Maybe not. But, the similarities between Aspergers and other "conditions" are staggering.

Also, I suggest anyone considering a diagnosis carefully “shop around” when selecting a Psychologist for an assessment, by asking lots of questions. The questions I asked included:

1. What neuropsychological exams/tools/instruments do you use in conducting this evaluation?

2. Will your testing help identify whether i have Aspergers or whether it's simply anxiety, social anxiety, extreme introversion, extreme shyness, lack of confidence, social phobia, low self-esteem, schizoid, obsessive compulsive personality disorder, ... causing these symptoms?

3. How much experience do you testing for Aspergers? How many adults have you diagnosed as being on the spectrum?

I self-diagnosed because it was suggested to my mom by a psychologist friend of hers that I might have it, and after spending a year denying the possibility, I finally decided to look into it and researched autism extensively (it's one of my new special interests) and I now see just how well the majority of pertinent symptoms fit me. I've been wanting a real dx for a long time now (almost 2 years) but haven't yet because I can't afford it; everywhere I've looked has been at least 2 grand and for me that's half a semester's worth of college classes. One of these days I'll have the funds to get properly diagnosed though.

I always had a feeling that something in my head was a little "off" My second grade teacher apparently thought I had ADD. I remember overhearing my mom telling someone about it. My mom wasn't convinced, so I was never tested for anything even though I had problems in school all the way up until I (barely) graduated.


I first heard about Aspergers after going through a psych eval in the airforce for problems I was having adjusting to being in the military. The doctor I talked to went over my results and talked about what she observed. She mentioned Aspergers, among other things as possible explanations for my issues. At the time I didn't give it much thought because I just wanted to get out of there.

Last February, a coworker asked me if I had Aspergers. By that time I kinda knew what it was even though I pretty much forgot about what the psychiatrist said after my eval.
She started telling me what the symptoms are and which ones she noticed while working with me. That's what really made me start to think about it and start investigating.

My best friend is an occupational therapist and she used to work with kids on the spectrum, I asked her about it and she said she thought for years that I might be on the spectrum. She sent me a link to the RODS aspie quiz and on my first try I got 129\83.

After that I read everything I could find about Aspergers. Usually staying up till 3am.
I found WrongPlanet and was amazed at how much I had in common with everyone here.

Lately I've been talking to my roommate, who is a registered therapist. After talking about it over the past few months, She said she'd put me on the high end of the spectrum, would DEFINITELY Dx me with anxiety and maybe avoidant PD.

At this point, I'm relatively content with being "self diagnosed", bit I still would really like a Dx (what ever the Dx is), mainly for my own peace of mind. I'm about to experience a life changing event that has kept my mind off all of this. I guess having a leg amputated will do that

The problem with self diagnosis is ..most people do not have the schooling and knowledge to self diagnose, imagine if people were just aloud to self diagnose physical illnesses, such as cancer. so many people would be going off to get treatment for the cancer they "know" they have but don't actually have cancer, it's a waste of time and money to seek treatment for things you don't have, not to mention, what is the actual point of self diagnosis, you pretty much can't get any help with it without a proper diagnosis, just like with cancer.

The problem with autism is it's not the same for everyone, and a lot of other mental illnesses look a lot like autism, and autism looks a lot like other mental illnesses. I understand you have to start someplace, if you think you have autism, go find out if you do, if you live in America you most likely will not have a good time during this process, as an adult.

So in my opinion, the reason these self diagnosed are called posers and what not is basically, if you have autism they should tell you you have it, if they do not then you do not have autism bad enough to stop you from doing anything, or you just do not have autism at all. just because you think you do, doesn't mean you actually do, but that is why you seek a professional to make sure.

I can give my story as an example, all my life i was diagnosed with ADHD, bipolar depression, borderline personality disorder, oppositional defiance disorder and social anxiety. no treatment, medications, or therapy worked on me whatsoever, my life was miserable, i managed not to die, or kill myself by the time i was 18, and got married, after years of more misery, her son who was 17, was doing a paper on mental health and ran across an article about autism, he noticed wile reading i shared a lot of traits with the people in this article about autism, so he told my wife, who called someone and had me checked out. i was diagnosed with Autism (aspergers almost doesn't exists anymore according to the people who diagnosed me, not sure what that even means, they said eventually it'll just be ASD so i just call it autism, because they called it autism/aspergers the entire time, and autism is easier for me to spell, and more difficult to make stupid ass burger jokes about)

So really, everyone self diagnoses at first, but ..the reason it's looked at weirdly is because it just doesn't seem right, to self diagnose, and then just do nothing, it's almost as if you want/need to have autism, but can't find anyone to agree with you, so you just label yourself as a person with autism and then just whine and complain about being unable to get treatment for a issue you most likely do not have, i would suggest looking up credentials before speaking to just random psyd's.

Don't freak out, i do not care if you self diagnose yourself with autism, it makes no difference to me i am just letting you know what i think, i do not claim to be correct either, this is just my opinion, if you see 4 doctors and none of them say you have autism, then you probably do not have it, they can't all be wrong it's not logical to think that way, you shouldn't just keep seeing doctors until you find one who agrees with you, you should accept you might not have what you thought, and try seeking help for what you might have.

Autism is not "cool" it's not a "gift" , it has caused the most pain and suffering in my life, i would give anything to be rid of it, my legs, my intelligence, whatever if only i could be rid of it, i would give you self diagnosed my stupid autism if i could have whatever you think you have that's probably not autism, i envy you.

Shop around???

I don't know where you live, or what your economic circumstances are, but this sounds like sheer fantasy to me. When I was desperately looking for some way to get a diagnosis, most of my "shopping" involved being told I had to pay thousands out of pocket and so not an actually available option.

The reality is that my insurance (and I understand this is typical) will pay for none of this. Part of the argument the insurance companies make is that neurological testing is not diagnostic of autism and they are correct.

Not one of the tests that you list can definitively diagnose autism, though they can help a diagnostician form an opinion. This is partly because a number of those scientific-sounding tests amount to scored questionaires about symptoms. Others, like IQ tests do not tell the diagnostician anything about the persobn's autism or non-autism. This is why no scores on the listed tests or scales are included in the diagnostic criteria.

For the purposes of diagnosis, it is the criteria as listed in the DSM or ICD that define autism. Matching observed characteristics in a person to the criteria requires the subjective evaluation of the diagnostician. An experienced diagnostician can do this evaluation very quickly in many cases, though some cases may be harder.

As for normal2357s requirement of 6-8 hours of testing spread over 2-3 visits, I don't believe there is any factual basis for this requirement.

I believe there are several possible meanings for term “shop around”. One has to do with finding the best price. Another has to do with finding the product/service that best meets your needs. I was referring to the latter, not the former.

As a note, when I sought a psychologist for testing, I suspected Aspergers. But I suspected a whole bunch of other stuff as well (including a personality disorder). A mental health professional that I had met with recommended a thorough psychological evaluation. I was lucky in that my insurance company did reimburse me for the most of it (though, the reimbursement almost happened by accident). I was also lucky that I live in an area with lots of options. So, “shopping around” (i.e. finding a reasonable provider) was a possibility. It took time (I called a lot of places). Most of the practitioners in my area conducted evaluations for children, not for adults.


I wondered about this as well. My first thought after being diagnosed was skepticism (generally I am a fairly skeptical person). Immediately afterwards, I posted my second post on WP asking a similar question (i.e., “How [do] these tests prove I have Aspergers?”). Ultimately, I ended up getting additional confirmation from two other sources (which I also have written about) and after an 18 month discovery process feel at peace with the diagnosis.


Agreed. The psychologist who administered the tests, just didn’t administer tests. She carefully observed my behavior during those tests. There are numerous comments in my psych evaluation (which I have read and re-read multiple times) that describe behaviors that (at the time) I was totally unaware of. It was quite enlightening.

I self diagnosed as being on the spectrum about a year after I started looking into the idea that I might be autistic because someone asked me if I had aspergers..... and after my best friend said she suspected it for years, when I told her about it. When I read about autism and aspergers it made my whole life make sense! It was one of the most important realizations of my life. A year after I considered myself self diagnosed, I got an official ASD diagnosis.

The whole process has let me learn a lot about myself and I've learned new coping mechanisms from others that have helped me function better. My mental well being has greatly improved since I realized I was autistic and I finally understood why some simple things can be so difficult for me.

I have had the good fortune of having a good psychiatrist who knows something about ASD and who listens. If a person can have a professional diagnoses from a mental healthcare professional - I would suggest they should. But from what I am hearing there are three major problems that people run into with that:

1. Many psychologist, psychiatrist or therapist don't know ANYTHING about ASD

2. Many psychologist, psychiatrist or therapist don't listen - they make assumptions.

3. For many people it is expensive and the cost is prohibitive.

I am very lucky that I have a psychiatrist who does listen and knows something about ASD and I have the coverage to pay for it. Not everyone is so fortunate. I understand that. Not everyone here does, unfortunately.

I didn't know I had it. When my daughter and son were both diagnosed my physiologist suggested to me that she thought I may have it as well and that I should be screened for it. So I took the necessary steps to get diagnosed. While I waited for my diagnose, I researched adult women with autism and it suddenly became clear to me that I was autistic. So during that waiting period between the realization and the diagnose I self-diagnosed.

I understand, but the reality is that if you can't pay for it, you can't select the option. It took me months to find option that I could barely afford in an area (New York City) with a vast number of diagnostic professionals specializing in ASDs. I looked into several university research programs that would have provided free diagnosis as part of participation in research, but was rejected by these programs because of my age.

I understand that you needed a very rigorous process before you could really accept your diagnosis, but not everyone needs that or can go through such a process.

I see people listing all sorts of additional levels of certainty that are needed for a "real" diagnosis and I think it's a bit mad. A person doesn't need to have a 2/3 majority of 3 or more diagnostic evaluations before he or she can conclude that the diagnosis is real.

If self diagnosis helps to deal with life and institutional accommodations of some kind are not needed, a professional diagnosis is not needed at all (unless it's for personal reasons, which I think will be the case for many.)

I have yet to see any evidence that false self diagnosis is widespread or a problem. I see bogus arguments raised against it, such as the terrible danger of the wrong treatment being used, when there is no treatment, and so on.
I think it's complicated because for low severity people their autism label is met with all the disbelief and denial typical of an "invisible disability."

I'm glad you were able to get your answers.

I realize that everyone is different. At the same time, I am oftentimes puzzled why there aren’t more people here like me. Before I was diagnosed, I knew something was wrong. And I started reading about an alphabet soup set of conditions that could explain my behavior. Going in, I figured that I could have just as easily been diagnosed with a Personality Disorder (OCPD + Schizoid), some form of Anxiety Disorder, or Aspergers. From my perspective, I was missing sufficient data points from my early childhood years (I had some, but simply not enough for my level of satisfaction). As such, at the time of diagnosis, I was uncertain what the diagnosis would be.


I concur. Again, I don’t consider myself to be normal that way. I have a tendency to obsess about these things.


I completely understand that knowing I have Aspergers helps me better deal with life.


Thanks. Me too.

I'm self-diagnosed.
My field of employment makes extensive study of disabilities compulsory, including autism, which I chose as one of my electives. When I first read a list of the traits associated with Asperger's I realised it described me perfectly but I never admitted it to anyone because I was already 'different' and I didn't want to make the difference any more noticeable.
People I work with who are familiar with autism, have autism themselves or are autism specialists have recognised that I'm autistic without me telling them and have made various comments to me over the years about my disorder.
I've also had my self-diagnosis confirmed by a number of professionals qualified to recognise and/or diagnose autism but I've never pushed for an official diagnosis until now.
Until I've completed the formal diagnosis I won't be anything but self-diagnosed but I do think of myself as autistic and refer to myself as such on this forum. I could think of myself as 'possibly affected by Asperger's Syndrome pending the confirmation of formal diagnosis' but I'm not that autistic.

Revisiting this and for the most part, I still feel this way. I relate to a lot of what I've read about Asperger's, but what if I have something else like a Personality Disorder? I still feel like something is amiss with my brain wiring, but assuming it's Aspergers could be a mistake and it might be something else. Maybe I'm a little Schizoid?

Unfortunately, for financial reasons, I haven't sought out a professional who can assess me yet either for Aspergers or whatever other possible issue I might have.

People that self diagnose ASD really shouldn't because there area least five other disorders that produce certain ASD like symptoms and behaviors. It's impossible to say for sure which is which by your self alone.

From the posts I've read on this site some self diagnosed people probably have something along the lines of social communication disorder, Schizoid personality disorder or a non-verbal learning disability over ASD.

One of the tell tale features of not being on the spectrum is that your issue is purely confined to your social interaction like picking up on social cues and getting on with people and you have no other developmental issues. ASD is SO much more than that and us who are truly on the spectrum have other processing problems, sensory issues and skill deficits.

Sounds like you feel ok about diagnosing others..