Going to get a diagnosis, but I wonder if it matters...

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I have my first psychologist's appointment for AS on Monday to see about getting a diagnosis. I spoke with her today and she said she could offer me a diagnosis based on the DSM IV criteria, but that she didn't know how valid it would be, due to the criteria in the DSM for AS being so outdated. So, I was wondering, should I wait to get a diagnosis, or is the current DSM criteria really that different from the proposed criteria in the DSM V?

The DSM V is including Aspergers, but I haven't heard much about it besides that.

No offence but this psychologist sounds like they don't do this sort of diagnosis that often.
Yes it should be based on the DSM criteria - they should however be using specific diagnostic tools as using the criteria on its own can be misleading.
The gold standard tools to use are the ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) and maybe depending on your age and willingness for parents to be involved the ADI-R (Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised).

DSM-V was due for release early next year and they have announced that it will be now around mid 2013 so i would just go ahead and get it now if you really want to know.

Autism diagnosis is a specialist area in psychology and not every psychologist has the training to be able to conduct such as assessment.
Its a good idea to check this out before you go next week

Good luck

Great reply, Sharkgirl.

It's not outdated, it's just not applied very uniformly, and when it was first introduced to the DSM-IV, there were no actual assessment tests for it. However for the larger part of history there were not assessment tests for much of anything. A diagnosis of any psychiatric, neuropsychiatric, or psychological disorder previously just entailed the doctor saying they thought you had it.

These days, however, assessment tests have become rather standard in diagnosing and those who do not have a diagnosis via such modern methods run the risk of (or have the advantage of) having their diagnosis doubted, and as criteria and testing procedures change, one might find themselves being put in the position of constantly having to "prove" their diagnosis through expensive, repetitive testing.

As silly as that can get, I have to say that there are other things that can mimic AS and it's important (at least from a scientific standpoint) to rule out these conditions. The DSM-IV criteria alone can't do that.

Here are somethings task diagnosis 'thinking skills, including verbal and nonverbal intellect, executive skills and learning / memory abilities'.

They decided to keep it?

Yes they will be keeping aspergers in DSM-V although it will be combined with autism and PDD-NOS into one catagory called autism spectrum disorders, therefore the term aspergers will not exist anymore. So there will be no distinction between high functioning or aspergers and autism generally. Although they will presumably have a severity scale.

To further illistrate my point regarding the fact that just looking at the criteria (instead of using diagnositc tools) to diagnose is misleading for those psychologists without proper training in ASD assessment.

Part of the criteria DSM-IV

Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:

(1) encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus

(2) apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals

(3) stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)

(4) persistent preoccupation with parts of objects - this part is supposed to cover all the sensory issues that may be present but is not at all obvious in the description. (eg; things like spinning wheels on cars indicate a visual sensory issue).Psychologists will routinely just use the diagnostic criteria for other disorders such as depression, oppositional defiant disorder etc. In the case of ASD they really need to be using a diagnostic tool.

Thank you all for your replies. I will contact her and see whatever other methods she may be using. I've taken all of the tests online and they all say AS, yet I don't know how much validity they hold, as I'm new to all of this. Then again, those tests are geared toward AS, so if it's something else that mimics it, might not be too helpful either.

What other things can mimic AS?

I also wanted to add, that I do have OCD, as well as auditory processing disorder, but those don't account for my other AS symptoms, so I don't know what to do. I'm just really confused.

I disagree with using the DSM for diagnosis. The psychologist (specialized in autism) who diagnosed me using the Gilliam Asperger Scale test and asked me to have 2 person close to me fill the Australian scale for Asperger.

I remember my first psychologist (who was not specialized in autism) saying that she didn't think that I had Asperger because she wasn't sure that I had all criteria of the DSM. Using standarized Asperger tests is much better than simply using the DSM. It's also important to be diagnosed by someone who as experience with Asperger.

Yeah, I'm going to contact her again today, because that's just it, I feel like I fit into AS, yet simultaneously I feel like I don't quite fit into the requirements as stated in the DSM . Some of them seem like they could be taken more than one way. Do you know how accurate any of the online tests might be? Are any of them the same as what you might take in an office?

The online tests that we do for fun are not the same as the real standardized test but you can find the official Australian scale for asperger test on internet thought. It's not a very deep test though, it's only really used to confirm that others also see the Asperger traits in you. It might be a very good idea to make your really close friends (or parents) fill it out so that you can bring this to your psychologist.

I don't think that online tests are bad. I find the aspie quiz to be quite good except for the "hunting" criterion. (http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php)
Here's my results if you want to compare :
Your Aspie score: 132 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 79 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie

Okay, I'll check it out. Thanks!

Yeah, my Aspie score was 166 of 200 and I don't have my neurotypical score in front of me, as I'm not on my home computer.

No problem!

166, you beat me! I'm jealous lol