Diagnosis confusion.

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I started my AS quest about 6 months ago as it became apparent to me that I exhibit (and always have) 98% of the symptomatic criteria for an AS diagnosis, which I thought would be a brilliant thing as it'd somewhat explain a pretty hefty chunk of why I struggle through life so much, mostly in social situations but not limited to them. I thought it'd be quite valuable to at the very least speak to a professional about it and have them analyse me. Now, I know a diagnosis isn't a magical cure but I feel as though it helps other people understand certain things about you that you can't otherwise explain to them. Not to say that it's an excuse to just never speak to anyone, but if things start to get difficult for me, or I become overwhelmed/burnt out or over-stimulated, it'd pretty easy for me to say that I'm reaching my limit due to a condition and that it's not just me being intentionally difficult or dramatic.

So, my therapist decided to write to my GP requesting him to refer me to my local Asperger doctors, I assumed he'd understand that if a psychologist thought it necessary to see a professional then it probably is best to just refer me. Instead, he smirks and turns to me and just blurts out; "You don't have Aspergers". To which I'm somewhat taken aback as I didn't know you could just make a confirmed decision for something like ASD, as it's a spectrum afterall. He then went on to tell me that he's known me for years, which is true, and that because he's known me for a while he thinks that I'm perfectly normal. He decided to list a whole bunch of things that he believed I exhibit that contradict Asperger syndrome, but the whole thing confused me...
He's seen me for several appointments over a few years for about 5-10mins maximum each time, he literally knows nothing about me other than whats on my notes. I'm anxious for days before my 5-10minute GP appointments, and I prepare everything I want to say before hand and ACT through it like it's a job interview or something, how can he go by what he see's in these appointments? I mask my way through life, which is why it's so exhausting for me. I literally sit down in the GP's office and have no idea what to say, or how to say it even though I know i'm there for a reason. I told him that eye contact makes me squirm and at best I can only really hold eye contact for a second before I have to look away to gather my thoughts, or I can't speak properly. Now, he may be right, I may not be on the spectrum but I personally don't think his reasoning was remotely enough to completely rule out the possibility. I was almost offended that he assumed he knew so much about me, when everything he listed couldn't be further from the truth.

That's annoying, I hope you keep pushing for it if it's important for you. My psychiatric eval went the same way.

I am sorry that happened to you. I think this kind of behavior is not uncommon, unfortunately. Asperger's and autism are poorly understood by most people, even specialists. I hope he will give you the referral regardless of his "instant" diagnosis. If you have the option of finding another primary care doctor, you might consider it. What would happen if you pointed out a growth and he said "You don't have cancer!"

In Britain, no GP is qualified enough to say whether someone has aspergers or not, it takes an expert with special training. Even most psychiatrists are not trained to spot aspergers.

I'm pretty sure you cannot be refused a referral for an ASD assessment if you ask for one , I'll find the relevant info and post it

My GF asked my shrink for an ASD assessment for me and he said there was no point , my GF said I know my rights you cannot refuse my request and I got my referral , maybe my GF just blagged the shrink , I'll ask her about it later.

Is there any way your therapist can refer you for testing Where I'm from even the so-called "experts" think of autism as a less sever form of mental retardation.

I'd say that if you are in England, keep pushing. It took me years to get anywhere with it.

I can't find the information I want but here is some useful information I found

I had a cardiologist pull that crap on me about a heart condition, and after pushing him to test me anyway it turned out I was right. So, medical people can be wrong in their snap judgments in a way that is mind-boggling. Shouldn't they be more fact-based and careful in their thinking?

I could be wrong, but I suspect that medical training actually tells them to use a gut-feeling or subjective impression as a guide, which is likely fail spectacularly with anyone on the spectrum. I almost think that ASD could be defined by being constantly misread by NT's.

Thanks for all the replies, it's nice to know that I'm not crazy for being confused about my appointment.

I feel so uncomfortable about pushing for things as I'm quite meek I suppose. I think I'd be classified as a "people pleaser" and try not to make things difficult for people, or annoy them as I feel like I'm quite a hindrance to people. I know that if I don't push then I won't get anywhere, so it looks like I'm going to have to leave my comfort zone for a while.

When I went to my gp I printed off LOADS of information about autism in adults and the signs and a checklist. And listed all my experienced that I believed correlated with autism. Went armed with a folder of information try that, or something not quite as over the top! I even included contact details for the local clinics that do assessments!
Good luck!

My family all said there's nothing wrong with me, and they actually see me. It's a prejudice I Think, they expect autistic people to be a certain way and when you're not like that to them they think you aren't autistic (rather than the possibility that they don't know everything)

The guy who assessed me was in no doubt im autistic and was super nice so don't let your crappy gp put you off!