Seeking Diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome
There is an official diagnostic criteria regarding Asperger's Syndrome. While good clinicians will do a thorough study of a persons 'life history' before attempting to diagnose a person, there sadly are plenty of 'cowboys' who will follow a very unprofessional path. Always make sure a doctor or clinician is state registered or affiliated with a local hospital and if you are based in UK be sure to contact The National Autistic Society who will provide advice on authentic medical professionals who do assessments for Asperger's.
If you are in USA and are seeking a list of clinicians who specialize in Asperger syndrome *click here (link courtesy of Online Asperger Syndrome Information and Support) The list is for your information only, and this site makes no claims about the quality of the services offered by clinicians on the list.
Gaining a diagnosis as an adult isn’t always easy, especially as Asperger syndrome still isn’t widely heard of and understood among GPs. A typical route for getting diagnosed is to visit your GP and ask for a referral to a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist, preferably one with experience of diagnosing autism and A.S. If you are already seeing a specialist for other reasons, for example, a psychologist because you suffer from depression, then you might wish to ask them about a referral instead.
Sadly, it can be very hard to convince your doctor that a diagnosis would be either relevant or necessary. While there are some very well known professionals who understand the condition fully, many people describe their Doctors as "not wanting to know". Here are some tips on how to present your case so that they can see both why you might have AS and why having a diagnosis could be helpful.
Ways to bring up the subject with your Doctor
Make sure the diagnosis is the only thing you are seeing your doctor about. If you try and drop it into a consultation about another subject they may not address it fully. A good way to bring up the subject is to mention that you have been reading about autism/Asperger Syndrome and that you found it relevant to yourself.
Describe the character traits of Asperger Syndrome
AS is characterised by something known as the triad of impairments. People with AS will be affected in some way by each of these impairments. It may be a strange thing to do but you should be prepared to inform your Doctor about the different parts of A.S. I say strange because it can be a little daunting having to be in the position of giving a Doctor advice!
Social Communication
People with AS may be very good at basic communication and letting people know what they think and feel. Their difficulties lie in the social aspects of communication. For example:
- they may have difficulty understanding gestures, body language and facial expressions
- they may not be aware of what is socially appropriate and have difficulty choosing topics to talk about.
- they may not be socially motivated because they find communication difficult, so they may not have many friends and they may choose not to socialise very much.
Some of these problems can be seen in the way people with AS present themselves. for example classic traits include:
- difficulty making eye contact
- repetitive speech
- difficulties expressing themselves especially when talking about emotions
- anxiety in social situations and resultant nervous tics
Idea: A Doctor with a willing understanding of the condition should be able to spot some of your traits during a consultation
Social Understanding
Typical examples of difficulties with social understanding include:
- difficulties in group situations, such as going to the pub with a group of friends.
- finding small talk and chatting very difficult
- problems understanding double meanings, for example not knowing when people are teasing you
- not choosing appropriate topics to talk about
- taking what people say very literally.
Add to this by explaining the kind of situations that you find difficult
Imagination
This can be a slightly confusing term. Many people with AS are extremely able writers, artists and musicians. Instead lack of imagination in AS can include difficulty imagining alternative outcomes and finding it hard to predict what will happen next. This frequently leads to anxiety. This can present as:
- an obsession with rigid routines and severe distress if routines are disrupted;
- problems with making plans for the future, and having difficulties organising your life;
- problems with sequencing tasks, so that preparing to go out can be difficult because you can't always remember what to take with you.
Secondary traits of Asperger Syndrome
Besides the triad of impairments, people with AS tend to have difficulties which relate to the triad but are not included within it. These can include:
- obsessive compulsive behaviours, often these are severe enough to be diagnosed as obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD;
- these can also be linked to obsessive interests in just one topic, for example they might have one subject about which they are extremely knowledgeable which they want to talk about with everyone they meet;
- phobias, sometimes people with AS are described as having a social phobia but they may also be affected by other common fears such as claustrophobia and agoraphobia;
- acute anxiety, which can lead to panic attacks and a rigid following of routines;
- depression and social isolation, this is especially common among adults;
- clumsiness often linked to a condition known as dyspraxia. This includes difficulties with fine motor co-ordination such as difficulties writing neatly as well as problems with gross motor co-ordination such as ungainly movements, tripping and falling a lot and sometimes appearing drunk as a result.
Not having these associated problems does not mean you do not have AS, but if you have any of them you might want to describe it in order to back up your case.
To conclude…
You don’t need to go and describe every single one of these features. Your doctor may be more likely to respond if you give one good example from each area of the triad. And perhaps most importantly, try your best to describe yourself and how you have experienced these problems and traits throughout your life.