Preliminary Consultation for Aspergers Assessment

[Zorro]

I have a Prelimanary consultation next week with a Phychiatrist regarding AS assessment after being referred by my GP at my request. I am in my 30s. What am I likely to expect to happen. It is to be a one hour consultation.

 

I have done a spreadsheet as suggested by NAS of examples of the impairments listings relevant to me which I intend to take with me.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am very anxious of this consultation.

[Luigi]

Hi Zorro,

 

Last year I too was referred to a psychiatrist by my doctor at my request. I was 46 yrs old at the time. The psychiatrist referred me to a psychologist (or was it the other way around? I get mixed up with psychiatrist and psychologist).

 

Anyway, both appointments were pretty useless. I think that the problem was that my appointments were at the local mental health clinic. I think I am AS, but not very far down the spectrum, whilst some of the other people in the waiting room obviously had quite severe problems. The 'experts' more or less dismissed my claims of AS on the basis that their regular patients have much more severe problems than mine. They told me that they thought my problems were just traits of my character and that if they gave me a diagnosis of AS I might just rely on it, instead of trying to change for the better. I didn't agree with them, but more or less accepted their decision.

 

A year later, with my marriage failing, I went to my doctor again insisting that I wanted an official diagnosis. To be fair to my doctor, he arranged another appointment with the psychiatrist (the same one as last time). Two weeks ago I had my consultation, and again was told that he didn't want to say I was AS (for the same reasons as last time), but he has referred me for counselling. I agreed to go along with the counselling (it hasn't started yet) on the basis that at least I am now in the system and the counselling was the psychiatrists idea. If the counselling works, great, but if it doesn't I will not just accept being signed off. I intend to keep perservering until they take me seriously.

 

To cut a long story short, I would advise you to be very insistant at your assessment. They might try to fob you off if, like me, your outward appearance and behaviour looks quite normal during a one hour assessment. If the psychiatrist is a busy man, he might decide that he has bigger fish to fry. Don't let him get away with not taking your issues seriously.

 

Please don't let my reply make you even more anxious. But it's worth getting it right the first time rather than waste a full year like I did.

 

Good luck

 

Luigi

[Zorro]

Thanx Luigi

 

I have googled the Dr (which will presumably be Psychiatrist) my GP has referred me to. He was trainee last year so clearly not experienced in such matters.

 

I thought I was autistic about 15 or 16 years ago from watching Rain Man, a couple of years before AS was recogised outside of Austria. But as I have mainstream education and am intelligent and live a normallish if difficult socially life thought its not quite me. I was ironically looking at the detail not the big picture.

 

When I came accross AS on the net several months ago by chance, I thought to myself that I had been right all them years ago.

[Mumble]

Ok, I want to say at the outset, this isn't meant to scare and my experience may be out of the ordinary (but I suspect not).

 

As a bit of background, I'm 28, I was diagnosed AS (+ ...) in Febraury this year by an excellent specialist clinic. I couldn't have asked for anything more from the clinic or the consultant psych I saw. However, getting there was a long, long jouney (metaphorically and actually), and one I would not have been able to make without the fantastic support of my uni tutor and supervisor who became very skilled in the art of persuasion

 

This is very much the 'simple' censored version, because I'm very tired tonight (thankfully, I'm sure you're thinking).

 

What am I likely to expect to happen. It is to be a one hour consultation.

I wasn't allowed to be accompanied

I had:

• copying brother
• attention seeking
• maybe a bit anxious
• abused
• jealous
• time waster
• liar
• obviously coping because at uni and intelligent - can't be a problem

The psych claimed to be an expert in 'everything' and that I didn't need a specialist.

He refused to read the writing I had prepared on how this was impacting my life.

 

I ended up having a huge meltdown, more severe than I've ever had and it really frightened me. He closed the door on me and somehow my tutor who had waited for me got me back to her office, but I was in an absolute state and not really aware of anything I was doing.

 

My advice - go to the appointment, take someone with you if you can and try to get them allowed in. Leave a copy of your writing (or if possible send it in advance). Ask about his/her qualifications and ask for a referral to a specialist who can diagnose. If this is refused (mine was - obviously a meltdown as I had is perfectly normal ) put it in writing that you want a referral to a specialist clinic and send it both to the psych and your GP. When I did eventually get referred, I only needed a GP referral - but it does look better if you have followed 'proceedure'. You need to be determined, but if you're questionning whether you are AS and you feel a diagnosis rather than self diagnosis will help, then persist because it's worth it in the end.

[Zorro]

ta

[Tally]

I was seen by a psychologist who told me at the appointment that she thought I was right, that I did have a lot of the symptoms of AS, although she was not actually qualified to diagnose officially. This was enough confirmation for me until I read her report to my GP which said I made good eye contact and did not have AS. I don't know why she would say that, since good eye contact does not exclude AS, and I don't think making eye contact once in half an hour can really be considered good.

 

I asked my GP if I could be seen by someone else. I was referred to the mental health team again, and seen by a Community Psychiatric Nurse, who took me seriously and believed I actually had the symptoms I said I had. She was open and transparent, and even gave me a copy of her write-up from the appointments I had with her. She agreed that seeking assessment for AS would be a good idea, but acknowledged that it was unlikely I would get seen on the NHS.

 

She couldn't refer me herself, but wrote to my GP asking him to do it. He was reluctant, but eventually did, and I was seen privately and diagnosed.

 

The problem with people trained in mental health care is that they are looking for psychological causes for the symptoms they see. Sensory sensitivities can be caused by traumatic experiences. Inability to make eye contact can be caused by anxiety or self-consciousness. And so on. Someone who has a good understanding of AS and autism will know to look for a neurological basis for the symptoms you are displaying.

 

I hope the appointment is helpful to you, but you might get more from seeing someone who specialises in ASD.