Diagnosed I guess...? Now what?

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Long story short I met with my psychologist for the 2nd time after meeting with her to take the ADOS a couple weeks back. I took home a questionaire to give to my best friend's mom. (She has nieces and nephews on the spectrum and was the first to suggest aspergers as a possibility. She has spent a lot of time around me in social settings and is familiar with my difficulties.) The psych said she'd call my best friends mom as well as my own mom to ask more questions.

When I went in the 2nd time, she said she talked to my friends mom but not my own mom. She said I scored above the cap for autism. She thinks I probably have some type of anxiety disorder as well. She recommends therapy or group therapy but not medication.

At this point I am taking other steps toward my well being and really don't care too much about the label after all. But now that I've had time to think, does this mean I am officially diagnosed? Should I have paperwork or something that talks about it? Do I have to disclose the diagnosis when I go to other doctors, apply for jobs etc? The psych is going to send me info about therapists and I can certainly ask her more questions if necessary. I'm just a little confused as to what happens now in relation to the testing.

I would definitely expect a written report of the results of the test(s) you took and the self-reports you and your parents/friends filled out, as well as what those results mean, both colloquially and as far as a documented diagnosis goes. You are, for all intents and purposes, "officially diagnosed", but you may need the paperwork for things later, such as help at work, government aid, etc. I would just call the psych and ask if she has documentation she can give you, and if she doesn't, if she can write up an official report. It may take her some time to do this: mine was eighteen pages long, and had numerical values for all the tests I took, including the ADOS, and a subsequent description of what each of the results meant. On page 15 it says, "DSM-5 Diagnoses: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Level 1 ("requiring support")". That was basically the capstone that collapsed the previous 14 pages worth of data into something meaningful for officials (boss, government, etc.) to see.

My diagnosis was almost ridiculously simple (helped perhaps by the fact that, according to the therapist, I have very good self-awareness). I talked and answered questions for an hour, took home a multi-choice quiz to fill out and return, and then at my next meeting (to my relief and a little to my surprise!) the therapist said that she was convinced that I was Aspergian. I asked, "Is this a diagnosis?" and she said "Yes," and that was that.

It seems to me that Asperger's Syndrome can manifest itself in so many different ways that it is very hard to know what is meant by a 'diagnosis'. There are big differences in the type and severity of the symptoms, and there are big differences in the way that professionals deal with them.

The desire to be given formal confirmation of a diagnosis is common amongst Aspergians, but relatively unusual in the majority of health issues. If you suffer from Rheumatism, say, you will probably just accept whatever treatment the doctor suggests without requiring any kind of paperwork. If you need to declare the condition on a job application, or in an insurance claim, then the potential employer or the insurance company would ask for your doctor's details, and they would directly contact the doctor for more information.

If your rheumatism was so severe that you needed a wheelchair, say, then you wouldn't have to prove that you had rheumatism - you would simply need to prove that you cannot get around properly without the chair. Equally, if your Asperger's Syndrome is so severe that you need help with day to day living, then you would be assessed according to your needs rather than according to your diagnosis. There are lots of reasons why people need to live in sheltered housing schemes - their needs are similar even though their diagnoses might be different.

I think the reason why Aspergians feel the need to be given a detailed report of their diagnosis is because it gives a kind of closure. For many Aspergians, a formal diagnosis will not make any practical difference to their daily lives, but it might allow them to understand their own condition a bit better. The OP on this thread is an example of what I mean - the 'label' is quite interesting, but he/she doesn't really plan to make any kind of use of it.

The written diagnostic report usually arrives sometime after the verbal diagnoses. If you are unsure that you have been officially diagnosed contact her.

I have noticed that there have been several posts lately from people that seemly have been verbally officially diagnosed but have left their psychologists office unsure if that is what occurred. For members and hopefully clinicians reading this be aware there are literal minded people in a particularly stressful and emotional moment. Therefore even if a verbal diagnosis was given the client might have missed it especially if their was any type of vagueness in the way it was said.
For members make sure when you leave their office you know exactly what has occurred and what the next steps are. You probably have paid a large sum to this person a deserve to know what occurred.

Yeah... I guess I should have asked her to clarify before I left that day. I suppose I can give it another week or so to see if she's going to contact me or mail me something. I always hate having to say "Hey, I know we JUST talked, but would you mind telling me what exactly just happened?"