I'm looking for a little advice. I'm a 37 year old male with a history of anxiety and depression. I have always felt different for as long as I can remember and have suspected I may have Asperger syndrome since my early twenties but have always, for one reason or another, convinced myself otherwise and put it to the back of my mind. Lately I've been thinking about the issue again and decided to look into it properly once and for all. I have taken the Baron-Cohen AQ/EQ tests and scored 34/19 respectively.
I've spent a lot of time on the NAS website and forums and a lot of what I've read coincides with my own life experiences. I have to confess I even broke into tears at one point as, after reading something in particular, it just felt like it explained so much from my past about who I am and why I do the things I do. Since looking into the condition of Asperger syndrome it's felt like I've come home.
Anyway, to the point. My wife and I have been going to counselling for communication problems in our marriage. Last session the counsellor asked, as usual, how the last week has been and it came up about the AQ test. He said he has a significant amount of knowledge in this field and asked why I felt the need to take the test so I started to explain why. He stopped me after about the third reason and said I don't have autism. He said the reasons I’d listed were coping strategies I’d developed for the difficulties I’d faced in life. I told him I don't think I have autism, but I think I may have Asperger syndrome. He said you can't take internet tests seriously but asked if there was an author of the test, which I thought was odd. He said that after working with us for so long he would have spotted it. After that he said if you still have any concerns see your GP. He seemed convinced though that, no matter what my reasons, he would have spotted the condition and it seemed was telling me to see my GP out of duty.
So now I'm really confused. I believe I have a lot of valid reasons for thinking I have Asperger syndrome. I haven't come to this conclusion lightly. However, someone who I respect, who says he has considerable experience in the area, says I do not.
Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.
