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Wondering where to go from here?

seppuku

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.

Parents

  • Thanks LoCommotion. Was just drafting this up when I got the notification of your post Laughing

    I went this morning, as you say “armed” with various bit of evidence, about why I’m convinced I have Aspergers. Amongst this were my four sheets of notes that I had jotted down as and when things came to mind since booking the GP appointment. There was also a single sheet, whittled down from the four by cherry picking the strongest pointers and arranging into social communication, social interaction and social imagination sections, as per the advice on the NAS website. My intention was to use the single sheet as a prompt initially and use the four pages as backup evidence if he needed more convincing. In the end I used the single sheet as planned and gave him the four sheets to read later at his request.

    When I first mentioned Aspergers, he basically said that Aspergers is just a label and wanted to simply treat any symptoms that Aspergers causes. His reason was that around 18 months ago he had someone in similar circumstances come to him for a referral. He said that it had been impossible for him to be assessed as there was nobody in the local area that was willing to assess an adult for Aspergers. He said he doesn’t like the situation, but it is one he can do nothing about.

    He did listen to me about how, what I believe to be Aspergers, has affected me. I told him that a positive diagnosis would help me to understand how Aspergers has shaped my life and where I am going from here. I also told him that I am not hoping to get an Aspergers confirmation, I am hoping to get a diagnosis, positive or negative. I just need to know one way or the other. He said he would try and refer me and would keep me informed of any news.

    I came out of the appointment with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the GP listened to everything I had to say but on the other, it seemed I would be unable to obtain a diagnosis simply because of where I live.

    About an hour later I got a phone call from my GP. He said that a psychologist, with particular interest in adult patients with signs of autism, Aspergers or ADHD had been recently appointed in a hospital fairly local to me. He said the only fly in the ointment is the funding. The hospital is in a different NHS trust so my local trust will have to pay for me to attend any appointments there so he will have to apply for permission or something? The call was very rushed and I was just about to go in to another appointment with my son so I didn’t really understand that part of it. I’m a bit hazy on whether this is definite arrangement or if it might be rejected. I'm waiting on a further call to explain more.

    Good luck with your appointment also LoCommotion Smile

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  • Thanks LoCommotion. Was just drafting this up when I got the notification of your post Laughing

    I went this morning, as you say “armed” with various bit of evidence, about why I’m convinced I have Aspergers. Amongst this were my four sheets of notes that I had jotted down as and when things came to mind since booking the GP appointment. There was also a single sheet, whittled down from the four by cherry picking the strongest pointers and arranging into social communication, social interaction and social imagination sections, as per the advice on the NAS website. My intention was to use the single sheet as a prompt initially and use the four pages as backup evidence if he needed more convincing. In the end I used the single sheet as planned and gave him the four sheets to read later at his request.

    When I first mentioned Aspergers, he basically said that Aspergers is just a label and wanted to simply treat any symptoms that Aspergers causes. His reason was that around 18 months ago he had someone in similar circumstances come to him for a referral. He said that it had been impossible for him to be assessed as there was nobody in the local area that was willing to assess an adult for Aspergers. He said he doesn’t like the situation, but it is one he can do nothing about.

    He did listen to me about how, what I believe to be Aspergers, has affected me. I told him that a positive diagnosis would help me to understand how Aspergers has shaped my life and where I am going from here. I also told him that I am not hoping to get an Aspergers confirmation, I am hoping to get a diagnosis, positive or negative. I just need to know one way or the other. He said he would try and refer me and would keep me informed of any news.

    I came out of the appointment with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the GP listened to everything I had to say but on the other, it seemed I would be unable to obtain a diagnosis simply because of where I live.

    About an hour later I got a phone call from my GP. He said that a psychologist, with particular interest in adult patients with signs of autism, Aspergers or ADHD had been recently appointed in a hospital fairly local to me. He said the only fly in the ointment is the funding. The hospital is in a different NHS trust so my local trust will have to pay for me to attend any appointments there so he will have to apply for permission or something? The call was very rushed and I was just about to go in to another appointment with my son so I didn’t really understand that part of it. I’m a bit hazy on whether this is definite arrangement or if it might be rejected. I'm waiting on a further call to explain more.

    Good luck with your appointment also LoCommotion Smile

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