Diagnosed with personality disorder before autism.

Hi- this has been my experience as well.  I was first seeing a trauma therapist who was very helpful but after about 2 years we sort of hit a wall where she felt I possibly had BPD and I thought I was probably autistic (after much research and self-diagnoses) but my trauma therapist would not accept the autism- even after I was evaluated by my Psychiatrist and she confirmed the autism and said I did not meet qualifications for BPD- even with some symptom cross over such as abandonment issues. I then felt very sad and had a lot of imposter syndrome feelings around my belief that I may be autistic- because this therapist i had been working with for 2 years, who had been helpful with some trauma related issues etc- did not believe me and was accusing me of creating "stories" about my life (aka pattern recognition) and "distorted narratives" (she did not believe my feelings were actually what I said they were- she felt I was in denial). Anyway - after a lot of heartache, I decided to pursue a formal diagnoses  with an autism specialist and she basically told me that I can be confident in my Autism, and that a personality disorder is the number one mis-diagnosis for late diagnosed autistic women because therapists have been trained to look for this above Autism in women. She advised me to find a new therapist who would be supportive of my diagnosis and support the goals I have for myself- sadly not all health professionals recognize the wide array of autism presentations in adults and women. I would suggest you first find a mental health services provider that supports you and your Autism diagnoses and  then I would request they consult with the doctor that diagnosed you with BPD to try to have them remove the diagnosis. Or if that is too difficult perhaps the private evaluator you went to could write you a letter for other health professionals mentioning the prior diagnosis was inaccurate. IDK- it sucks to not be believed and I hope you are able to find someone who will help you and focus on the challenges you would like to work on. 

Hi- this has been my experience as well.  I was first seeing a trauma therapist who was very helpful but after about 2 years we sort of hit a wall where she felt I possibly had BPD and I thought I was probably autistic (after much research and self-diagnoses) but my trauma therapist would not accept the autism- even after I was evaluated by my Psychiatrist and she confirmed the autism and said I did not meet qualifications for BPD- even with some symptom cross over such as abandonment issues. I then felt very sad and had a lot of imposter syndrome feelings around my belief that I may be autistic- because this therapist i had been working with for 2 years, who had been helpful with some trauma related issues etc- did not believe me and was accusing me of creating "stories" about my life (aka pattern recognition) and "distorted narratives" (she did not believe my feelings were actually what I said they were- she felt I was in denial). Anyway - after a lot of heartache, I decided to pursue a formal diagnoses  with an autism specialist and she basically told me that I can be confident in my Autism, and that a personality disorder is the number one mis-diagnosis for late diagnosed autistic women because therapists have been trained to look for this above Autism in women. She advised me to find a new therapist who would be supportive of my diagnosis and support the goals I have for myself- sadly not all health professionals recognize the wide array of autism presentations in adults and women. I would suggest you first find a mental health services provider that supports you and your Autism diagnoses and  then I would request they consult with the doctor that diagnosed you with BPD to try to have them remove the diagnosis. Or if that is too difficult perhaps the private evaluator you went to could write you a letter for other health professionals mentioning the prior diagnosis was inaccurate. IDK- it sucks to not be believed and I hope you are able to find someone who will help you and focus on the challenges you would like to work on.