benjimanbreeg
Well-Known Member
If they didn't test you or anything, then its not official. I had some doctor guy, that was through the job centre, that said I had aspergers. But then I had to wait like another year to get diagnosed.
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Yeah, it was an official diagnosis through the NHS from a psychiatrist, but they didn't test. I had it in writing that I had it, but there were no tests.
Now correct me if i'm wrong (the whole Autism spectrum can get confusing at times) but isn't Aspergers Syndrome an ASD? Or are you saying that the diagnoses should have been specific as to what ASD it was?Willow was saying she had a **** experience with the NHS who previously diagnosed her with ASD
Yes, Aspergers is part of the Autistic Spectrum, but the people who I've seen don't know **** and said that I HAD Autism Spectrum Disorder. They refused to specify where on the spectrum I was.
Erm. I've gone through the NHS before and they didn't test me for anything yet still arrived at a conclusion of Autism Spectrum Disorder. The person we saw/are seeing privately was recommended to us by the National Autistic Society, he's been through a lot of widely used tests with us and he is going to be writing up a report for Chris, and for me later as he is still testing me for some things.
I got to see a psychiatrist because I'd been having a lot of problems and I'd been seeing my GP for a few years and he didn't know what was wrong. I've seen 2 psychiatrists.
I was diagnosed without testing for AS because the first one I saw asked me a million questions, none were proper AS tests, and he wrote up a report, the second one read through the report and said it sounded like I had an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Yes, Aspergers is part of the Autistic Spectrum, but the people who I've seen don't know **** and said that I HAD Autism Spectrum Disorder. They refused to specify where on the spectrum I was.
I am now paying to see someone who is doing all the proper testing. For a change. If I didn't have it, he wouldn't diagnose it. You don't get a diagnosis regardless just because you are paying.
In my opinion, it's better to pay for a professional opinion than to simply stick with someone who may be unqualified. If you are seeing someone reccomended by the NAS, that person's opinion is very likely to be based on evidence from research, whereas another psychiatrist, from the state or private, may have specialized in a different area of study...say, Eating Disorders, and not have a clue about Autism Spectrum Disorders beyond formalized tests.
I also feel a little sketchy about formalized tests: they are very decontextualized, designed to elicit a specific response (or not), often ask leading questions, and are either objective yet unreliable (as far as I've seen for formalized tests for ASD's), or extremely subjective while only looking at one dimension of a person. (I just want to qualify here that in the US, a Speech-Language Pathologist--what I'm studying to become--can diagnose ASD's if they have had enough clinical experience with people on the spectrum. Thus, students like myself have to study some of the formalized tests that are availible.)
From what I can see, the best diagnosis for AS would come from an interview-style diagnostic session with the individual and at least one person who is significant in their life who can provide a more "objective" opinion. The psychiatrist giving the evaluation should have thoroughly researched Autism Spectrum disorders. This kind of 'holistic' approach takes quite a lot of time and effort, however, so I suppose it's not always feasible.
Hopefully that was a positive contribution to the discussion... :unsure:
So you're saying that if you don't pay for a diagnoses the psychiatrist with a degree in mental health is inexperienced and therefore probably doesn't know as much ?