Autism Assessment

[Unconventional]

I'm 17 and back in January my then sixth form advisor and myself had suspicions that I may have Asperger's or some kind of high-functioning autism. She was in the process of referring me to a mental health team for other reasons (stress, depression, self-injury) and contacted an educational psychologist to try and get me screened for autism that way. She never got a response from the educational psychologist as far as I am aware and decided to put in the concerns about autism into the referral to the mental health team so that I could be screened by them instead.

After the referral I was assessed twice by a psychologist and a psychiatrist by the mental health team, focusing on my depression and self-injury. As far as I remember autism was not brought up at all. Recently I got my report from them and it was not mentioned on my report at all, not even in the 'reasons for referral' section. I would have thought that had they screened me for it and decided that I definitely don't have it, it would still have been included in that section? I am pretty confused about this. My file with the mental health team has now been closed so I don't feel like I can contact them about it.

I understand that probably the best course of action would be to go and see my GP, right? They have the report from the mental health team (I was diagnosed with chronic depression), and I have never been to see them about it so are they expecting me to go and see them? If I told them that I was supposed to be getting screened for Autism would they be able to find out what happened and/or organise for me to be screened for it? I feel like maybe they would not take me seriously, but I am not the type to self-diagnose and I really want a definitive answer either way. If my GP was to organise an assessment, how would this take place and who would conduct the assessment?

I apologise for the long ramble, I'm just really confused.

[ChaseThisLight]

see anyone you can- definitely get a consultation :) best of luck

[Unconventional]

Thanks for your replies. I might go to see my GP on Monday...but what should I say to them? I'm worried that they won't take me seriously...;/ do you think it is a good idea to see if any traits of autism affect me and then take a list of the ones that do to my GP and explain them? Or should I just ask to be assessed for it and explain that I was supposed to be ages ago but I don't know why it didn't come about? I have done two tests for autism on the internet (the AQ and another which I can't remember the name of) and both gave me scores that made it possible for me to be autistic...but like I say I'm not going to self-diagnose myself just based on them lol.

I have a friend irl who has Asperger's but I don't think he knows that I know he has it so I can't ask him about it. I also have an internet friend who has Asperger's too and I suppose I could talk to him about it though. Thanks for the offer too Jordan...is there anything you can tell me about it? And how you were assessed for it?

[ShatteredWings]

Explain that you were referred for an autism asssessment and it never happened, that you'd like it to be followed through on just to have closure.

[jonmark]

The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) is a semi-structured, investigator-based interview for caregivers of children and adults for whom autism or pervasive developmental disorders is a possible diagnosis. Two studies (Lord, Rutter, R LeCouteur, 1994; Lord, Storoschuk, Rutter, R Pickles, 1993) were conducted to assess the psychometric properties of the ADI-R. Reliability was tested among 10 autistic (mean age 48.9 months) and 10 mentally handicapped or language-impaired children (mean age 50.1 months), and validity was tested among an additional 15 autistic and 15 nonautistic children. Results indicated the ADI-R was a reliable and valid instrument for diagnosing autism in preschool children. Inter-rater reliability and internal consistency were good, and inter-class correlations were very high.

A standard diagnostic interview is conducted at home or in a clinic. The ADI-R is considered by some professionals in the field as a measure of high diagnostic accuracy. It takes several hours to administer and score. The ADI-R is recognized as one of the better standardized instruments currently available for establishing a diagnosis of autism. It is a semi-structured interview administered to subjects' caregivers which determines whether or not an individual meets the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., revised) criteria for autism. The authors of the ADI-R plan to update the scoring procedure so it reflects DSM-IV criteria. The assessment begins with a home visit by a therapist who interviews the child's parents. A home visit provides a chance to meet the child and to get a sense of the parents' priorities. This interview may be scheduled as part of the in-clinic assessment (Rutter, Lord, & LeCouteur, 1990).

[davisbr2]

it sounds like they told u 1 thing but meant the whole time 2 screen you for depression

[judahtics]

if you showed signs of autism, any form of autism, a specialist would refer you to evaluation. at 17, i wouldn't worry about an autism dx. it can make things very difficult for your future. then again, it can also be very helpful. if it's not interfering, leave it alone.


also, autism isn't a mental illness.

[anon1992]

maybe you shouldnt seek diagnoses? there is no real treatment for aspergers, no meds,etc. the only thing there is , is risperdal (with bad side effects) to treat irritability. and once u get labled "aspergers" , your parents will start seeing u as "autistic" and reading about stuff like that , and it will do nothing but harm your self esteem

i know this from experience. i have aspergers

[judahtics]

there are more meds for aspergers than just risperdal. abilify, which is it's sister drug, but they have also found other drugs work well for autism and aspergers like lexapro and lovox. they are finding more and more are working. they help with the internalizing and anxiety caused by the disorder. if you are able to manage your disorder without a diagnosis, it's much better! the only treatment for autism and aspergers is social therapy and special arragments if you need an iep or something. by the way, i myself have autism. i take lexapro for the assosiated anxiety and sensory issues. i'm doing fairly well on it.

[Smacktalk]

There is a good chance that some of you will not have assburgers or autism infact they are some of the most over diagnosed ever. I was told that I had autism but it turns out that I am just A little immature.

[ZzKingz]

Everybody is bipolar, ADHD, and autistic. It's a broad line