Lighthouse Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 (edited) I had my evaluation for autism today. The whole thing only took like an hour and a half, and the doctor pronounced that I didn't have autism less than five minutes into talking because I can understand sarcasm. Does understanding of sarcasm automatically rule out autism? I had talked to two other professionals before, both of whom suspected autism, and they didn't seem to think it was disqualifying. At the very least, I'd say I'm close to autistic, so I guess I was surprised when five minutes into talking to me the doctor pronounced I didn't have autism because I could understand sarcasm. There wasn't even any testing, so I guess I just thought the whole thing was strange. Oh, and please don't quote, might delete later. Edited November 3, 2016 by Lighthouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Well that's stinkin unhelpful. Are you a minor or a legal adult? And yes, there are psychs who have this personal deity halo they wear and they're very free to buff it, light it up, and say inspired things that are totally, totally preposterous. What will getting better evals change for you? What are you trying to make happen? Do you have someone to go in with you to give a fuller picture or fill out forms? Are you wanting medications or to get your insurance to pay for counseling? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted November 3, 2016 Author Share Posted November 3, 2016 Well that's stinkin unhelpful. Are you a minor or a legal adult? And yes, there are psychs who have this personal deity halo they wear and they're very free to buff it, light it up, and say inspired things that are totally, totally preposterous. What will getting better evals change for you? What are you trying to make happen? Do you have someone to go in with you to give a fuller picture or fill out forms? Are you wanting medications or to get your insurance to pay for counseling? I'm a minor. Evals are mainly so that my parents can figure out ways to improve my people skills. Since I'm a minor, my mom comes to fill out forms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Not understanding sarcasm can be one of the social communication issues people with autism have. It alone isn't qualifying or disqualifying diagnostically. What exactly happened in the other hour and 25 minutes? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted November 3, 2016 Author Share Posted November 3, 2016 Well, like the last half hour was telling us the results. I took one anxiety questionnaire before that. At the beginning we went through some background, family history type questions. I think my real problem was that he said I wasn't autistic literally five minutes in because I understood sarcasm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 HAHAHAHAHAHA omg. No, not understanding sarcasm is not a make-it-or-break-it trait of autism. I mean, it can be an aspect in some autistics, but it's hardly universal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plink Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 My autistic child is extremely sarcastic. She has friends, and she enjoys talking with them. No one indicator is key to an autism diagnosis. https://depts.washington.edu/dbpeds/Screening%20Tools/DSM-5(ASD.Guidelines)Feb2013.pdf What kind of specialist did you go to? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted November 3, 2016 Author Share Posted November 3, 2016 My autistic child is extremely sarcastic. She has friends, and she enjoys talking with them. No one indicator is key to an autism diagnosis. https://depts.washington.edu/dbpeds/Screening%20Tools/DSM-5(ASD.Guidelines)Feb2013.pdf What kind of specialist did you go to? I went to a child psychologist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plink Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Theoretically, a child psych should have enough knowledge to make an accurate assessment. Just to give him the benefit of the doubt - Did your parents and teachers have to provide written assessments for you prior to the meeting? If so, he may have complied your questionnaire with their information and whatever interactions you had when reviewing "background stuff." Really, he shouldn't have pronounced a diagnostic assessment within 5 minutes of saying hi, because that is just plain rude, but maybe he had already done more homework than you realize. If you truly disagree with the results, try seeking out a neuro-psychologist or developmental pediatrician for a 2nd opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted November 3, 2016 Author Share Posted November 3, 2016 Theoretically, a child psych should have enough knowledge to make an accurate assessment. Just to give him the benefit of the doubt - Did your parents and teachers have to provide written assessments for you prior to the meeting? If so, he may have complied your questionnaire with their information and whatever interactions you had when reviewing "background stuff." Really, he shouldn't have pronounced a diagnostic assessment within 5 minutes of saying hi, because that is just plain rude, but maybe he had already done more homework than you realize. If you truly disagree with the results, try seeking out a neuro-psychologist or developmental pediatrician for a 2nd opinion. My mom did fill out some forms prior, but just their general forms, nothing autism specific. No teachers sent anything in. It's probably not worth it to seek a second opinion anyway. I think social anxiety probably is my bigger problem, even if I do have autism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 (edited) I've heard child psychologists make some patently untrue statements about ASD. One claimed that any child who engaged in imaginative play couldn't have ASD. :thumbdown: I had 4 different evaluators all agree on HFA including 2 from agencies that had a financial incentive to not give my child the diagnosis (school district psychologist and Regional Center psychologist). Either those 4 are all wrong and Mr. Know-it-All Child Psych is right that imaginative play overrules all the language and social deficits, repetitive behaviors, etc. or he's wrong. Just because a child psychologist SHOULD know how from his/her training how to properly diagnose ASD, that doesn't mean that he/she actually understands the range of how ASD can present. Edited November 4, 2016 by Crimson Wife 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 (edited) My mom did fill out some forms prior, but just their general forms, nothing autism specific. No teachers sent anything in. It's probably not worth it to seek a second opinion anyway. I think social anxiety probably is my bigger problem, even if I do have autism. If you're wanting some social skills work, what you might do is go ahead and contact a BCBA, begin working with them (which is fine whether it's autism or not) and let them advise you how to proceed. They might have a psychologist they'd refer you to, and some are qualified to diagnose. They just spend some much more TIME with their clients that they're able to see more of what's going on. Either way, you'd be getting the help you're wanting with social anxiety. Edited November 4, 2016 by OhElizabeth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 I've heard child psychologists make some patently untrue statements about ASD. One claimed that any child who engaged in imaginative play couldn't have ASD. :001_rolleyes: It can be worse for adults. I know people in their 40s who were told "if you were autistic, it would've been caught when you were a child". Um, no. My parents actively sought out an autism diagnosis for me, but they were repeatedly told that they wouldn't give that diagnosis to any child who could speak, much less one who could read on a college level. (And it's doubly hard for women, because then you get "and besides, it's mostly boys who have autism, not girls" on top of that. Because the people who think these things, whatever degree they have, they're always super ignorant and never just a tiny bit ignorant.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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