Struggling with Autism Assessment

I never even considered I woukd jave autism until some friends who do shared what it was like for them and stories of theirs. To be honest I don't remember how it came to me, someone just kinda went wait that sounds like us, don't we do that.... then we did several online test and research.... now things make more sense. I am still nto diagnosed but am trying. Something I only recently realized was my hyper fixation to Pluto because of research paper I had to do as a kid. When they announces it was no longer a planet it was emotionalcto me and felt a part of me was gone. I still don't fully understand it because I did other research papers some with even more work that I did not grow an extreme emotional attachment to and hyper fixation 🤷‍♀️ it is still a sensitive topic for me and I can cry about it because I feel a sense of lostness. I never really talked about how this felt loke a core of my being and who I am..... I wish I did because then things would have been caught earlier. There are a lot of things that line up. I think a lot of people can "skirt" that line of having it enough to affect the person themsleves but not enough for untrained to see it ..... especially when we mask consciously and/or subconsciously. There is also I high stigma with it and lack of knowledge in functioning with issues (this is in any issue.... that's how people can go years with depressioncwithour anyone knowing and then it comes out for instance)

I feel the same way a lot of the time. I've never been legally diagnosed. I diagnosed myself back in high school when I watched a movie about a man with aspergers and everything just clicked. I told my therapist and she thought I was nuts. 2 years later she told me she thinks I have aspergers. But since she wasn't a psychiatrist she couldn't legally diagnose me and I've had trouble myself trying to figure out how to go about getting diagnosed as an adult. It's definitely hard not being diagnosed because most people, even close to me, don't understand certain things that I do or can't do easily. It makes me question myself, too

Something similar has happened to me too. I believe in your symptoms and most likely you have autism. I’ve been aware I’ve had autism for a while and am a good masker too. I tried seeing a psychiatrist and a psychologist. But for both I was shut down, because they didn’t see the “right” symptoms. And it’s even harder for girls to get diagnosed which sucks. I’m now on a waiting list to try and find another doctor that will take me more seriously. My advice is to keep seeking to find the right answer and don’t give up. You may have to go through times where a doctor disagrees, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. That’s why getting second opinions is really important. You’re not alone in this, I promise.

Typically when a psychiatrist says this they probably A) have very little to no experience with autism and individuals who have it, B) one of those that see Autistic folks as fully dysfunctional no exceptions and/or C) you genuinely don't seem to have autism to them and they suspect those traits belong to other mental disorders that you suffer from (I.e lack of eye contact, body rocking, and touch aversion can also be trauma responses especially in child victims) Whatever the reason might be there are online assessments that you can take and bring the results back to your psychiatrist. Depending on how they respond can indicate if going forward with them is a good idea. I really hope that it's just that they assume the traits you show during therapy is a trauma response and not that autistic folks aren't capable.

search AQ Test, take the test, and print out the results for your psychiatrist