testing for aspergers

great post.

great post. Thank you. here is some of my thought.

Disclaimer

"This test is designed for fun. It is not meant to test you for any disorder (real or imagined). You can't glean anything meaningful from this test without consulting with a mental health professional. It is not intended to make light of those who are suffering from autism or Aspergers syndrome. If you are worried about your mental health, see a professional."

Hi Calla Lily

My 16 yr old son was diagnosed with aspergers when he was about twelve. By no means am i describing a complete test, just trying to remember what was involved, although I do remember thinking at the time that the tests he did seemed to be aimed at younger children, and as you would expect the consultant got a few strange looks over some of the things he was asked !!

He was shown a picture book with pictures of people in different situations and was asked to 'read' their expressions ie surprise, sad, happy etc.

He was asked things like how he would feel if a friend of his was upset and how he would deal with it, although I seem to remember him saying something along the lines of the fact that his friend wasn't upset so it didn't matter - almost proving the lack of imagination, and empathy all in one go !

He also had to play a game of cars with the consultant and have some sort of dialogue with her at the same time, don't recall that being too successful either !

They also did language and logic tests which were done with a child psychologist.

Sorry I cant remember much more on the specifics of the testing, but there is an excellent organisation, The National Autistic Society, web address there used to be a specific section on aspergers and also diagnosis, but its been a while since I visited so cant say if its still there but dont see why not. I found lots of info on there when my son was diagnosed its well worth a scroll through.

Good luck with everything, and try not to worry too much, when my son was diagnosed it was a relief that his 'problem' was recognised and wasn't just a difficult pupil. He had a lot of help from his school and is now at college and gets help there too but if he didn't have the aspergers 'label' things could have been very different.

sorry I couldn't be more specific but good luck with everything and let us know how he gets on.

In love and light
Bluebelle xx

If you are in England it will be referred to a psychiatrist (well, this is what happened to us) who will talk to the child and to you and read the referral from the school.
The psychiatrist will be looking for the classic "triad of impairments". He/she will be looking for the fact that there was no language delay - if there was a language delay in early childhood it is more likely high functioning autism than Asperger's. All the evidence seemed to be highly subjective. Does the child have severe problems making friends? Avoid eye contact? Have a deep special interest? Take language literally? Find it hard to interpret gestures like head shaking? Find empathy hard? Is his/her speech unusually formal? Any evidence of anxiety, deptression, poor concentration, poor organisation? Hyper sensitivities to taste, touch, smell? Poor handwriting? a dominant, controlling personallity? Picky eater? Bullied at school? Not all of these will fit your child.
A private psychiatrist may try a battery of written tests, but our State one didn't (we'd already been to the private sector to chivvy the school along.)
Then we were referred to a consultant specialist, who took written evidence from school, us etc all over again, interviewed our son again, and concluded he had Asperger's.
Talking to other parents, I would say a lot of people with an Asperger's or High Functioning Autism diagnosis don't really believe their child has it. That might be denial, or the subjective nature of the diagnosis. There are no physical tests for it. A whole load of causes could produce behavioural symptoms. But all the parents I've talked to say that they had to go for a diagnosis even if they didn't think their child was "disabled" because they so desperately needed help in dealing with him and helping him reach his potential.
Hope this helps.

Hi Calla-Lily

My 12 year old nephew has recently been diagnosed with Aspergers - I don't know details of the assessments but I do know he was seen by three independent professionals over the space of a month who then met up together to make a decision on their findings. My nephew has been a lot happier since diagnosis as so much support has been put in place for him at school.

Hi to everyone who has kindly replied,:grouphug: unfortunately i made this post in 2007, and since then, my son had all the assessments which didn't show he had AS but a borderline learning disability.:)

warmest wishes-calla lily x