• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Geek Club Books

Autism Education, Awareness, Acceptance, Advocacy

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • About
    • Autism Storytelling for Hope and Change
    • Speaking
    • Creative Team & Educational Specialists
    • Advisory Board
    • Our Benefactors
    • Press
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
  • Blog
    • All Articles and Interviews
    • Articles By Author
  • Families
    • Welcome Autism Families!
    • Autism Resources Bundle!
    • Freebies
    • Mighty League Autism Moms
  • Educators
    • Welcome Educators!
    • Autism EDU
    • Bluebee TeeVee, Autism Information Station
    • School Visits
  • Comics
    • Autism Comics Overview
    • Autism in Real Life Comic
    • Autism Spectrum Comic
    • End Awareness Comic
    • Understanding Autism Comic
    • Mighty League 1: Autistic Hero Comic
    • Mighty League 2: Autistic Hero Comic Book
  • Resources
    • How to Find Resources
    • Asking Autistics
    • Autistic Self-care
    • Amazon Autism Book Shop
    • What is Autism?
    • Books By Autistic Authors
    • What is Autism Awareness?
    • Autism Glossary
    • Autism Myths
    • Autistic or Person with Autism?
    • Speech and Language
    • Autism Business Ideas
  • Zoom Magazine
    • Issue 13: Family
    • Issue 14: Trailblazers
    • Issue 15: Powerful Women
    • Issue 16: Travel
    • Issue 17: Health
  • Take Action
    • How to Advocate for Autism
      • #Activate4Autism
      • Activator Heroes
    • Make a Difference
  • Contact
  • Donate

The Challenges of Getting the ‘Right’ Diagnosis

July 13, 2017 By Jodi Murphy 2 Comments

TwitterFacebookPinterestLinkedInRedditWhatsApp

Getting the Right Diagnosis

By Megan Amodeo

If you are reading this, you, a friend, or loved one most likely has received a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Even if you have not been diagnosed with ASD, you might be interested to know how challenging it can be to get the right diagnosis.

I am a prime example of misdiagnosis.

I was not diagnosed until my mid-30s, but my road to the right diagnosis started in my teen years. My childhood was less than desirable. My parents were emotionally and verbally abusive and found most of my behaviors highly annoying. I was always the weirdo, the odd kid, the geek.

After numerous attempts in my late teens to try to get my parents to understand me, they finally sought help to stop my undesirable behaviors. More than anything, they wanted me to act normal. They decided that a therapist could “cure” my unwanted weirdness. After months of therapy, nothing changed. I was still me, still weird and still an annoyance to my family.

That was when my mother decided I needed to see a psychiatrist. She felt someone needed to medicate me out of my bizarreness. Keep in mind I was in my late teens trying to make it through college. I was also moderately depressed because I could not stop being or doing whatever it was that my parents didn’t like.

Behold, my mother found the perfect psychiatrist to “cure” all my problems.

I will admit, he was a relatively nice man. He seemed genuinely interested in my behavior patterns. I suppose I was interested in what made me such an annoyance to my family as well. He intently listened to a long list of issues I said my family found bothersome, and instantly diagnosed me with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He said I needed to be medicated to stop my unwanted behaviors. So I started several medications that very day.

As you may already have guessed, nothing changed. I was still me. That’s not entirely accurate, I was me in a drug induced fog. I didn’t feel like myself. I had trouble sleeping and concentrating due to medication side effects. My psychiatrist thought I needed a new medication to control the side effects from my other medications. I started an additional medication and gained 40 pounds and almost flunked out of college. The medication made me incredibly lethargic. I did this medication cycle off and on for the next five years.

I was finally diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

I was elated to be autistic. Getting the right diagnosis gave me freedom to be myself. Unfortunately, it can often be difficult to get the right diagnosis. This can be especially true for those of us who are higher functioning. We can appear to have OCD, anxiety, depression and various other disorders.

My oldest daughter was labeled a “behavior problem” until we found the right doctor who specialized in evaluating and diagnosing children with autism. That is why it is so important to find the right doctor and medical care. Here is my disclaimer, I am not a doctor. I am only giving you information that I, myself, have experienced firsthand. My best advice is to find a “developmental” pediatrician. To this day, my daughters still see the developmental pediatrician once a year. He is able to keep track of them as they get older. He is also a wonderful resource.

There have been many advances in the field of autism in the past few decades. When I was a teenager, high functioning autism was still not diagnosed. Finding the right diagnosis can be liberating. If you feel that you are not being heard, keep searching.

Whatever the outcome embrace the person, not the diagnosis.

Read about Megan

If you liked this essay, you may also like:

  • What Freed My Son of Wanting to Be Typical?
  • You’re So Normal
  • Autism: To Tell or Not to Tell?
  • 7 Postive Ways to Do Autism Awareness

 

TwitterFacebookPinterestLinkedInRedditWhatsApp

Filed Under: Autism Insider, Blog Haps, Penfriend Project Autism Columns Tagged With: autism advocate, autism insider, autism writer, Megan Amodeo

About Jodi Murphy

Jodi Murphy is the founder of Geek Club Books, a registered nonprofit committed to creating a world where autistic individuals are fully accepted, valued and have a voice. Her priority is bringing autistic individuals creative and leadership opportunities that are meaningful, empowering and support their advocacy. She works with a creative autistic team to produce pop culture-based autism awareness education that is innovative, engaging, positive and opens hearts and minds to a new way of thinking about autism. Sign up for Geek Club Books mailing list for free apps, resource guides, curriculum, audio stories and more: https://geekclubbooks.com/autism-bundle.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Virginia says

    July 26, 2017 at 5:12 am

    I am a 50 year old woman and suspect I may have asd. I have been on a wait list for evaluation for many years. Now am uninsured. Have been unable to find clear symptoms of adult high functioning asd.

    Reply
    • Jodi Murphy says

      July 26, 2017 at 9:48 am

      Virginia, I’m sorry that you’ve had difficulties in getting a diagnosis. Take a look at the Autism Society of America’s database and maybe you can find a resource to help you at no cost. http://www.autismsource.org/

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Join Our Neurodiverse Community:

Read Our Current Issue:

Search

Latest

  • #AskingAutistics: When Did You Realize You See the World Differently?
  • A Year That Forced Me to Be More Patient and Flexible
  • This Year I’ll No Longer Apologize for Taking Up Space
  • #AskingAutistics: What Caused Your Autistic Burnout?
  • Why I’m the Caregiver I Never Had Growing Up

Topics

  • 501c3 Mission (8)
  • Anxiety (8)
  • App & Product Reviews (12)
  • Autimisms (29)
  • Autism Acceptance (13)
  • Autism at Work (9)
  • Autism Entrepreneurs (17)
  • Autism Resources (6)
  • Blog Haps (535)
  • Buzz (6)
  • Classroom (15)
  • Curious Interviews (116)
  • Day in the Life (9)
  • Dorktales (4)
  • Impactful Blogs (9)
  • Labels (4)
  • Love (5)
  • Mighty League (31)
  • Neurodiversity (2)
  • Our Personal Autism Journey (28)
  • Penfriend Project Autism Columns (216)
    • Adriana's Awesome Autistic Book Lists (1)
    • Aspierations (16)
    • Autism Insider (76)
    • Autistic Speaks (27)
    • Being Brave (25)
    • Chloe Rothschild (3)
    • Fidgets and Fries (2)
    • Happy Aspie (9)
    • My Shaynanigans (8)
    • Neurodivergent Rebel (20)
    • Positively Autistic (17)
    • Proud Autistic Living (6)
    • Tud Sense (5)
  • Pop Culture (8)
  • Safety (8)
  • Self-Care (7)
  • Self-Esteem (3)
  • Self-Improvement (10)
  • Sensory Needs (9)
  • Social Skills (4)
  • Speech and Language (6)
  • Tell Us Your Story (29)
  • Zoom Autism (55)

Footer

Support Our Work

Partners

#ReadYourWorld Advisor
 

Stay Connected

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2021 Geek Club Books

To improve your experience on our site we may use cookies. Find out more.