Asperger Female

Though I have previously participated in talk therapy/ Cognitive Behavior Therapy when in pursuit of my undergraduate degree, I had never gone in with the intent to discuss the possibility of being on the Autism Spectrum. Therefore, this new “round” of therapy was different.

The first therapist that I went to, or rather that was assigned to me, was NOT a good fit. As we started the process, I informed him what I wanted to work on and that in addition to that work, I also wanted to be assessed for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). He informed me that he didn’t have much experience with women with ASD, so I immediately said that was no problem, that we could just put a pin in ASD, that he and I could just work on everything else I wanted help adjusting, and that I would look for someone who had more experience with Autistic women to help in that area. After that short exchange, he found the need to point out that if I was Autistic I wouldn’t be able to do or understand something. With his viewpoint I wouldn’t be able to:

• have close friends;
• have intimate relationships;
• hold a full-time job; or
• understand why people specific ways.

After just three sessions, one 30-minute and two 60 minute sessions, he informed me that there was no way I was Autistic despite my explanation that females with Autism and Asperger’s have different characteristics than their male counterparts. After the last session, when he said all of the above, I reached out to the scheduler of the practice to find a therapist that might be a better fit and through that experience, we found someone outside of the practice who appeared to be a better fit. She specialized in Asperger’s (her doctoral dissertation was on Asperger’s), women’s issues, anxiety,

After finding a therapist who appeared to have experience with women with Asperger’s (now part of Autism Spectrum Disorder), I called her practice, asked if they took my insurance (THEY DID, THANK GOODNESS), and made an appointment.