Adults with AS seeking professional help are frequently misdiagnosed. **Why:** Clinicians lack experience (AS wasn't in DSM until 1994); symptoms overlap with personality disorders; AS is seen as a "children's condition." **Common misdiagnoses:** - **Schizoid personality disorder** — social withdrawal + literal speech mistaken for odd thinking - **Narcissistic personality disorder** — theory of mind deficit mistaken for self-centeredness - **Schizophrenia** — literal "Do you hear voices?" answer misinterpreted as hallucination - **False-negative** — told "nothing is wrong"; denied services and understanding **Consequences:** Wrong treatments (psychoanalysis, medications), denied interventions, lost relationships (case: Frank told he didn't have AS, Lauri left). Wendy Lawson was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia for 25+ years before receiving an AS diagnosis. She went on to write *Build Your Own Life* and lecture globally. **Source:** Lovett, *Solutions for Adults with Asperger Syndrome*, Ch 1 (pp38-41) See also: [[Autistic Triad]]