How many of you here has been officially diagnosed as ASD?

Hey, guys.

I was wondering: how many of you have been officially diagnosed as having an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)? I ask, because: I've recently looked into how an adult would go about having himself evaluated for ASD.

I've long suspected myself to have Asperger's Syndrome (AS) or some other ASD. And I realize now that AS itself is no longer considered an official diagnosis, and has instead been lumped into ASD. After doing some quick research, I managed to find this article here:

https://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/2014/ ... go-who-see

Which then linked me to this:

https://www.autismspeaks.org/science/re ... n-location

Through that latter link I found out about two places here on the west coast of the US that I could call to learn about being evaluated for autism, which were: the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and the Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders at UC Irvine. So I called those two places up and found out that they only do evaluations for children, not for adults. After asking around for a bit, it was suggested that I call a number at UCLA. A few days after leaving a message with that place at UCLA, I got a phone call from somebody at UCLA who told me how much evaluating an adult for autism would cost me: $5,200. I definitely can't afford that. That price seems absolutely ridiculous to me, considering that it cost me $700 to be evaluated for all personality disorders (PDs) by an actual psychologist with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - 2 (MMPI-2) back in July 2016 (and been told that I don't have Schizotypal Personality Disorder—a PD with some similarities to ASD—nor any other PDs whatsoever), and it cost me $700 to get an MRI scan done on my brain back in 2013, and I've even had surgeries that cost me much less than that.

So how many of you have been officially diagnosed as having an ASD, and how did you go about it? How old were you when you were diagnosed? Did you have to pay, and if so, how much? Where were you diagnosed?

Thank you to any body here who can answer any one of my questions.

In a bid of former days to the land-clerks for help, they sent me to a head-healer. I was one hour there ere was branded such; as you say. He spake a big tale; and knew me as much, in a time, as a plot from a crumb of sand. Of years I was thirty. The lawmen paid the head-healer.

I don't remember much of the details... all I know is that I was diagnosed with Asperger's (now removed from the DSM, of course) when I was around 6 and I think it upset my parents, at least enough for there to be a little bit of crying followed by special snowflake syndrome. I know I've largely outgrown many of the symptoms.

The problem with diagnosing autism in adulthood is that it's a developmental disorder with symptoms more apparent in childhood. You can't really run to the psychiatrist and have tests done for it so the price is kinda ludicrous, if you feel like you have an autism spectrum disorder, or at least characteristics of it, the best thing to do would probably be reading literature on the subject to best help you adapt to any difficulties you feel it may have caused you.

I guess in my case I had my mom help me, as she was already very involved with my health care when it had became very apparent to my closest friend that I was struggling with autism. I couldn't understand language beyond literal interpretations of words, and was often confused and angry when people spoke to me. It was horrible for me, to say the least. It's gotten better since learning what I have and knowing others also have it.

My mom did some research online and was able to find the local autism services where we lived. I tried talking to someone who was a parent of a child with autism and finally found someone understanding what I was going through. The people there had eventually given my mom some doctor's names. One of them ended up being my doctor. She was someone who specialized in treating autism in children, but she willing to schedule an appointment to see me.

She did an evaluation with my mom and myself. I was diagnosed with normal IQ autism, also known as Asperger's syndrome when I was 27, I think. The psychiatrist asked my mom a lot of questions about my childhood and my family members, and seemed to agree that I was affected by Asperger's. I guess I found people who were willing to help me, mainly my mom. Keep trying and write all your symptoms down so you can better explain to your doctors.

Good luck.

Hi, you guys! Thank you all for taking the time responding to my thread with such insight. I greatly appreciate it.

jag140 wrote:You can't really run to the psychiatrist and have tests done for it so the price is kinda ludicrous, if you feel like you have an autism spectrum disorder, or at least characteristics of it, the best thing to do would probably be reading literature on the subject to best help you adapt to any difficulties you feel it may have caused you.

I dunno. I feel like it would be a little silly for me to self-diagnose as being autistic. I want to be 100% certain that I actually do have autism and would like to know, exactly, what sort of treatment I need. I feel that if I were a self-diagnosed autistic person I'd only be using my so-called "autism" as an excuse for my behavior.

leiladream wrote:Keep trying and write all your symptoms down so you can better explain to your doctors.

Unfortunately, I've found that my doctors have not been very helpful with this sort of stuff.

For example: I told my psychiatrist in that last session that I had with him (back in November 2016) that I: paid $100 to have my DNA tested by AncestryDNA earlier in 2016, and then ran the "raw data" of my AncestryDNA test results through a web site called "Promethease". Promethease revealed to me any possible medical conditions that I might have, showing me which of my genes put me at a certain risk for something (e.g. Promethease revealed to me that I had several genes suggesting that I was at a high risk of having autism.) So I told my psychiatrist all of this and that I would like to be tested for AS and/or any other ASDs, but he told me that he didn't know of any tests for that.

My psychiatrist then told me that it was officially going to be the very last month that he would prescribe Adderall to me (he had been prescribing Adderall to me for the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder since 2013). He lowered the dose from 40 mg daily (my daily dose for October 2016) down to 20 mg daily (my daily dose for November 2016) and then for December 2016 it would simply be nothing at all.

When I asked him why it was that he was going to stop prescribing me Adderall he said that, "you coming in here and telling me that you believe that you might have autism isn't a 'normal-level' of thinking. Adderall is causing you to have these sorts of abnormal thoughts."

So he randomly decided that for me to even think that I might have an ASD was sufficient reason for him to stop prescribing Adderall to me.

1201236 wrote:Of years I was thirty.

leiladream wrote:I was diagnosed with normal IQ autism, also known as Asperger's syndrome when I was 27, I think.

Huh. That's pretty cool that there's at least two people here that were officially diagnosed with an ASD during their adulthoods! I'm 28 years old right now so there might be some hope for me yet.

Thanks again to all three of you for responding my thread.

Mid 20s, man, in evaluation. Came in to clinic with severe depression and anxiety but the doctor immediately detected something was off and suggested autism. Seen several professionals since and although I score below the treshold of their tests they detect autism in my mimic, gaze and voice. After seeing the same psych for a while they started suspecting something else, but I'm gonna push for an autism diagnosis even if I have to lie.

I can't function in society, and only certain diagnosises fall under a law of assistance. Meds help a little but they're being very greedy with them. I regret being honest initially because a PD diagnosis instead of autism will land me on the street.

I have pervasive developmental Disorder. I was diagnosed as a toddler. Thats very close to Aspergers.

I was just diagnosed at 46. I went to Virginia Tech where they have an autism clinic as part of their psych dept. It only cost $350 for two days of testing/observation. I also had my IQ tested as part of the evaluation, included for the price. I thought it was an excellent price. I basically googled "who diagnoses adult autism" and followed the crumbs until I found out about Va Tech's clinic.

Try calling the ones who assess children only and ask them if they can recommend someone who assesses adults. Somebody, eventually, should be able to give you a name.

38 and not diagnosed. The closest one is in Missouri but since my health care is provided by the VA, I am waiting to see what they come up with and whether or not they will refer me somewhere else. I've connected all the dots but I also wonder if I am on the schizotypy spectrum. This tends to cloud things in my mind.