Getting Diagnosed in Canada

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Hey everyone.

Just wondering if there is any diagnosed aspies in Canada here? I'm curious what the steps to be diagnosed are. I had psych assessments done as a kid, but after numerous different ones, they just said I was bored (yes, every bored kid most definately has no social skills, misses social cues, has repetitive body movements and contorts their facial expressions (all carefully documented in my student records which I have a copy of)....yes I'm being sarcastic, I think most doctors are just plain lazy myself). Does it involve a lot of IQ tests or anything, or does it take a long time? Does it cost a lot? Is it hard to find a non-lazy, intelligent specialist who is willing to look outside of depression and ADD as the cause for every strange behaviour under the sun?

Thanks for any input you can give!

Hi trapped, I pmed you to find out what province you're in. If you're in BC I know of a psychologist who can do the diagnosis. In my experience I think that you would need to see a psychologist for the diagnosis.

Hey anandamide. I PM'd you back

My mom is helping me out with this, and the route we are taking at the moment is to go see my MD for a referral to a Psychologist or Specialist. I'm currently in Alberta.

Does anyone know any specialists/psychologists that deal with AS/Autism in Alberta?

Yes, there are actually quite a few. I'm in B.C.


There is no requirement for a doctor's referral if you choose to go to a private clinic, although then your family will have to pay for the process. I don't have any experience with the public mental health system, but the waiting lists are notoriously long.


IQ tests are more commonly used with children, but you can do one if you want.

The diagnosis for children takes about 8 to 10 hours, and for adults more like 2 to 3 hours. The difference is that adults have a lot of life experience and can explain where they are most affected, whereas children have to be functionally evaluated because all of the deficits may not be obvious yet. In either case, the diagnosis is split up over separate sessions that are a few days apart so that the doc can see what symptoms are recurring and which ones might have been attributable to being nervous or tired or just having a good/bad day.

The clinic I used in Vancouver charges by the hour, and the rate ranged between $100 and $150 per hour dependent on your family income, so an adult with a low income might get a Dx for well under $500 whereas rich parents might pay $1500 or more to get their toddler evaluated.

A good doctor won't be meeting you with the intent of simply saying "you're an aspie" or "you're not an aspie". He will approach the task by asking you to describe the problems you are having and will then figure out which diagnosis applies. Being an aspie doesn't mean you can't *also* have ADHD and depression. You just want to make sure he doesn't stop at ADHD if there are other non-ADHD symptoms, as a proper diagnosis will cover all of them.

I'm also a Canadian Aspie from BC.

But you know, I really can't find ANY help for Aspergers around here! I don't know what to do.... So getting the diagnoses is one thing, but then they leave you out to dry >.< I was diagnosed at 15, and now here I am at 25, I am extremely lost and struggling and I can't find any help. I tried to do college again and again and had to keep quitting cause I had too many problems. I definitely need help, and I hope I find some, and I hope you do as well....

As for diagnoses though, I'm not really sure how it works normally. For me it happened because I suffered from Manic Depression at 15, I mean I was really really ill, had very negative and crazy thoughts, and I wasn't eating or sleeping AT ALL. Got really thin. So, my Mom took me to the doctor and I guess we got a referral of who to go to in Childrens Hospital about depression. We had a meeting there. What I thought was only going to be a meeting and I could go home, turned into them keeping me there against my will. I had to stay there and go through tests, I think I stayed there 2 months. I graduated from the emergency ward and got to be in what was like a social rec centre, that you live in. I dont remember what were all the tests but, I remember there was one big meeting with many people in there, and thats where someone diagnosed me. But I don't think its quite fair that they can diagnos me when I'm in the middle of depression? I mean HELLO, my brain isn't functioning normally, so how can you judge it correctly! Sometimes I have wondered if I was misdiagnosed, but then again, I do have some AS traits so I atleast have a mild form of it for sure. But now I am completely stuck cause I dont know what services there are, what I can do with myself now.

The diagnoses is one solution for you. And THEN what? As long as you are an adult, it is very hard to find information and help about AS, as its usually focused on kids.

I'm in BC too. I know they do diagnosis at Children's Hospital, but that is only for minors. As an adult I had to search really hard to find a psychologist who could do the diagnosis for an adult. I am very grateful that I did find such an excellent doctor, right here in Vancouver. If anyone wants that information I can pm it to them. Also my new family doctor understands Asperger's and has personal experience with it. At the moment he is accepting new patients so we really lucked out with that one.

I have found that in Canada there IS help for adults diagnosed with AS. There is no cure, but there is help. Once I got my diagnosis the quality of my life really improved. Now I am on a disability based income assistance program. For the first time in my life I feel like I have a net beneath me to catch me if I fall. Being on disability doesn't mean I can't work or try to accomplish goals. It means I have some security for the first time in my adult life. Before I got the diagnosis and the disabililty based income assistance I was basically living like a refugee without citizenship. I couldn't function to compete with NTs and so I had to come up with all sorts of creative ways to survive. And I had reached the end of the road, all the creative ways I'd found to survive had run out, and I was exhausted. I had fallen into a huge depression and began to pray because I couldn't think of anything else to do. At that time, whether through my prayers or just coincidence, I met my partner who has AS. I saw the diagnostic criteria on the internet and I knew right away that this fit me to a tee.

I believe that once you get the diagnosis it is possible to qualify not only for disability based income assistance, but also other benefits such as accommodation in employment, education, and that's got to count for something.

It depends on where you live. The larger centers will have resources that won't be available to you if you live in the hinterland. Of course, people under 18 also get a lot more attention than adults. I'm glad I live in Vancouver because I can go right to the BCAS office if I want to talk to someone or borrow from their library.

I really wish there was a social support group in Vancouver for adults. There used to be one hosted by meetup.com but most of their groups died when they started charging the group moderators a monthly fee.


Austism is diagnosed functionally. Even if you're suffering from depression that won't reduce your ability to understand non-verbal communication or make you think literally. Depression primarily impacts on motivation, self-image and the ability to experience pleasure. Those are not autistic problems (although a lot of people with undiagnosed AS end up depressed).

Thank you all for the informative posts, and sorry for taking so long to respond, I have been fairly busy.

The info you have all given me has been great! Can't really think of any way to respond to any of your posts, but I figured I should post something just to let you know that it is appreciated.