Diagnosis for a lot of stuff

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Heyas... I haven't been on here in a while but I now have a question about getting assessments for my kids.

The oldest is 18 and I don't know where to take her. We're in Orange County CA and her doctor said to call up the medical group and ask for a therapist who specializes in ADD/ADHD evaluation (since that's what I mentioned at the time). There are a few problems with that.

First off, we need a few things screened and I dunno if they usually screen for one or many things just in case. I've never done this before. We need to at least screen for ADHD, Autism and auditory processing disorder based on what she's told me.

Also I have no idea where to find this magical starting phone number for the medical group. Surely you don't just call the front desk and ask for a neurotherapist or whatever doctor you see for it. If I once find it, I need to know the actual words for what I'm after and I really don't know that.

AND I REALLY hate making phone calls. I can force myself to make appointments if I have a specific intention and a schedule right in front of me to keep the days and other scheduled events clear in my mind. I do not do well calling and trying to make sense of anything I don't already have words for. I babble and the other person gets frustrated and they're always in such a hurry to get to the point that they seem to try and make up random reasons for my call instead of letting me pull it together. Always in such a hurry, and I can't think.

We really should have done all this sooner but like an idiot I figured she was more social than I am so maybe she was allistic. Yeah... I don't really have the perspective to know what an allistic kid is like outside of confusing.

Summary of all this venting: What kind of doctor would I look for? I need a specialization, a name for the thing they do that makes them the kind of expert who would actually get the desired results. I just know that I'll call and try to explain that, and the usual sort of person will take the call and decide they know what I mean like they always do and ask me to hold and punch a button and we'll end up at a pediatric dentist or something...

If you Google "ADHD Assessment Orange County," or something similar, I'm sure many psychiatrists/psychologists will pop up. And groups which specialize in ADHD. ADHD is one of the most common diagnoses these days.

It's a shame the school couldn't do the assessment. Now it's going to cost you more. That's a bummer!

To test for auditory processing disorder, you should see an audiologist.

To test for ADHD and/or ASD, you should see a psychologist or a psychiatrist.

You could use the phrase "who has experience with [auditory processing disorder/ADHD/ASD]" to indicate what type of expertise you want the doctor to have.

I would stick with a psychologist, and one who works with teens. ADHD (and autism, for that matter), look different at age 8 than they do at 18. Psychiatrists will often rule out diagnoses by prescribing medication and waiting to see how the patient reacts. Make it clear that you want a full assessment. They are called sometimes neuropsycohmetric evaluations, sometimes neuropsychological evaluations, but they can identify or rule out all of what you're concerned about in one or two sessions. Often you need a referral, but sometimes you can arrange to meet with the psychologist for an initial consultation.

I don't know if it would work the same in your area, but when I looked into getting my DX for Aspergers, I contacted 5 potential diagnosticians by email rather than phone, and they were happy to talk to me that way while I decided who should get the job. It was much clearer than phone calls would have been. Initially the UK National Autistic Society sent me a list of diagnosticians in my area, and I looked them up on the web. Hopefully there's an ADHD organisation in CA that will do that.

I would look up all the possible people online and then get out a big piece of paper and jot down their names, what they are (psychologist, audiologist, whatever) and the phone number. In order of who to call first, organized by what you are calling about. Like, people for ADD in one group, auditory processing in another, etc.

Then on another piece of paper I would write out a script for yourself to say to the receptionist to avoid babbling. You could do it in the form of a flowchart, so if they said no, we don't do that you could ask, "Do you happen to know who I SHOULD call?"