YES or NO?!?

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Um, Hi.
I would just like to be able to know for sure if I have aspergers or not. I have taken every online test and they all point to highly/very likely. I went back through my personal history and looked for "clues". Friends, not really. Wandered away constantly as a kid. Difficulty in social situations, check. Freaked out if my mom re arranged my room. Yap on, and on and on...about certain subjects. (like now). Etc., Etc.
So my issue is this. How do I find out one way or the other. No psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists will accept me as a new patient despite having insurance. I have access to a highly regarded center for aspergers and social disorders, but they want at least $750.oo for testing. They DO NOT accept insurance of any kind. When I was having an breakdown type episode my husband even contacted this center and the head Dr said I should be tested.
My husband is pretty near convinced I am an aspie. He says that you are who you are. Why do you need a Dr to tell you that.
I just wanna KNOW, ok?
I feel stuck. I really think I may be an aspie, but, without proof, I feel like I'm using aspergers as a crutch. Justifying my behavior/ social issues so I feel better about myself. I've always considered myself to be on the loserish side of things because I cant just "suck it up" and get over my issues.
Is there any way to get an answer without a professional? It's gonna take me an eternity to save up $750-$800.

Welcome to WP!

I haven't seen that from you in a while.

You certainly can get an answer without a professional, however only a professional can give you an "official" diagnosis, which they will conveniently insist on charging a lot of money for, and which other professionals will continuously question, or at least question every time diagnostic standards change.

And God forbid you lose health insurance because upon trying to obtain new health insurance, the health insurance company will price gouge you based on this "official" yet invalid diagnosis despite the fact they will generally refuse to cover any services for it (not to worry thought because they are generally non-existent for adults).

So you want to know if you have AS. Let's first talk about things that would exclude you from a diagnosis of AS.

In the US, a schizophrenia spectrum disorder, such as schizoid personality disorder, schizotypal disorder, schizo-effective disorder, and schizophrenia itself would exclude you from a diagnosis of AS.

If your social problems developed over time...that is to say, if there was a time in your life when you didn't have these issues, then you probably do not have AS.

Social anxiety can be easily confused with AS, but not everyone with social anxiety has AS and not everyone with AS has social anxiety.

Though it is not part of the diagnostic criteria, many researchers have observed that children with AS have hypersensitivity and this is often first noticed around the age of 6 or 7 and may drop off as the person ages.

There is also something called non-verbal learning disorder which is essentially identical to AS with some small points of dispute. Most people with AS and NVLD meet the criteria for both conditions but not everyone with AS has NVLD and not everyone with NVLD has AS.

So familiarize yourself with the schizophrenia spectrum disorders, familiarize yourself with the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for AS, and also the criteria for NVLD and do a web search for and take the Adult Autism Assessment...someone posted a newer one on here a while back called RAADS or something like that.

I'm sure you will be able to come to your own conclusions after educating yourself sufficiently.

If i were you i'd ask what kind of help i could get with a diagnosis, and if none of that stuff were useful, then i wouldn't go for a diagnosis and spend that $800 on something meaningful instead.

Welcome!

Welkome to WP!

Mick

Ok, I tested. One "Autism Spectrum Quotient" thingie gave me a 39 and said "Scores in the 33 - 50 range indicate significant Austistic traits (Autism)". One said to post a link but I can't yet. It said "I scored 175 out of 200 and am 'very likely an aspie'". No on schizoid personality disorder. Couldn't find any tests for "NVLD". On hypersensitivity, As a kid the smell of peanut butter made me really nauseated and for a while I literally could not force myself to swallow macaroni n cheese. Even under severe penalty warnings from my parents. I hated the color Red. It scared me. It still does. (someone thought it would be a great idea to carpet my room red even after I realized I hated it. I had to make a walking path of clothes for myself so I could get around my room.) I still loathe the very Idea of walking on red things..."evil they are." Not literally, red just really creeps me out. Does this count?
So, the problem is that the more I learn about things, the more I doubt myself. Even if it may seem to clarify things, I simply do not trust my own judgement... What a NERD, right?

I'm so confused. I guess for me, I may never be really sure. Any answer other than 100% and I doubt myself. I could be 99.95% statistically correct but in my mind the .05% makes me wrong. D'oh.


Oh, And Thank You all for the welcomes.

WELCOME ! !

Your story sounds alot like mine, its my main reason for being here.
I had insurance and "they" didn't listen to me.
I now have been going to psych and getting it official but I did figure it out on my own.
It answered SO many questions I had

To WrongPlanet!! !