Asperger's and Financial Aid

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I'm currently attending my 3rd year of college, and having finances to survive has been a major issue from the start.
I find that on any given day, I don't eat lunch, simply so I can save that money to pay my rent and bills. (I'm in an apartment with three others, and we split the rent and bills evenly.)

I've lost a lot of weight since I moved away from my mom. At least 80 lbs. I haven't been exercising or dieting. I just starved a lot, because I couldn't afford food.
In the past, I have also borrowed a lot of money from a too-kind friend to pay for my food. But, in a lot of ways, I think it gets uncomfortable, so I paid him back and just decided not to eat.

In previous years, I ate plenty of food, but I couldn't pay my rent. So, my roommates paid for me, and I ended up being in debt to them with thousands of dollars. For most people, they wouldn't have a problem, because financial aid usually completely covers any costs you might have.
However, my situation is unique, in that my family is poor and my parents also fail the credit checks for the big loans. So, if it weren't for grants and the smaller loans, I wouldn't even be able to pay my tuition.
I've paid my friends back, but I'm in this difficult situation where I'm not eating much and I sometimes feel I don't have the energy to get my homework done, and so I might end up sleeping all day. Having some depression makes me want to sleep even more.

Now, basically, I'm a self-diagnosed aspie, and I have been thinking about getting diagnosed, but I can't afford the cost of the diagnosis. (I also currently have no medical insurance.) My first question would be, how much would it normally cost to get a diagnosis, and how do I find a good doctor to do it? I live in western Washington, if that helps.

My next question is: is there some financial aid loans or grants I could get for having Asperger's Syndrome? And, if so, would I need a clinical diagnosis to get it? Also, would I get enough money to make it worth getting a diagnosis?
(As far as whether or not I am sure of if I have Asperger's, I don't think I need a diagnosis to be sure.)

So far, my two years of college have gone okay. I've passed most of my classes, and am sort of on my way to getting the degree. My only problem is that one of the classes required for the degree focuses a lot on team interaction and I have trouble sometimes. (Failed the class once and am retaking it.) I'm also taking the bare-minimum credits so that I have extra money to pay my rent. (The regular course load that everyone takes is 20 credits, and I would be perfectly able to, but I'm taking 12, because that's the minimum to be considered full-time for financial aid. Tuition cost is on a per-credit basis.)

I have considered getting a job in the past, but the thought of large amounts of social interaction with strangers makes me think I would be accelerated into depression pretty fast. (My future career wouldn't be like that, of course.)

I'm sorry for the really long post. Any help would be absolutely appreciated. I thank you for your time.

Guess I could have it much worse, and I am just a whiny immature loser...
And I guess I'm just lazy since I can't help myself.

Shoot, that sucks. I feel your pain. I, too, come from a low-income family with bad credit history.

Luckily, I might get hired next week. It'll be a manual labor job but it'll help pay rent and food.

Try to look around for some part time jobs. Do you guys have a career/job center? Try looking around fast food, too. It's tough but one of my friends who has social anxiety works at one and he's doing decently.

Also, if you guys have a campus clinic, maybe you could go there for a diagnosis. I don't think they'll charge you right away. Rather, they'll just add it onto your bill.

Just this year, I lost my work-study for some stupid budgeting reasons but if you can get or already have work-study, look for a work study job. If you have a work study job, you automatically qualify for $200 of food stamps per month.

I think if you are over 18 or something, you don't have to include your parents' info in your financial aid application. Have you considered FAFSA? Google it on the web. You don't have to include your parents here. You can apply right online as well. It's what I did and I've never regretted it.

Amber

You have to be at least 24 to apply as an independent on the FAFSA.

What! Don't say such things! You lack money to even buy food! That's far from being an easy situation. It must be really hard to concentrate when you're hungry and when you're always thinking about how to manage your money. When you finish your degree you should be pretty proud of having finished your degree considering your hard situation.

Part-time can be good but since you have trouble without socializing too much it should have to be suited for that. Sadly most low-wage jobs are pretty horrible. You should try applying to something like "cleaning jobs" at private companies and hospitals. I did that for a while, it's quite relax, it's paid more than the minimum salary, you have your little routine and you don't always have to interact with people.

You might qualify for food stamps. If you do, that would help out a lot with your grocery bills.

You could also visit a food pantry, to get some groceries.

Or could you get a part-time job at the school cafeteria, that might include being able to eat there one meal a day?

When you say you lost 80 lbs., could you afford to lose 80 lbs.? Are you in a healthy weight range now?

Complex Robot, I thought robots just needed batteries and an occasional lube job? Just kidding, I don't mean to make light of your post, I could have written that first post myself. I am in a similar situation, I am in grad school and maxxed out all loans available to me 3-4 years ago. I have cut out breakfast and lunch; Concerta for my attention issues curbs my appetite, otherwise I wouldn't do this, nor do I recommend it, but you know as well as I do that its not much of a choice.
I have borrowed from family and still owe them; I hate that, it makes me feel like a kid. I would think there is financial aide geared to people on the spectrum regardless of what country you're studying in (Canada for me), but I would expect a formal diagnosis would be necessary. I was fortunate enough to have an on-campus clinic with psych services and to be covered by student health insurance through my school, so I have no recommendations for where or how to get an assesment, but if your school at least has a clinic , they should be more prepared than most public clinics to address mental health issues, which was my avenue to getting assessed.
I was diagnosed AS this summer, but I have needed financial aide much longer. I rarely ever meet deadlines for, or follow through, with applying for it though. I would attribute that to the fact that it falls outside of my routine, and tends to be very stressful for me when I am already burdened with changing terms and classes, not to mention the chaotic zoo that is my financial aide office.
Now that I have my formal diagnosis, I have been able to start working with my school's disability office to find and apply for funding. I just initiated this, so no results yet, but having them deal with the stress of finding and arranging funding, and having a less chaotic or crowded office helps me immensely.
Another good reason to get assessed is the team-based class you mentioned. Being a disability, Asperger's should entitle you to accomodation in situations where related symptoms affect your performance. An example for me is that I must defend my PhD proposal to a board of professors. Being put on the spot by four people asking very complicated technical questions would destroy me, I would go completely blank; I have now gotten the option of defending my work through written correspondance with my reviewers.
I hope this can at least give you a start on the right track, whatever that may be.

Yeah, I'm in a healthy weight range... Also, I do get some food stamps.

Also, thanks BigBadBrad. I don't think my school has a clinic, but they do have disability support & services.
I think I would need a diagnosis first.
How much did it cost you to get a diagnosis?

No cost for me, my school has a student health plan and an on-site clinic. Perhaps you can access services based on financial needs? I am not familiar with any social security institutions or processes though, maybe someone else can point you in the right direction.