Diagnosis for those on the spectrum?

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I was just wondering, what is the process they go through to diagnose those with Aspergers or Autism? Are there tests they do? Who runs the tests? (doctor, psychologist, etc.) Does it differ when testing as a child vs. a teen or adult? How old were you when you were diagnosed? Thank you for your answers

I was referred by my psychiatrist to a neurologist who confirmed what he thought. They both work together for my care.

My children's pediatrician referred my kids to a children's psychiatrist. Who sent them to Heartspring for a full evaluation. She diagnosed them and so did Heartspring.

I think just a psych can do.

I'm a mature-aged adult diagnosed last year with AS. I referred myself to a clinical psychologist who is a specialist in ASDs and who was recommended by a reliable source.

My psychologist got me to complete the AQ Test before attending a two hour assessment session.

During the two hour session, we went over my psychological history.

Then my wife completed the AQ Test about me (at home).

Then she and I had a second, one hour session where the psychologist both heard from my wife and also observed many things about me during my interaction with her (and with the psychologist).

Then I got a diagnosis.

I was diagnosed by a neuropsychologist specializing in diagnosing ASDs in both adults and children. I was diagnosed at age 22 (middle of last month).

There were three meetings with him that were part of the process.

The first meeting was with both my parents and I and it was all the background information. Information from both my parents and I about my past. From me this was mostly about high school and college, and from my parents this was mostly about me younger than that. He also got my medical history, including mental health.


The second meeting was the evaluation. I was given a variety of surveys about mental health, AS traits (not labeled as such), Emotional responses, ability to read people, ADHD traits (also not labeled as such), and the sort. Some of these surveys were only about me at the current moment, and some of them were about me both at the current moment and when younger. He also tested my reading speed and comprehension, arithmetic skills both verbally and on paper, short term memory, ability to complete patterns, and did a sort of IQ test. Along with these, I had a test on a computer that I was later told was testing for ADHD, tests in identifying emotions in faces, voices, and matching faces to voices, as well as what is appropriate to do in various social situations and what were the people thinking.

The evaluation took from 9:45am until 2:30 pm, with a short lunch break.

As well as looking at my results from those tests, he was also observing my behavior the entire time I was there, seeing if things were stressing me out, checking my hygiene, checking for eye contact, checking for fidgeting and such.

About a week after that test the third meeting was with both my parents and I, which was the results. He went over each general area he was looking at, and told us that he felt that the label Asperger's Syndrome was an accurate label for some of my traits. (It was actually interesting, he focused on that rather than on me being autistic). He then gave some basic suggestions for me. My parents got to ask questions, he asked if I had any questions. Asked how much we'd researched before (and laughed when I mentioned that I liked the cat book). When I left I was given a ten page report on my results, diagnosis, and suggestions for what might be good for me.

The only thing he didn't explicitly mention in the report was what accommodations he would find appropriate, but it did specify that I should get accommodations in either academic or career settings to deal with my social differences and sensory sensitivities.