How to secretly get a diagnose?

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I'm in my teens and would like to secretly see if I have Aspergers or not. I can't tell anyone or get help from anyone, what should I do?

Welcome to WP.

You will not be able to get a formal diagnosis secretly. You will have to wait until you have reached legal age. In the meantime you can take all the online quizzes you can find and do all the research you can find. Read books and read blogs and visit forums like this one.

One of my favorite books is Tony Attwood's The Complete Guide To Asperger's Syndrome. It was written for teachers so it has a lot of strategies but it is very comprehensive. You will be a able to get a basic understanding on the traits and symptoms and you will be able to see if you relate to and identify with them. You can also look up the diagnostic criteria, in the DSM5 or the IDC. Other than that, you have to wait until you are old enough to get diagnosed without your parent's permission.

And, after doing this kind of research about autism and yourself, you might feel that you are in a better position to tell your parents about your findings, and ask their help in pursuing a professional diagnosis. On the other hand, you might feel that your own self-identification as autistic is enough for now and enjoy the results of your research for a while. In other words, it is completely up to you how you proceed.

Like AspieUtah and skibum wait till your of legal age,in the meanwhile research autism.

Unfortunately, you cannot get a diagnosis on your own until you are 18.

Hi Dbz33! Welcome to WrongPlanet!

Although you may have to wait until you turn 18 to receive a private diagnosis from a doctor, you may be able to take some self-diagnostic tests and read up on your own to get a good idea.

You say that you are in your teens. Would you mind telling us exactly how old you are? If you are say, 16 or 17, an adult self-test is probably pretty accurate. If you are 13 or 14 it may be less accurate. If you are 15, you could take a test and just keep in mind that it may not be completely accurate.

I recommend taking both the RAADS-R and the Aspie quiz. I do not recommend the AQ, especially for a teenager. I know it's tempting to take the AQ because it's so short, but it has some misleading questions in it, it is too short to be accurate, and much of Baron-Cohen's work has since been debunked or at least called into question, although he did bring up important questions in autism research.

If either of those tests are confusing to interpret, just let me know. I am NT and I have my own test results saved for comparison.

I would then read up on posts from autistic young people here on WP and on similar sites. They may discuss things that are also a concern to you. Their experiences might help you to decide if you are also on the autism spectrum or if maybe something else might make more sense to you.

You could also explore the possibility that you have already been diagnosed and this has not been shared with you. This happens sometimes with younger people. Their parents may not accept the autism diagnosis or may have decided that it would be better for their child not to have a label.

Sorry for the long reply. I hope some of this is helpful.

Excellent reply! I should have made that reply!

If you wait until 18 you can ask your clinition to not write a diagnostic report. Without that paper the diagnosis is not official meaning you can not receive benifits or accomodations but it pretty much eliminates the possibility of anybody finding out if you keep the diagnosis to yourself.

If you feel your condition significantly negatively impacts your life now, get help now. Don't wait.

If I were in my teens when I found out it would have helped a lot. Now I'm in my late 20s and looking back and I have nothing but regret for not getting help sooner.

It would help to know why the OP feels he can not tell or get help from anyone.

The most private way could be to seek a diagnosis in another country, though that would clearly be impractical for most.

I just did the RAADS test.
For any one who wants to know.
http://m.imgur.com/gallery/wpSefI3