Advice on pursuing adult ASD diagnosis?

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Greetings,

Previously I have been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression primarily because of my problems stemming from social interactions. After doing some research I have a strong inclination that I might be on the Autism Spectrum and I, along with my therapist, think that it might be a good idea to get psychological testing done with an emphasis on ASD. I am a 21 year old male that lives in Pennsylvania. Does anyone know of a place that specializes on doing ASD evaluations on adults in Pennsylvania (or anywhere in the eastern/midwestern USA for that matter)? My therapist said a lot of psychologists in our area diagnose ASD by going off of parental interviews and checklists such as the AQ but I would like to find a clinic that uses less structured diagnostic measures in addition such as the ADOS. The purpose of the testing is to identify the cause of my social difficulties - extreme social anxiety and depression from lack of connection to others or if there is another contributing diagnosis such as ASD and/or even a learning disability involved. Thanks for your help!

Searching "autism specialist pennsylvania" brings up some results.
I've found that I don't feel nearly as depressed since being diagnosed (at 32). I don't think it's actually made anything easier. Social difficulties and lack of connection. I'm still pretty terrible at all of that. But having something like a what or a why behind all of it a root cause or reason that I can accept because it feels like it fairly accurately describes my experience has helped me a lot.
Ultimately it's up to you whether to seek an assessment or not. Mine involved some testing (the wais 4 and I don't even know what else). Couple of kind of interviews with a psychologist. I think he talked to my mom about what I was like growing up. I was already pretty convinced beforehand, but getting some validation helped. Kind of a great weight off of my mind.
You probably know you better than anyone else could, but sometimes other people can see things that you can't. Sometimes, though, even professionals don't seem to know what they're talking about (or maybe don't care). So it may be good to do some research first.

I just completed my formal diagnosis and to be honest I would have been royally pissed off if I had to pay the whole thing out of pocket (I only paid about 10% of the cost). All the psychologist did was ask general questions I could have found on any free internet quiz, asked out family history to rule out mental illness, schizophrenia, etc, asked my brother and wife questions to prove I was telling the truth and viola! She did offer some vague suggestions like going to the local Autism center but to be honest I am probably too high functioning for it to do any good. I was never able to find an "informal" tester in ASD for adults and it is obvious not only the DSM V but the ADOS is written with children, particularly boys in mind.

What I ultimately learned was that my local college's disabilities coordinator was right: if you believe you are on the spectrum, you almost certainly are and there really isn't any benefit other than knowing for sure.

I went through the psychology department at a local college. It still wasn't free, but it was much cheaper than a series of regular office visits. The only drawback is being the subject of grad-student interviews since then.

That depends on how high your level of support needs are. I'm a level 2, and thus need more support than a level 1 diagnosed at a later age (I was diagnosed at 21 also, OP). My diagnosis has brought with it a myriad of social and financial benefits, and I wouldn't be where I am today without it.

That said, I got my first diagnosis done at my university. I was attending the university at the time, but they saw anyone in the general public. Perhaps you could investigate colleges in your area to see if similar programs are offered where you are. Does your therapist not have any recommendations on where to go for a diagnosis? There may be a local autism group in your area that you could reach out to for help, and when I was looking for a diagnostician, even just googling "autism assessment in [my state]" brought up some results.