Trying to find someone for NLD ,AS etc diagnosis.

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I live in Orange County. I'm OK with driving up to 2 hrs; the closer the better. perhaps I'd even consider someone over 2 hrs away.
For NLD (there's other threads on it if you don't know what it is; similar/same as AS) http://www.nldline.com/
to Diagnose NLD (non-verbal learning disability/disorder) a Neuropsychological evaluation is needed

I've looked around a bit

Here's a post I made on the NLD adult group:

I saw a discussion on here on whether a non neuropsych was OK to
diagnose NLD. It may have been Ata that said that it's ok to use one
if they have a neuropsych background?

I know a neuropsych eval is required to make an NLD diagnosis. I want
to find out any possible disorder I have NLD, Asperger's, Dyspraxia
etc. mainly for employment purposes.
I spoke to 2 referrals from the UCLA Autism ctr for someone to
diagnose Asperger's. one of them hasn't returned my calls. the 2nd
one whom I found to not be write for me recommended this guy:

This is Dr. Larson's page and some background info.

http://www.newportpsychology.com/about.html

About Dr. Larson:

Dr. LarsonDr. Larson received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with an
emphasis in Neuropsychology from the California School of Professional
Psychology in Fresno, California. After finishing his clinical
internship, Dr. Larson continued his specialized training by
completing a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychological
and psychodiagnostic assessment at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute
and Hospital. In addition to operating his private practice, Dr.
Larson has contracted with school districts in the Orange County area
as an independent evaluator. He also maintains a position at
Neuroscience Associates Incorported, a multi-specialty clinical
neuropsychology practice located in the Cedars Sinai Medical Office
Towers in Los Angeles. Further, Dr. Larson provides individualized
therapy services (primarily cognitive-behavioral). He finds that his
background in neuropsychology aids him in working effectively with
individuals having developmental difficulties such as attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder and learning disorder, as well their
parents and caregivers. Finally, Dr. Larson has been an author on
several peer-reviewed journal articles as well as numerous research
presentations.

Here's his curriculum vitae:
http://www.newportpsychology.com/forms/larson_cv.pdf
adult neuropsych section of the site:
http://www.newportpsychology.com/servic ... psychology

So far he's my 1st choice.
-$1600-$2000.
-I won't be using insurance.
-He said he can work out a payment plan.
-probably around 6-8 hrs over 2 days.

-Even though on his curriculum vitae his title isn't Neuropsychologist
he does have a Neuropsych background:

Dr. Larson received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis
in Neuropsychology from the California School of Professional
Psychology in Fresno, California. After finishing his clinical
internship, Dr. Larson continued his specialized training by
completing a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychological
and psychodiagnostic assessment at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric
Institute and Hospital.

-and also he knows of NLD and has no objection to diagnosing it.
-doesn't seem to have a lot of postdoctoral experience.


anyway the second guy (David Paltin in Orange (the city)), CA) was
referred to me by someone from an Aspie meetup.
-only $800
-2 testing sessions 1.5 hr each and final 1-1.5 hr session to go over
results
-I probably won't use insurance
-in business for 17 years.
-he also knows of NLD and is willing to diagnose it
-I don't know if he has a neuropsych background, he's a psychologist.
about 20-30% of his testing is with adults
when I asked him if he did neuropsych testing he said for some things
-also said he's been doing this for a while, so he's seen most every
major condition. well guessing he said major




Well there's always going through my Primary Care Provider to find a
Neuropsych.

the UCLA autism ctr recommended somebody for Aspie diagnosis. after leaving messages she got back to me I think last week.
She's on leave so I have to wait nearly a month to contact her again if I so choose.
I looked online and this is her page:

http://www.autismconnections.net/Autism ... hnson.html


was looking around and found a link for this online:
lot of info on the page.
$3000-$5500 whoa!
10-20 hrs

http://www.docherman.com/

any comments on the professionals I have listed so far?

anyone know neuropsychs familiar with both NLD and AS in Southern California, closer to OC the better?

if anyone wants I can type some information from my old psychological and neuropsychological evaluations in '91 if that helps.

Both of them sounded like they are okay- they are familiar with NLD and have experience in testing.

I think NLD is probably an easier diagnosis to get with a non-expert because it is based more heavily on neuropsych tests, and thus is somewhat more objective. If you have a serious deficit in nonverbal processing skills, it should be obvious. I didn't get diagnosed by anyone in particular- I went to my university psych clinic and was diagnosed by a student clinician (in consultation with a licensed supervisor of course). I think with AS it's a little trickier because more of the diagnosis is based on behavior, and if you don't have someone who is experienced with recognizing AS in adults, they won't pick up on it.

The first guy does sound like he would be a better choice though, if you can afford it, since he has a strong neuropsych and LD background, and the evaluation is longer, and thus probably more thorough. I had 4 hours of testing for my diagnosis, and they were actually trying to keep the numbers of hours down because I was originally going to pay out of pocket (it turned out insurance covered it)- otherwise it would have been longer. The three hours of testing with the second guy might be enough, but the extended testing period might be better, especially if there are several conditions being looked at.

A suggestion: You might want to ask the psychologists to name some of the tests they would use with you, since there are several which are considered pretty sensitive for NLD (basically to see if they know how to test for NLD I guess). If you want a list, I could knock one up.

Can a psychologist diagnose dyspraxia? I would have thought you would need an OT or something for that.

more comments? it would really be helpful. Thanks.