Probable Aspie, age 48, looking for official diagnosis (MD)

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Hi all. I signed up for this site a while back but never felt like posting until now.

I'm pretty sure I have Asperger's. I first guessed at it when a friend told me about various "quirky" behaviors of her son, known to have Asperger's, and I thought "Those behaviors make perfect sense to me." (Things like which seat to sit at around a restaurant table, not hearing conversation in the room because he's focused on something else, etc.). I started reading up on AS and suddenly a lot of things from my childhood and adolescence made perfect sense.

I've taken the well-known Baron-Cohen test online a couple of times and never scored lower than 41.

Now, at this point I'm okay with who I am. I'm fairly well-respected in the IT security field (there's a lot of Aspies here!), I'm married and have three kids. I work for the Federal government, though, and it occurs to me that an official diagnosis of AS might come in handy someday. (I'd also like some third-party validation of what is essentially just a suspicion on my part.)

How do I go about getting such a diagnosis? Is it just a matter of asking my family doctor for a referral to a neuropsychologist or something? Does anyone here know of a good such psychologist in the MD/DC area (Rockville, Bethesda, and environs)?

Thanks for any help anyone can provide. I'm going to try to get onto this site a little more often in the future.

You want to see someone that specialized in Aspergers/Autism Spectrum disorders. You probably have to pay out of pocket, as insurance typically doesn't cover this. I was quoted $1500 last year--but typical fees vary depending on where you live.

If you just need reassurance that you are an Aspie, you might consider asking folks who either work professional with those on the spectrum, or those who have close relatives with Aspergers. It is obvious to anyone that visits my man-cave that I have Aspergers--I love to make stuff to exacting detail and precision.-by the dozens!

When I got around to getting my self-diagnosis confirmed, I needed two assessments - one from a psychologist and the other from a psychiatrist.

I was talking to a psychologist already, so he was easy. For the shrink, I went back to a guy I'd spent some time with a decade or two before.

If you have anxiety problems as well, or even just to get a psychologist assessment, I recommend this office:

Dr. Galen S. Marburg
6310 Harford Rd
Parkville, MD
21214-1311

SECOND OFFICE ADDRESS: 15 Walker Ave. Pikesville, MD 21208 (410-602-3805)

Phone: (410)426-6370
Fax: (410)426-3491

The Maryland Psychology website has an *excellent* search engine. Dr. Marburg is well-known at Johns Hopkins, despite not being a part of their staff nor being alumni. He has offices in Pikesville and Parksville all around the Greater Baltimore area. Depending on your exact location that may be a little far away for you, but at least he'll treat you right for the assessments. He also has a psychiatrist, Dr. Stokes, whom he works with. He takes a wide variety of insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid.

And whomever quoted $1500 -- yes, it can easily go as high as $3000. However I've also seen as low as $600, and these are all the base prices before insurance.

Note: I recommend to check out the Maryland Psychology website on Google. I can't provide a link because I don't have enough "legitimate" posts.

http://www.marylandpsychology.org [link added by Sallamandrina]