Diagnosing in adults vs diagnosing children

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I went through the wringer of tests from a psychologist and a neuro psych both of which could not give me a written statement saying that I had aspergers or not. But in person they all said I likely have it. So today I did a search in my insurance company's website first I searched aspergers and got 17 hits. Then I searched aspergers adults and 1 irrelevant hit popped up. I believe that the reason that neither psych nor neuro psych could put any thing in paper (though they did offer to write me notes for school, or ssi benefits) is because my particular insurance comapany has no way of diagnosing adults and when I put them to the task of it they were grasping for straws. They sent home a paper to my mom to fill out because all that they had were paperwork for a child hood diagnosis but my mom being 60 years old doesn't remember every little detail or the insane meltdowns I used to have as a kid. (Though all of my childhood friends remember quite vividly) So what she wrote was very vague and unhelpful to the diagnosis of which there was none confirming nor denying despite the assurance that they were capable.

Anyways...where does one go as an adult to get a diagnosis? Where does one go if they have no resources and the one resource they do have (my insurance) is at a loss for words.

It sounds like you live in a country like the United States, in which the first option is to have an assessment paid for by the insurance company. But, it is usually not covered for adults--though I have heard of cases in which adults will be diagnosed along with a child who is getting an assessment (there is a hereditary link).

Adults in the USA can usually find specialists who give assessments--I was quoted a fee of $1500 in Connecticut for an assessment not covered by insurance.

Any clue what the age cutoff is in the US? I'm guessing it's probably 18, but hoping it's higher.

My parents paid out of pocket for my diagnosis and then submitted it to be reimbursed from the insurance company after I was diagnosed. It was $1600.

I live in MA, have BCBS of IL for insurance, and at 36 years old was able to get approvals with minimal trouble. The neuropsych I will be seeing has people that do nothing but work on getting approvals.

Of course, it probably makes a bit of difference that I have a PPO rather than an HMO. For those too young to remember, a PPO plan is where you DON'T need written referrals from your doctor just to be in the same zip code as a specialist. I simply contacted the specialist's office, they took my information, and a few weeks later I got the approval paperwork from BCBS.

GL