Getting Official Diagnosis

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I think I want to get an official diagnosis (I'm 20), but I don't really know how to start. Well, I've asked the therapist I use to talk to the psychiatrist that works in the same place, but she wants me to ask around for information.

Is there a directory for psychologists who specialize in ASDs in the US? I

Also, what if I get tested and it turns out I don't have AS after all? I am so much like the people here and I think I fit the characteristics, but what if I'm wrong?

Last questions first: If you're wrong, then you're wrong. Don't worry, your life wouldn't be over, and you might actually learn something useful about yourself!

Google is your friend. I suggest that you start by doing an online search for what you're looking for. I found my examiners at a local university's psychology department. You might, too!

Networking got me to the "2nd best" therapist in my city who works with aspies (#1 only works with children and teens) where I got diagnosed; my psychiatrist suggested I have aspergers, and referred me to him. If you have ever seen a therapist of psychologist before, I would ask him who that person in your town may be. From my experience, distancing yourself from "research" on aspergers prior to an assessment can avoid a lot of confusion and hasty self-labeling; especially with so much on the internet subject to what the source wants to put out there; Tony Attwood's book is pretty basic and objective if did want to do some research beforehand though. Just be yourself, state your issues, and what you ultimately want to gain by meeting with the specialist; the assessment should go smoothly, although I can't promise you'll be able to resist obsessing over whether you have it over the likely 3 appointment span you would be taking to get assessed.

Just because you share the same personality traits as people with Aspergers doesn't mean you have Aspergers. Although in order to have it, you must have some kind of social skills challenges. Having difficulty using or picking up on non-verbal cues, difficulty understanding how others may feel in given situations, difficulty picking up on unwritten social rules, trouble making friends etc...

It's too bad I don't know you irl. I could tell you within a minute whether you have it or not and i'm usually right.

It's not just personality traits. I have difficulty picking up on social cues, my executive functioning isn't as good as other people's (and it's really getting me sleep deprived), I have difficulty making friends, part of the time I don't have as much empathy as others and part of the time I overempathize, I have heightened sensitivity to touch, I avoid eye contact, I have a few special interests, and my last therapist thought I probably had some form of autism.

I'm not from the States but I was tested at 17 years old back in '07 by a team of specialists (they sat behind a glass mirror and observed my behavior) at a facility in Ontario called Oakland Autistic center. It took about 7 sessions before they came to their decision of an Autistic spectrum diagnosis. Which was PDD-NOS.

Sadly I have not gotten really anything out of it. No benefits of really any kind. I can not even qualify for disability support.

I encourage you to seek a diagnosis if you feel you need answers. But it's not as life changing as people think. You don't get any type of epiphany or gain profound self insight from being diagnosed.

I don't want an epiphany or anything. I just want to know for sure that I'm autistic so I can tell people, and they can understand me better. I can tell people that I think that I have Asperger's now, but they might think I'm one of those people who say they're an aspie to be fashionable, or that I'm mistaken. Or I could tell people my individual symptoms. But knowing for sure will be much simpler and much more believable. If I have an official diagnosis people won't think I'm just a jerk or a weirdo. Or at least, I'll be part of a larger group of weirdos instead of an individual case.

I once overheard a guy in the cafeteria talking about this aspire that really got on his nerves, but he also said that once he learned that the annoying person had Asperger's, he was more understanding and disliked him less.

I tried for a long time to confirm what I already knew and every single psychologist/psychiatrist basically treated me like I asked to be put in a prison cell. Sure, it might be a great idea if I was on the brink of homelessness or suicide but since I have a secure full time job (thank heavens!) they all told me it would be a waste of time and resources. All were of the professional opinion that yes, I almost certainly would qualify for the Aspergers/ASD diagnosis but at my stage there is literally zero benefit to getting it other than to confirm what I already know.

That's not even mentioning I did meet a person who *was* diagnosed with Aspergers and it was obvious even to me the armchair psychologist they are much more likely Borderline. Don't even get me started on some of the ridiculous misdiagnosis I have seen over the years.

As I see it, the only benefit would be if I went back to school and even then, most of the programs I would look to would be Aspie friendly/understanding anyway. I mentioned it to a College counsellor once and she basically said "you are the last person to figure it out". I feel almost like I discovered the tooth fairy isn't real! Even reading all my childhood report cards it's obvious all my teachers knew even if they didn't have a name for it back then.

Do you think there's any other benefits for an official diagnosis besides for school? I'm in a university right now, if that counts.

You may want to check and see if your state has an autism society or organization. I found a list of psychologists qualified to do diagnosis on the site for my own state. Be forewarned though, many of them may only do testing for children, and others may have a long wait list. Some people suggest trying local universities. My own experience with that route was not positive though. Be sure to ask if the test will be administered by a psychologist or a student.


This is a difficult one to answer. The short answer is, if you're not autistic, you're not autistic. There's nothing wrong with being neurotypical anymore than there's anything wrong with being autistic. Also, you can have autistic traits at an undiagnosable or non-clinical level (often referred to as Broad Autistic Phenotype). So you may still find useful resources and advice for specific issues you deal with in autistic communities, even if you're undiagnosable.

However, also be prepared that not all psychologists/psychiatrists are equally qualified to make a diagnosis. Psychology is not a hard science, and different psychologists will disagree about what constitutes "clinically significant". For my own diagnosis process, I went through the DSM criteria and evaluated which ones I felt pretty damn certain I met before going in. If I got a negative diagnosis because they thought I didn't meet those conditions, I was going to feel pretty secure that it was OK to seek a second opinion. However, if they gave me a negative diagnosis based on conditions that I wasn't really sure of, or wasn't really able to observe impartially, I decided I wouldn't have any grounds to challenge their professional opinion.

Just that you have a label associated with it. I once talked to a social worker about this and she said "who cares? You are who you are label or not!" I honestly can't see any benefit except for allowing insurance companies to screw you over in the future as ASDs become more mainstream. Got ASD? That means you are classified a "high risk" driver and get sky high rates, regardless of my perfect driving record. Sure it's illegal now but I know insurance companies have very shady ways of skirting the law where I live (Canada).

Nobody really understands Aspergers anyways and many still think it's just an excuse for laziness or immaturity. I wish!

Here in Canada - I went to my family doctor with my concerns, who in turn referred me to a clinical psychologist familiar with autism. The clinical psychologist diagnosed me and sent copy of the diagnosis back to my MD, so now its on my medical file at the medical clinic.

What happened with that route, if you don't mind me asking?

So the first problem was that, even though they assured me the psychologist would be the one doing the testing, it was actually conducted by a grad student, and only reviewed by the psychologist. After the testing was finished, I had to nag them for several weeks to get the results. When they sent me the report, it was full of errors. For example, scores mentioned in the text of the report didn't match the scores listed in the appendix. After that, I had to bug them for weeks to get a follow up appointment to actually discuss the results with the psychologist.

When I finally did go to the appointment, it was a mess. She spent roughly 15 minutes of the report completely rewriting one section of the report (turned out neither the scores in the text or the appendix were the right). We spent a lot of time talking about my ADOS score. She gave me a positive diagnosis saying that it was above the threshold, but the score in the report was below the threshold. But then when I asked to see the actual test materials (which I later learned she wasn't supposed to show me), it showed a different scores than the ones I received on the exam that were over the threshold. She said it was all up to the her interpretation anyways and not to worry about it. She also kept referencing things that happened in the testing as if she were the one present, even though it was the grad student who was there.

So yeah, total hot mess beginning to end. Because of all that, it gave me a lot less closure and validation than I was looking for, which was all I really wanted from a diagnosis anyways. All in all, I just didn't feel like they actually cared or even took me seriously. Like they were just trying to get me out the door so they wouldn't have to deal with me anymore. I finally got to see another psych who told me a lot about just how poorly it was all administered, but in the end agreed with the conclusion that I was on the spectrum. Just those few small words from her helped me with things a lot more than hours of testing with the other psych.

Closure and validation is the main thing I'm looking for in my diagnosis. I am meeting with a psychiatrist through my university soon though, since it was the easiest option and free. Hopefully it goes better.

I'm sorry you had a difficult time of it Gamerdad. I took the university route as well, and my experience was much more successful. I was evaluated by a supervised doctoral student, but she was very good and knew exactly what she was doing. She administered and scored all my tests, including the ADOS, without any problems, and the only errors in my report consisted of a few spelling typos. Perhaps it was the level of expertise of the student you went to see, Gamerdad; I got lucky because mine was the best one they had; she's the one they use to teach all the other students how to administer the ADOS. Knowing that made me feel very confident in my assessment.