Getting a diagnosis

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How do I find out how to get a fair assessment from somebody experienced in adult females with ASD? I am in the USA if that helps.

It would help even more if you could tell us your general location within the U.S.A. Don't be specific enough to endanger your privacy, but I would suggest that you do let us know the general region that would be within reasonable traveling distance if at least part of the assessment needs to be in-person.

GRASP has set up a network of qualified therapists who do online ASD assessments via Zoom, so your location within the U.S.A. doesn't matter if you use that service. However, they have a humongous waiting list. And, for many practitioners, there are important parts of the assessment that are still done in-person only. Also, some of us (including my boyfriend) can't handle Zoom for sensory reasons.

You will also have to keep in mind which places will accept your insurance.

Start by asking people you know who have autism or have family members with autism diagnosis. Ask where they got diagnosed, ask as local autism support groups, ask at autism networks within your home county or state. Check out local teaching hospitals if there are any near you, most have psych/neuro departments and many provide autism services, even if these things say they are only for children, they may be able to refer you to somebody they know of who works with adults. As Mona said, knowing which county and state you are in may give us a chance to help locate services closer to you, and may give other members who were diagnosed in the same state a chance to speak up and give personal referrals. PM me if you wish, if you don't want to post your location publicly.

A good first step might be checking with your health insurance provider. They may or may not cover some or all of the cost of your assessment, and there may or may not be conditions.

But double-check everything they tell you!

My insurance provider's web page implied I could just find someone to do the assessment, but when I called them sometimes they agreed with that and other times they said I would need a referral request from my Primary Care Provider. To be cautious, we got my PCP to request a referral. With hindsight, I think the correct story was: I did not need a referral to get an assessment from an in-network provider but they had none anywhere near me—therefore I would have to go off-network and they would only provide partial coverage of the bill and only if my PCP requested a referral.

When my PCP requested the referral the insurance company very promptly sent one...but it turned out that provider did not do Adult Autism Assessments! After a few more false leads from them they told me I could find my own provider to do the assessment but it needed to be a Psychologist with ABA certification. That was WRONG! I spent months trying to find one of them before I learned that the ABA certification was not needed to do the assessment. I think Adult Autism Assessments were so uncommon that the insurance company's phone agents were unfamiliar with them and did not know what was needed!

All I needed was a licensed Psychologist who would do the assessment. Not all can or will.

I used:
National Register of Health Service Psychologists "Find a Psychologist"
to find a Psychologist near me who "did" Autism and took patients as old as me. I would be surprised if you found one who's web page mentions Adult Autism Assessments because I don't think those are common, so they wouldn't "waste" space on their webpage talking about it.

I called the nearest candidate practice first and the office manager who answered the phone did not think they did Adult Autism Assessments but said she would check to be sure. Again, I think Adult Autism Assessments might not be that common so even people at the practice might not know. It turned out one of their Psychologists could and would do my assessment.

The rest is silly history. Much of the assessment process is geared for kids. It made parts of the assessment rather amusing.