[kiwi215]

I'm 21 years old and think I may be on the autism spectrum/have high-functioning autism. I won't go into details here as to why I suspect this, but does anyone know what my best bet would be as far as seeking out a potential diagnosis? I have a general practitioner, but I've only been a patient of his for a relatively short amount of time and so I haven't seen him that much and we don't really know each other that well... I wouldn't feel very confident or comfortable talking to him about this (although I could if necessary...). I am currently in the process of switching therapists- from now on, I will be going to a university psychology clinic where the therapists are psychological trainees (advanced doctoral students working on their Ph.Ds at this university) who work under a supervisor who is a psychologist. Does anyone know if this is someone who would be able to provide an ASD diagnosis? Or would I need to see a psychiatrist? Or licensed psychologist? I know this would be a fairly lengthy process anyway, but I'm just wondering if this is the best place to start...? Thanks in advance

[Skeezyks]

Hello kiwi215: The Skeezyks doesn't know the answer to your question. But I saw that no one had replied to your post. So I thought I would. It seems to me that a university psychology clinic would likely have someone on staff who could provide this service. If not, they should certainly know who could. If it were me, I would ask them.

[bunnifoo]

I was diagnosed by my therapist, he specializes in ASD as well as trauma (I started seeing him because of trauma related stuff). There are different types of testing that people can do and some are more extensive.

I think a lot of people get refered to specialists who do a variety of tests. But my therapist gave me a fairly straight forward test as well as asking questions about certain things - eye contact, routines, reading body language, stuff like that. So for me it wasn't a lenghty process. I asked him about this today because it seemed so simple compared to what others have done. He said that he could refer me out to further testing which would including IQ test, cognitive tests, etc and he's done that before but he's had a few clients who went and ended up with a variety of diagnoses besides autism and in most cases it just confirmed what he had determined.

Probably your first step is contact the universty and ask about a referral to someone who specializes in autism to talk to them first. And go from there.

[catnip123]

I was diagnosed by a licensed psychologist. But it seems to me that the psychologists that you can see should be able to make a diagnosis for you

[Lexi232]

Its prolly the best way i can think of. the university is what i was thinking of.

also theres the Arc, and autism speaks that have some doctors that they can recommend.
another option could be seeing a neurologist (some will diagnose it too).

i'll be back, im going to go see if i can find the sites that i thinking of.

EDIT:

http://www.thearc.org/

https://www.autismspeaks.org/
specifically- https://www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/adults
and -
https://www.autismspeaks.org/family-...resource-guide

http://www.211.org/

[nativechic]

Majority of psychiatrists would not be able to diagnose it in adult. Getting referral from your university clinic or maybe even disability services will probably be best bet--the trainees would probably not be experienced enough. I was tentatively diagnosed by neuropsychologist in my university clinic but would have to go elsewhere to get it confirmed.There is a really good online community called wrongplanet.net that targets teens and adults on spectrum which is great source of information. Autism speaks is more for families with young children on spectrum.

[snarkydaddy]

Originally Posted by nativechic

Getting referral from your university clinic or maybe even disability services will probably be best bet--the trainees would probably not be experienced enough. I was tentatively diagnosed by neuropsychologist in my university clinic but would have to go elsewhere to get it confirmed.There is a really good online community called wrongplanet.net that targets teens and adults on spectrum which is great source of information. Autism speaks is more for families with young children on spectrum.

That is exactly what I did, and am going next week for the intake. The tests remind me of when I was a kid being tested for dyslexia

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