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Hi, I'm (46F) live in Florida and I'm just now suspecting that I have undiagnosed autism and/or adhd. I want to get a diagnosis and I'm trying to figure out how to do that, most places seem to only see children. I simply want a diagnosis so I can finally make sense of it all my quirks. My doctor said that in the 80's when I was a kid that they didn't test girls for these sorts of things and were told its hormonal. They start the gaslighting early on! I think I did various testing as a kid and had a high IQ but was behind socially. I've done a few tests online and they all came back with the implication I may have autism and I have many of the traits. I hope this will be a safe place to talk about this while I find a diagnosis.

Welcome to WP!

Here in Texas, resources are almost nonexistent.

When I began to wonder if I might be on the Spectrum I and my bride read up about it on the Internet. And we both agreed it sounded like me...but that was the opinion of two amateurs so I wasn't completely sure. Then I found this online quiz:
<=>- Autism-Spectrum Quotient Test (AQ)^*_*
My score on that indicated significant Autism traits. Then my bride took the quiz on my behalf, answering the questions the way she thought I should, and she got the same result.

Still not as solid as a formal diagnosis. And even though I believed the result I didn't know if it meant I was almost Autistic or slightly Autistic. But it gave me enough assurance that I decided to pursue an official diagnosis.

My first step was to call my healthcare insurance provider and ask if they would cover an Adult Autism Assessment. There was good news and bad news. The good news is they immediately said it was covered and wanted to help. The bad news is they didn't know what they were talking about (I'm guessing they didn't handle many Adult Autism Assessments)...they quickly sent me a referral to someplace that did not do assessments!

I called them back and they sent me some more referrals. All useless.

Then they said I could find a provider and they would write a referral. They said I would need a licensed Psychologist with ABA credentials. That was also wrong and it delayed my search by a few months. It turns out I just needed a licensed Psychologist willing to do the assessment; that ABA stuff was irrelevant.

I went to https://www.findapsychologist.org/ to find candidate, licensed Psychologists near me. I did not see any listings saying they did Adult Autism Assessments, I figure this also reflects that not many assessments are done. I looked for Psychologists who worked with Autism and took patients my age (I was 64, at the time) and called them to find out if they would do an Adult Autism Assessment.

The admin person who answered the phone at the first practice I called didn't know if they would do an assessment...but she checked. She returned my call and said they could do the assessment!

I did screw things up a little bit. After all of those bad referrals I focused on finding a practice that could do the assessment. The place I found to do it was not in-network for my insurance. I'm guessing the insurance might have covered more of the assessment if I had stayed in-network.

P.S. Now my official diagnosis is: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Level 1 (Mild).
With an additional note that I also satisfy the criteria previously associated with Asperger's Syndrome.

P.P.S. The assessment was kind of fun!!

There are many online assessments for Autism. Many of them can provide you with very useful information. But as an adult, you can get a very detailed assessment but it will cost you a substantial amount of money to have this done. One of the problems is that even if they provide a valid assessment, it does not provide a cure for the condition. In reality, there is a maze of variety in the depth and diversity of conditions. It is not a one side fits all approach. I have a type of condition called Asperger's Syndrome. It falls within one of the categories. I have a high IQ, but even among Aspies I am a bit unique.

There are some people with very high IQs. One was on the site for awhile. He claimed to have an IQ over 150. I suspect this was accurate. But having a high IQ does not provide you with a pathway to live happy and free. Anyways the thing is that we both are still children deep down inside. Our brains are like those of a child. We learn and learn and learn and never stop learning. As a result we are very smart young children. I am 74 years old and I am still learning and growing. For me it is a beautiful world. I am a little like Peter Pan. But I live in two very different worlds and I travel freely between them.

I'm a 45 year old female, also with undiagnosed ASD. I've been suspecting it for the past 4 years, at first I didn't have this need to have an official diagnosis, but lately, the need is very urgent.

The urgency is down to my lack of self confidence, or worse the intense self-hatred I can't seem to fix. I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and that did not help me 'love myself'. I went along with the common perception out there and started hating myself even more - even though deep down I didn't really agree with my diagnosis. I was in group therapy with others with BPD and I was just so so so different from everyone in there.

Autism not being diagnosed among girls/women for many decades - it is just so unfair. Here were are, in the millions having maybe lost decades because we didn't get the proper support system we needed to have.

I hope you get your diagnosis one way or the other.

All the best!

Greetings and welcome! You have indeed landed on a safe and welcoming planet

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

WELCOME FreckledAngel..hope you find it a nice place to come to visit.

welcome.

Hello there I am also on this site welcome if you want you can inbox me if you want some friends.