Getting a diagnosis and getting help in college.

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I am college student, and woman, and I am 20 years old. I have done my research up and down and I have read various topics here about other people's experiences . It has made me feel more confident in saying that I'm pretty sure I have autism.

For starter's, I was diagnosed with ADHD has a child, I moved around a lot and had temper tantrums. Looking back I can also see I had communication problems. As I grew up however, I was no longer hyper. In fact I was fatigued and slow and clumsy, but deep down inside of me, I still enjoy moving, and want to embrace this more as it makes me happier. About the things the make me think I have autism I am not going to get into, because that might take forever. I am relying on the fact that many adults went undiagnosed in their childhood and know how I am feeling. I'm relying on the fact that people might find me trustworthy when I say I have put a lot of thought into this.

I did try to get a diagnosis once, in high school, but was told although I had a high IQ, my social problems stemmed from the fact that I didn't have many people who I could relate to because of that (which is kind of true for many people with autism). I was also told I didn't show signs such as flapping my arms. I also seemed to communicate really well how I was feeling with the neuropsycologist. (Which is something I am pretty good at, talking one on one.)

Now I've done my research and have found two main things: autism has a much more broad definition, and women are massively under-diagnosed. In my case I believe I was wrongly (or maybe right at the time) diagnosed with ADHD.

Now I kind of have a fear of what might happen if I try to get diagnosed again. I'm worried I might get disappointed by neuropsycologists who are not keeping up with the new understandings coming up about autism.

What is your advice? The main reason I want a diagnosis is this:

-I will one day transfer to a four year college, probably move into a dorm, and I want to use my diagnosis to be able to get a "quiet hallway" I have heard about on this website.
-I will probably utilize psycological services for stress and depression, and if they don't understand autism that well, I want them to know at least understand that I do in fact have it.
-I want to see what services might be available to me, for instance, I definitely have more difficultly getting myself out there with job hunts then NTs. Probably because of social skills. I wonder if there is a support group on campus?

What are your experiences with schools and colleges?

I'm sorry, but I have to be blunt... Based on my own experiences, schools won't treat you differently (for better or for worse) even if they are aware of your diagnosis.

I guess I don't need much, but a quiet hallway would increase my daily function-ability. On the campus I am on right now I have to seek out quiet spots all the time because if I don't I feel very overwhelmed and drained at the end of the day. I'd like my living space to at least be quiet.

Has this been a bad or a good thing for you? Or does it just not make a difference to you and you find your own ways to function? I can see that happening to, because that is what I have been doing so for for the most part.

It's possible to ask for help without a diagnosis. I've found that explaining "I'm in the process of being diagnosed" has helped. Maybe contact the college you're going to beforehand and explain the situation. The more time you can give them to prepare and learn about it the better your chances of it going smoothly. Some places might still be bad about it, but you just need to learn how to educate people and don't take no for an answer.

Colleges are supposed to provide accommodations to students with disabilities. Someone with AS may be able to get help like:

-priority class registration to reduce anxiety
-private test taking environment
-a reserved seat at the front of the class to reduce auditory processing issues
-permission to record class lectures
-more time on exams
-Alternate exam times

And possibly other things.

I'll be working through this myself soon, as I'm headed back to college for a psych degree.


Without a diagnosis though, I doubt you'll get much official support. They ask for lots of paperwork; I've checked. You may get support from a sympathetic professor, but you won't likely get any significant support at the administration level until you can document everything.

To virginiarw: Hi, since I don't live on campus and rarely interact with my schoolmates, my school's inaction has zero impact on me. Actually, my current school is unaware of my diagnosis.

virginiarw: I would encourage you to see a clinician who has experience in the field of autism and ask for them to assess you. You will feel better either way. It is important that you understand yourself, and this is a good starrting point. There is a book out called "Made for Good Purpose" which is a great resource for understanding your strengths and differences as a person.

Get the diagnosis if you need the services. You might be able to get the services based on your ADHD diagnosis. However, they might require a rediagnosis anyways though if it was a long time ago (my school did).

I don't have much to offer in terms of experience. I'm not diagnosed yet (next week!), but I too was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. My school, a local community college, had an atrocious administration that took forever to get anything done and always seemed to screw something up. They also offered bottom of the barrel help. If you haven't already, research a colleges administration. A poor college administration will set off your symptoms and plus, no one wants to wait a year for their paperwork to be processed.

I tried and asked for an assessment last funded through OSAP which is my student loan program and my disability advisor wouldn't get me one. She said it's because I wasn't previously diagnosed with AS and if I was now there's nothing extra they can do about it that they can't help me with through the college anyway. To be honest I think she's just too lazy to set up a specialist appointment. I guess I'm going to Toronto soon. I mean, I did get accommodations which is good but I want to finally know 100% for sure that I have it so I can finally identify with groups without saying I'm self-diagnosed.