An autism specialist is so expensive!

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I finally was able to find an autism specialist near my area. For the 1st appointment, where I bring information on my school performance and explain my childhood, the cost is $170. If the information from that appointment isn't sufficient enough for a diagnosis, then the cost of taking diagnostic exams can range from $790 to close to $2,000!
I have lousy insurance, in which I need to meet a $5,000 deductible before it starts to pay for everything. (Boy, the whole health care policy in the U.S. sure sucks.)
I am who I am, so maybe it's not worth worrying so much about an official 2nd/3rd opinion. But then again, I want to change my career and I feel that I might need help with career assistance and placement from the Department of Rehabilitation. (Oddly enough, my last case from the DOR was almost considered too severe to be accepted, even though my psychotherapist took up to a few years to diagnose me.)
Is there a government program where you can be reassessed for disabilities without much of an expensive fee? Can the DOR re-assess you?

I don't live in the US, so I don't know whether there are assistance programs. However, in my experience, this is indeed what a good diagnostic exam costs. I hope you will be able to find the funds. I guess however, if the diagnosis is significant to your DOR case, they may at least be able to assist with finding funds.

If you're a run-of-the-mill case of AS, the initial $170 should suffice. "Experts" tends to know the manifestation/appearance of AS and AD quite well.

The initial one was enough in my case (within about 5 minutes of talking she said I had AS), and I was 25 at the time, so I mustn't be that obviously different in appearance, especially as I saw many psychologists and psychiatrists in a mental hostel who said I had OCD [and never brought up an ASD].

Those figures are familiar. It's what I ended up spending (including EEG, MRI, multiple visits to different neurologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists). But all that is not necessarily required for a diagnosis. Check with your state since each state in the U.S. has its own rules and financial support for underinsured people, as well as rules about qualifying for disability assistance in its various forms.

There are a lot of low/not-cost career assistance/placement programs nowadays because of the recession. Where I live, the local library is a focal point for this kind of activity. If yours isn't, check your city and state web sites for information. Also ask your doc's office for all the information they have, since in my experience they often have a lot of information, but forget to mention it to newly diagnosed Aspies.

In my country, an AS diagnosis costs a fortune for adults and is free for children. Adults don't get any help from any insurance or gov't entity for the diagnosis. This means there are lots of adult Aspies who are undiagnosed because they'll never be able to afford it, since Aspies usually can't work. It's doubly unfair because when we were children there was no AS diagnosis, so there's no way we could've been diagnosed back then. It's plain meanness.

On top of that, there are only 2 specialists in the country who diagnose adult AS with any level of seriousness, and they charge as much as they feel like because they're constantly overloaded with requests anyway and there's no control or inspection or law that can make them limit how much they charge. These 2 women make in 1 day what the masses who have to turn to them make in a month.

And to top it all, since your only chance of receiving benefits for AS is to have a reliable diagnosis, these 2 women charge ANOTHER fortune to write you the letter with the diagnosis that is required by Government Social Services in order to apply for benefits.

And God forbid, should you rub one of these 2 women the wrong way with a word you say, you'll never get a diagnosis and therefore no help from Social Security. You have to suck up to them and be very careful to stroke their egos at every turn or else.

It's all nastiness and exploitation of the suffering adults with AS, who have no way to help themselves.

£100 an hour in the UK for an academic in autism to do consultancy. Thankfully, diagnosis is free on the NHS.

It didn't cost anything to be diagnosed and receive help for me.

It's always sunny in California?

Oh yes, it's always sunny. We all live and look just like the people from "Bay Watch" (Oh goodness, I can't be dating myself with that show, can I? ). It's all one big surf party all the time. With the movie stars, or course. And since the state is overflowing with money, and has no debts at all, our schools are magnificent. I just love our governor, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, more and more each day. He's my hero!


NOT!!

Actually it's a total mess.

It's always sunny in California?

That depends where in California. In Southern California it's often sunny. Up North in San Francisco it's often foggy, even during the summer.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaIWM2ruyK4[/youtube]

(Sorry, I couldn't resist )

lol. JibJab has funny videos.
This thread has turned an interesting direction.

Yeah, that's me.
I know I have AS, but am stuck in my financial situation with no insurance. I cannot really afford to see an autism specialist or anyone truly qualified to provide a diagnosis.

Of course the terrible ironic paradox is that if I got a diagnosis and the necessary support, it's possible that I could do better with employment and life in general, and be able to actually afford the cost of the diagnosis and support.

WTF?!?!?

But it's all good. I guess. Everything happens as it should. Perhaps I'm not ready just quite yet.

Acacia, everything happens as it should? You mean, when the powers that be make something happen for their own benefit and your detriment, you consider it to be the way things should be? So you're a supporter of the hierarchical system of society..? The gov't decision to ignore adults with AS is not a law of Nature but oppression of some humans by other humans.

No. I mean this in a philosophical, universal sense. Every time that I feel like life sucks and I hate everyone, and I can't go on... I realize, oh yeah, everything is happening as it should, for whatever reason. I may be suffering, but apparently I need to learn a lesson in this way. It's not how I ideally imagined things, but that's how it is. I work to change what I can, but don't worry unduly about the things that remain out of my control, like the will of governments. I make the best of what I have. This philosophy seems to be what has kept me "afloat" after so many things in life always seem to try and keep me down. I take a step back and watch the universe course through its systematic functions. I am the god-consciousness, outside of it all, yet a part of it all.

make sense?

I spent $450 ($150/hour) for two diagnosis tests, and a mix of counseling with my wife at the same time to get a feel for how we were doing.

Insurance didn't pay for anything (nor did this psych take insurance, I had to attempt to bill them direct), but totally worth it. I would go back for more if I didn't have to pay out of pocket (I like my hobbies), but he really got me pointed in the right direction.

Acacia, I guess we'll have to activate for our rights without you.