How was your evaluation/diagnosis done (in the U.S.)?

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For anyone here who's officially "on the spectrum", diagnosed and all...

How were you "evaluated" (diagnosed)?

I've heard differing stories on this site. One person says it took a couple visits with someone, another person says it took tests that lasted for hours.

For all I know, this may be due to different rules followed by the medical communities in different countries. Maybe even in the States different methods are used in different places.

So, that's the question. If you're on the spectrum, officially diagnosed in the States, how did you get to that point? What did the "evaluation" consist of?

(I'm asking this because my own doctor tells me that what the quack I saw did sounded like nothing but an ordinary IQ test.)

If I do manage to get an evaluation done by qualified people who specialize in autism, I'd like to know what to expect. (What the quack put me thru had my nerves so frazzled, I don't want to go thru anything like that again.)

Thanks in advance, guys.

PS
If you weren't diagnosed in the States or aren't officially on the spectrum (unless you first hand saw how the evaluation was done with a family member) please don't reply. I want to keep this straightforward and simple. Thanks again.

I had mine done in Austin, TX.

1. Intake interview

2. Test battery: including the Weschler IQ test (because gaps between verban and nonverbal abilities and low processing speed correlate with different types of autism). You'll take an impulsivity test to screen for the presence of ADHD.

3. MMPI to screen for personality characteristics and co-morbids.

4. The doctor will then have a conversation or phone call with your primary caregiver about childhood characteristics.

5. You have to come back in to have the results read.

I have heard that, for others, they do clinical observations for six hours and also administer a test called the ADOS to test for autistic features, specifically. Mine was the simplest kind, due to it being the type that insurance paid for completely.

Then, I kind of got undiagnosed by another doctor this week, but that's a different story. hahaha

I was diagnosed by a psychologist who specializes in diagnosing children with Asperger's. He diagnosed me PDD-NOS at our first session. I showed him the results of some online tests I took, my early elementary school report cards (which showed my socialization and motor skill difficulties), and he gave me a personality test in the office. After all that, he diagnosed Aspergers.

That seems sketchy. I thought only a neuropsychiatrist could do it and only after a standard battery of tests, full childhood history, and clinical observation.

To be honest, your diagnosis sounds sketchier than mine, and I thought mine was on the sketchy side.

If people are getting diagnosed like this, how many narcissists, anti social pds, ptsd, bpd, bipolar, psychopaths, and schizotypals are they mislabeling?

I was institutionalized by my mother in eighth grade after having a breakdown at school over a situation with a close friend/love interest. During my nearly two week "vacation" (a week of which every waking moment was spent in a carpet-walled room that was empty save for a desk and chair because I failed to see why I needed to participate in group sessions) several tests were run and a doctor there diagnosed me. All-in-all it was a wonderful alienating and isolating solution to my desire for companionship.

This is from the Washington State DSHS - Division of Developmental Disabilities.

Autism Autism or Autistic Disorder - Diagnosticians Per 299.00 in DSM-IV-TR:
Board Eligible Neurologist;
Board Eligible Psychiatrist;
Licensed Psychologist;
Board Certified Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrician DSM IV diagnostic criteria;

Evidence of delay or abnormal functioning prior to age 3 in social, language, communication skills, or symbolic or imaginative play

http://www.dshs.wa.gov/ddd/eligible.shtml

I was diagnosed by a licensed clinical psychologist.

1. I found my diagnostician from Psychology Today.
2. The session cost me $150.
3. I sat with her for two hours.
4. She asked me questions and wrote my responses down.
5. Perhaps not surprisingly, quite a few of her questions soundded just like the ones on the online RDOS test.
6. She also pointed out some of my behaviours which she said are indicative of Asperger's (aversion to bright lights, stimming in my legs, etc)
7. After the two hours she said, "there's no doubt in my mind you have Asperger's but you also need a mood stabilizer and to see a therapist."

I got a mood stabilizer later from a doctor (Risperdal). Thanks for writing.

I was diagnosed in NY. It was almost an identical experience with the addition that 6 weeks later I received a written evaluation for my records that included the test results and recommended treatment options/reading/resources.

Redrobin, where was your evaluation done? I've looked at psychologists on PsychologyToday in my area to see if I could find someone to diagnose me, but they all cost upwards of $2000.

My situation is atypical. I'm a woman & was diagnosed in my 40's!

I had been to see a Psychiatrist when my post-partum depression failed to go away w/time & the anti-depressants (17 years ago). He thought I had Bi-Polar....but that dx didn't completly fit right so he said I have Major Depressive Disorder.

My DH was transfered out of state so we moved away & my new Psychiatrist realized I had Adult ADD along with the depression.

DH got transfered back home & I went BACK to my first Psyciatrist. He was surprised at my Adult ADD dx but did agree that I have it.

A couple of years after that he heard Temple Grandin on NPR & immediatly thought of me. (I **really** like my Psychiatrist: I was one of his very first patients out of Med School & am now his longest patient....he 'gets' me). I had my regular 3 month appt with him that next week & by then he had done enough continuing education to diagnose me with Aspergers.

SO tempted to ask for his name and number...

@StarTrekker - my evaluation was done in sunny ol' Seattle. The $150 seemed to be pretty standard fare. There are some that, if you prove need, will do an evaluation for $75-$90, A Bellevue clinic charges $325 for a 2 day session so I'd say the $150 is pretty standard. $2000?! There's NO WAY I could've afforded that.

How close to St. Augustine, Fl are you?

My diagnostic testing included following tests:
- Cognition/Information Processing
 Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV)
- Attention/Executive Functions
 Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test (IVA+Plus)
 Brown ADD Scales
 Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST-R)
 Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRiEF-A)
- Memory
 Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS-IV)
- Adaptive Behavior
 Vineland-II Adaptive Behavior Scales
 Advanced Clinical Solutions (ACS)
 Adult Asperger Assessment (AAA)
 Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2)
- Social/Emotional
 Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III)
 Multidimensional Anxiety Questionnaire (MAQ)
 Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS)
 Rorschach Psychodiagnostic Test

Prior to testing, I completed a Free-Form Intake questionnaire that included basic questions about Gross Motor capabilities (when did I first crawl, walk alone, run), Fine Motor capabilities (when I could feed myself with a spoon, write letters, tie shoes), Language capabilities (when did I first use single words, sentences), Social/Adaptive capabilities (when was I potty trained during day/night). It also asked me to describe my temperament, sleeping patterns, eating patterns when I was an infant and any problems with early child development. It also asked me to document various milestones with each grade in school (e.g. performance, best subjects, salient comments from teachers/parents, key events). Finally, it asked about mental health issues in the family (on my mom and dad’s side). I had to ask my parents about this and I learned some new stuff that I hadn’t known before!

The diagnosis itself took 6 hours (divided into 3 sessions).

Not close at all.

Thanks, tho'.