I'm in the club! :0)

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I wasn't going to make a big deal of this but I have had so much encouragement and help from so many of you that I thought that I should. I wanted to thank you all because if it was not for what many of you had posted over the past year and half that I have been a member, I may have never gotten to this point. I thought I would never have been able to have this opportunity because of the prohibitive cost but one of my friends who is a Special Olympics volunteer on my kayak team told me about the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. I looked into it and qualified for their services so they will be working with me. With that qualification came a 100% free totally covered diagnosis which is almost unheard of in the United States. In the US an adult diagnosis can cost thousands of dollars and my insurance pays for none of it. In fact, they sent me an "invoice" and if I had had to pay out of pocket it would have cost me $1070.00 which is actually on the very low side. I have spoken to some people who were quoted $3000.00 for an adult diagnosis by their doctors.

Anyway, I jumped on the opportunity and had my diagnostic testing on October 14th. I got the results of the test last night. The doctor said that my Autism was so obvious that he saw it right away from the first moment he saw me in the waiting room when I came in for the testing. He could tell immediately by the way I was acting. He said that he could have not even bothered testing me at all. But they still gave me a full and comprehensive battery of test all in one day. The whole process lasted 7 1/2 hours.

All the tests came back very conclusive and there is no doubt whatsoever that I have High Functioning Autism/PDD. That is what it is now since the DSM does not use "Asperger's" anymore. He said he would still write "Asperger's" on the report as well along side the other words though because so many people still use that term and he wanted to make it very clear to anyone who might be concerned about my diagnostic status or to anyone who might want to split hairs. He has also taught me a lot and has given me much more understanding on how the Autistic brain works and why I have many of the issues that I have.

He was also very excited that I was able to teach him so much about what it is like to go through the things I go through and he said that what he learned from talking to me was invaluable. He took a lot of notes and said that this would really help him because he also counsels parents of Autistic kids. And his son is on the Spectrum as well. He said he is also looking forward to many more talks with me as well where we can help each other.

But I am so relieved and so excited to finally have it official. Now I can be an SO athlete for as long as I want. I also have real validation for my issues and no one can tell me that my issues are not real or that I am just making them up. I have been able to help my family know me better as well and have gained a new level of respect and understanding from some family members and that is great. It's amazing it took nearly half a century to get here but it feels so good now that I have this!

Because of the original thorough evaluation I received from the person, also an ASD "expert", who first noticed my ASD and first told me who had observed me in daily life situations over an eight month period, and then once I was told, the extensive and thorough research I did over 18 months on my own and with the person who first told me helping me understand things, which taught me about ASDs, including taking all the online tests I could get my hands on, confirming my first evaluation and which led me to WP as well, and then with the help I had from my Psychiatrist relative and now finally having a full, comprehensive, thorough, clinical evaluation with people who specialize in assessing adults with ASDs, I can say with 100% certainty and confidence that, "Yes, I am Autistic!"

All of you here who have supported me and befriended me in the past year and a half of my membership, thank you so much. I could not have ever found out or learned as much as I did without you. You guys taught me so much and I will always be grateful to you.

Hugs,
Skibum

Congratulations. Enjoy the experience

Thank you! It feels awesome!

Congratulations Skibum, Its fantastic that your Special Olympics goals are secure.

Thank you Amity. I was so excited about that. SO is so wonderful and I enjoy it so much. I am really glad that I can officially be a part of it as an athlete for the rest of my life now.

Nice one, Skibum! Maybe I'll see you running on TV one day!

Congratulations!

It is a strangely good thing to have that confirmation, isn't it?

Congratulations, Skibum!

I know you didn't think this would ever happen--but it did!

Congrats, skibum! In a way I think it feels strange to congratulate people on getting diagnosed but congratulations on finally getting it confirmed, on getting some answers and on finally knowing you'll be able to compete in Special Olympics for as long as you like.

Welcome to the club-- again.

I hope it serves you well, and does not bite you on the butt.

I am so glad that your diagnosis worked out so well for you!

You certainly got lucky.

I'm so glad you got this understanding and confirmation!!

Thank you so much guys.

Buyer Beware. I don't think it will cause issues. We talked about that a good bit and I talked about it with several people. Because there is no medication or treatment involved, it won't affect insurance so they really don't ever have to know. I don't have to disclose it to anyone either and of course here on WP it's anonymous. So it's not in my medical records. But if it will help me like in the case of OVR, they are the only ones who officially have documentation and they are not allowed to share it with anyone without my permission, or in the case of Special Olympics, and there as long as I still have the one doctor available who originally signed my application, he could tell I was on the Spectrum without an official diagnosis so he was fine to sign it without hesitation, I should be fine. It's only if he were to stop his practice or if I were to move that I would need another doctor to sign it. But other than needing it if I want to apply for disability which I am now eligible for, no one needs to ever see or officially know about that document. So it should be good.

Yeah. Rebbieh, it is kind of weird that we congratulate each other on that. But it is very understandable because of what we have to endure in life. We are a special bunch!

Oh my goodness, Kraftie and AspieUtah, It is so amazing how it all worked out. I feel really blessed like God worked it out for me. I talked to the person who originally noticed it this morning and he is so happy for me. He told me that the second job that he is in where we met, he will be taking a break from this year. So if the timing had been any different I might not have ever met him. And if my husband and I had not gone to the Autism Expo and the Special Olympics rep had not recruited me and convinced me to join and if I had never tried the one sport which is where I met the the person who told me about OVR, I would have never met you guys nor ever known that I was Autistic. So it's been an amazing journey. I feel very blessed. Everything happened at the right time and each person was placed strategically in my path in order for me to find out.