How can i know 100% before i get an official diagnosis?

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it just seems like there must be away to know beyond a doubt if i have asd. so far i'm totally qualifying, but before i save up like 2,000 freakin' bucks to have some person who doesn't even know me "yes" (or worst) "no", is there a document or serious of documents where i can settle the question for myself?? the medical world should provide that if they're going to charge so much and make us wait that long.

You cannot.  Even after receiving an official diagnosis, it is wise to get a second opinion.

You can't know 100%. If you've got a lot of ASD traits quite strongly, you might be able to be fairly sure you've got ASD if you do your research well. There are a couple of questionnaires that might help you to find out. Many diagnosticians begin with the AQ test and don't proceed unless that indicates you likely have ASD. I can never answer the questions because they're too reductionist, but a lot of people seem to have no trouble. If you're near the borderline, it would be very hard to know whether you've got it or not. They define the cutoff point arbitrarily, so you might have a little bit of ASD in purely scientific terms but not enough to qualify as disabled.

Thanks for the feedback so far, guys!!

You can't. But if you get a real and thorough diagnosis that is comprehensive, it will be very accurate. Find a neuropsychologist who is very good and very thorough. My diagnosis took nine hours and it was extremely comprehensive. Not only did it find that I was Autistic, but it found that I am a lot more severe than anyone could have every imagined. I know that $2000 is a lot. But there may be ways that you can get help with that. I went through OVR, the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, and they covered the entire cost so the diagnosis was free to me. See if you can do something like that.

100% certainty is unattainable-----except for that which is concerned with the "hard sciences" or mathematics. And even that is far from universal.

I'm not 100% certain that I won't get prostate cancer again----even though I have no prostate.

I don't lose sleep over not being 100% certain of many things. It's the human condition.

The problem with a second opinion is that you'll know what the examiner is looking for. I went into my assessment deliberately NOT looking up what's involved. I didn't want to subconsciously taint my responses. Since I had NO idea what she was looking for as I performed tasks, I was able to freely and 100 percent authentically perform as my mind felt it was natural to. But if I know what they're looking for, itl'l be hard not to involuntarily or subconsciously respond like an NT would; it just wouldn't feel authentic.

I will take my examiner's word for it. I HAVE to be autistic. No NT feels different all their life since childhood and so out of place and never fitting in. Plus, all the NT things that vex or madden autistic people, bother me too! Until there is a 100 percent accurate biomarker for ASD, like there is for diabetes or Sjogren's syndrome, we just have to trust the assessment. An NT isn't going to feel compelled to go through this process if they're a true NT, though every so often, I'm sure someone with ADHD who stims a lot + has social anxiety might mistake themselves for autistic.

There is no biological marker for autism at present so it’s all down to an assessor asking questions and observing.

If your an adult and not diagnosed yet it’s likely you have mild symptoms so opinion will be subjective sometimes.

Unless you are needing a diagnosis to unlock help / welfare the doubt may be just something you may have to live with.

Oh wow that was extremely helpful

OK thank you!

There are no "absolutely objective" signs for autism as there are for, say, tuberculosis.

I don't mean to be flippant when I say that 100% certainly is impossible within most facets of everyday life.

Thank you for that. So true

That makes sense!

If the examiner is doing actual diagnostic tests and not just asking you questions, you can take the tests over and over and you won't be able to fool them. Even if you know what each test is specifically testing. You can't change your brain processing speed just because you know that that is what the test is testing. You can't change your thought processing pattern from logical to social or emotional just because you know you are being tested for it. The tests are designed in a way that you can't fool them even if you know what to expect.

That's not how it works.

As the others have noted, you cannot know without a doubt that you are on the Autism Spectrum without a professional assessment. You can figure out whether or not it is plausible by doing a bit of research.

A possible complication is that many of the traits of Autism are not unique to Autism. There are other possible diagnoses that share some of the characteristics. For instance, an individual with strong ADHD could have some traits that also occur in mild Autism.

Another possible complication is, as in my case, distinguishing almost Autistic from mildly Autistic.

A couple of online tests I hope you've found:
<=>- Autism-Spectrum Quotient Test
<=>- Aspie-Quiz ^{Registering is OPTIONAL!}
They cannot give you a formal diagnosis, of course, but they can help you assess whether or not it is worth considering one.

I also hope you have checked your medical insurance. My insurance included coverage for "mental health" and it turned out an Adult Autism Assessment was covered. Be careful, though, when I asked my insurance provider about it they were immediately willing to help but they did not know how to help! They gave me bad information and bad referrals. I think they were so seldom asked about Adult Autism Assessments they didn't know what was involved. What you need is a licensed Psychologist who works with Autism, takes adults your age, and who will do the assessment. If your insurance is involved keep good records and follow their processes and use an in-network provider. My insurance covered about 50% of my assessment.

Good luck!