Getting a diagnosis in CT as an Adult

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I am lost. I discovered Aspergers around 2 years ago, have been researching ever since, and am almost certain I lie SOMEWHERE on the spectrum.
I would leave it at that but I am struggling day to day. Barely functioning most of the time.

I have already wasted time and money at a Neuropsychologist who had no clue what he was talking about regarding ASD's and had very backward views on sensory problems which are one of my worst symptoms. I tried dealing with a local counselor, made my symptom list, and got shot down with the whole "You are a girl, you are shy, it's social anxiety, etc." I really need help and have tried searching on my own but haven't gotten anything concrete enough that I am willing to risk wasting even more money on.

So anyone have any personal experiences positive or negative while trying to get diagnosed here, or recommendations for Doctors?

Thank you

Where is CT?

CT = Connecticut (a state in the U.S.)

But it could also refer to Cape Town, South Africa, or to Catalonia in Spain.

Just a quick, sleepy info dump here:

You're on the right track that you absoultely need someone who has dealt with ASD adults before, or they won't know what they're doing. Unfortunately I don't know about CT (hell I can't find anybody where I live in CA). There's a group called the Autistic Women's Association that you could do a search for on this forum. I think they have a list of some doctors/resources/etc. There's also a sticky thread in the Parent's Discussion area with some docs ("Recommened Clinicians").

The Aspergers Association of New England is right outside of Boston...I'm not sure where in CT you live and how far you're willing to travel, but that's relatively close. You could probably contact them and they might be able to refer you to someone closer to you.

http://www.aane.org/

The only other person I know of is someone who looks, sounds, and acts like Ellen Degeneres, and told me that I did not have Aspergers in southern CT...obviously she didn't help much.

The Connecticut Autism Spectrum Resource Center in Wallingford, CT might be able to direct you to somebody who can provide diagnoses. They also have an adult support group.

http://www.ct-asrc.org/

I'm in CT but have never contacted them, so I cannot vouch for how friendly or helpful they are.

Sorry, should have been more specific , I'm in Connecticut, U.S.

Thank you for your help.
I haven't heard of the Autistic Women's Association so I'll search for that. I have checked out the "Recommended Clinicians" post in the Parent's Discussion before, and other lists of clinicians and have only found one possible place that deals with adults from it. It also seems to be the most expensive option (2000$, ouch) so I would like to make absolutely sure (or as close to sure as I can) before even trying to figure out how I am going to get that kind of money.

I'm not able to drive yet, and support for this at home is not really there so getting to Boston would be difficult at best. Thank you for recommending AANE though, I had looked there once before but hadn't thought of it recently. It appears you can get info if you call them, but I am horrible with phones, which is probably why I hadn't considered it before. It is really difficult for me to make any personal communication with people about this. I spent a week trying to email a place in CT to ask whether they dealth with adults and they ended up not emailing me back.
I felt very stupid.
Plus the AANE don't make it really clear who to call and give a huge list of phone numbers. Yikes. I guess I will have to suck it up and give it a try.

I've heard of ASRC, and actually went recently to their Autism Spectrum Resource Fair at SCSU. It was a nightmare for me. Very not autistic friendly. It was so loud and hot and chaotic. There was barely anything there for adults, and if there was it was poorly advertised as such. I managed to find ASRC's booth and couldn't find anything that was helpful. I know they have a resource book with info on clinicians but it was 40$ and I was broke at the time. So frustrating. I did find a booth for the one place that seems to keep popping up in my search, the Center for Children with Special Needs in Glastonbury, but that is the most expensive one also.

This is difficult. I'm trying to think of a national resource I could refer you to, as government agencies have doctors all over the place set to verify medical diagnosis. I know Social Security is equipped to handle it, as are many public mental health facilities in my area. Private sector is another issue entirely.

You could try contacting local psychiatrists, and asking them about their experience with autism spectrum disorders. If one already has a few patients with diagnosed Asperger's Syndrome, HFA, or PDD-NOS, they should be knowledgeable enough to at least direct you to the right place.

Ah shoot I messed up -- it's the Aspergers Womens Association. They're new, and I don't know how organized yet, but I recall someone getting a lead by an AWA member in some state. You might PM user "Greentea" -- she's the head of a non-US branch, but I think would know if there's a CT branch.

I also live in CT, and the only one I could find is Loomis in Glastonbury, and he charges $2000. That's too much.

I've been recovering slowly from the holidays and other health issues that have popped up since I first posted, but I wanted to update anyone who is interested of my progress so far.

I have really bad anxiety when it comes to reaching out for help (caused mostly by bad past experiences), but I managed to email a place in Norwalk, Ct. I had seen the name pop up on and off through my researching and they had a website so I was able to find enough info that I didn't feel like I was going into it completely blind. I found the website confusing though. It wasn't clear whether or not they tested or dealt with adults on the spectrum, but it did mention aspergers among other things like ADD and NVLD. So I emailed the head of the group. Was detailed but straightforward. Basically the "I'm an adult, looking for help, believe I might have a PDD and am having trouble finding doctors who take people my age." I also gave a quick reason why I would have been not diagnosed till now and why I am looking for help.

So today I got a response, a mere 24 hours since sending my email. Took me all day to actually read it. This is all they wrote:

At your age, since learning disabilities are not a question, a clinical interview and history would be sufficient to make a diagnosis

I am confused. I plan to read it later after getting some sleep to see if it makes any more sense, but I don't get it.
I don't get the learning disabilities part, plus I still haven't gotten a straightforward answer. I simple yes or no would have been nice. Really nice.

Any thoughts??

Maybe they meant that they wouldn't bother doing extensive testing for learning disabilities since you're not a student. (and that therefore only the interview and history would be necessary)

Yes, it sounds like they'd only do an interview of you and look at history. Have you had other Neuropsych testing done? Before my diagnosis I was given intelligence testing and a lot of cognitive tests. (I was diagnosed at age 29) because the criteria for Asperger's is an average to above average IQ, they were doing everything properly and making sure I had at least average IQ.