(no subject)

[wispfox]

I feel like I've asked this before and just failed to follow-up, but I cannot find evidence of this, so I ask again.

If y'all were looking for an autism spectrum disorder specialist from whom to get an adult ASD diagnosis, how would you go about finding such? (I suspect I can guess my diagnosis, but even so)

I am reasonably confident that it's _much_ harder to diagnose a) as an adult who has developed coping mechanisms, b) if one is female, and c) if one is (mostly) functional. Thus specifying both 'adult' and 'specialist'.

I also wonder how much having a sleep disorder, a mood disorder, and partial face blindness will screw with diagnosis. Heh. Because I cannot be simple. :)

La!

(and now I wonder how many people reading this are diagnosed as being on the spectrum)

Comments

[dancingwolfgrrl.livejournal.com]

Christopher Walsh, the head of neurology at Beth Israel, seems to have an interest in it.

[dancingwolfgrrl.livejournal.com]

(not in adults, but in autism, and ergo might be someone worth calling -- the medical world is small and he probably knows everyone working in autism at a high level in Boston)

[gingicat]

I would call the folks at LADDERS (ladders.org) and ask for a recommendation.

(I'm not diagnosed, but when our son was diagnosed, the neurologist noted that teddywolf and I both have strong tendencies.)

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

I'd think that the first question would be, why do you need such a specialist? Once you have a diagnosis, what then?

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

I can help out with research relating to said diagnosis. If one has no diagnosis, one cannot volunteer for studies which require it.

Also? Curious.

[ayalanya.livejournal.com]

Hmm! Neat, and useful! I'm going to add this post to my memories, because I'm curious too.

[brynndragon.livejournal.com]

If the study is local, perhaps you should ask the people doing it? Like mentioned above, the clinical community is pretty close-knit.

[jim-p.livejournal.com]

I'm not officially diagnosed... I self-diagnosed Aspergers years ago, and my talk therapist concurs. Do you have a talk therapist who might know someone, or have you already gone this route?

But yes, as a functional adult it takes some doing to unwind the stack past the coping mechanisms to diagnose the firmware...