What are my options to get tested for Aspergers as an adult?

Question

I'm a (hopefully fully functional) adult, who has exhibited many traits that correlate with high-functioning Aspergers corner of ASD spectrum.

I am intensely curious as to whether a professional would agree with that (as in, am I diagnosed with ASD, or with "medical student syndrome").

The problem is three-fold:

1. I'm not experiencing any issues in life that might stem from that potential ASD. Yeah, i'm a shy introverted geek who likes things to be in order. But none of it is to a degree that has negative impact on life.

   As such, i'm not even sure how to approach a mental health professional to request to be tested - my expectation is that "I self-diagnosed as Aspergers based on online test" would be laughed out of office real quick.

2. Less importantly, even if the office takes me, the insurance would refuse to cover the tests, again because there's no demonstrable pathology in my life.

3. As a fully functioning adult professional, I'm very leery of visiting a mental health professional; especially with work-provided health insurance.

As someone who lives in Tri-State Metropolitan area of US:

• What are the best options for me to get tested for Aspergers?

• What would be the best ways to ameliorate my concerns outlined above when doing so?

Answer 1

At the age of fifty five, I received a diagnosis of severe ADHD. ADHD has significantly affected my life, threatened my marriage, and made my professional career...challenging.

I went to see a psychiatrist for marriage counseling and it was there that I found out I had ADHD. Up til that point I had no idea. None. In retrospect, my symptoms were so obvious it was ludicrous that nobody had twigged to it before, but when I was growing up there wasn't much awareness of ADHD.

Just receiving the diagnosis (I don't take drugs, as after fifty five years I have already learned a lot of coping mechanisms that allow me to function fairly well) has made a huge difference in my life. Once my husband learned that I didn't forget to do things because I was careless, or didn't care, and we both learned how to help me lean on his ability to keep track of things, my marriage was worlds better.

No mental health professional is going to scoff at your observation that you might have Aspergers. If you have concerns, do a little googling and find one who lists experience with Aspergers and give him (or her) a call. At the very least, a good counselor can help you develop coping strategies for any problems that might be troubling you. And as for billing, tell a prospective counselor about your concerns. Usually they are very good at billing in such a way that insurance companies understand and accept. It would be ridiculous for a health insurance company to refuse to pay for a test just because the test comes back negative. All there has to be is a reasonable suspicion that a pathology might be present, and in any case an evaluatory meeting should be covered.

I would also mention that providers and employers are prohibited from discriminating against individuals with mental disabilities. After I received my diagnosis I was fairly open about it with friends and co-workers and even potential employers, and I haven't noticed that it has impacted my life negatively. We've gotten a lot more accepting of peoples' differences.

Answer 2

I just want to know if I'm on the spectrum or not.

Well, the point you made about insurance is pretty accurate, you have to have an actual problem for there to be a medial reason to investigate the possibility of Asperger's syndrome.

However, functioning well as a human being isn't just about being a capable professional - it's also about having quality interpersonal relationships if possible, and that can be a hurdle for some people with Asperger's. You haven't touched on this specifically in your post so I have no idea what your situation is in this respect, but if you're a typical person with Asperger's whose social life consists mainly in having conversations on the Internet you may want to rethink whether some form of treatment would benefit you or not.

If you have a solid social life and you're certain you wouldn't benefit from treatment, I suggest simply forgetting all about it. It doesn't add anything to the bottom line to know if you have Asperger's or not. If you just want to find things out about yourself that you didn't know before you could try researching your genealogy instead, it's a lot more socially acceptable than seeing a mental health professional.