Could you answer a question about a SN adult?

[Night Elf]

I posted on the Chat board and someone suggested someone on this board might be able to help. My son is 22 and was diagnosed with Aspergers at age 9. He's seen the same psychiatrist since about age 12 when he started exhibiting symptoms for depression and OCD. She also diagnosed him with a motor tic disorder and the medication she gave him for that was a miracle. Anyway, ds completed an assessment after having a visit with her to discuss does he still qualify for an ASD diagnosis under the new guidelines. She has confirmed that he is still on the spectrum. My question is what should we do next? He was an A student in high school and in the 4 college classes he took at a 4-year university. He's planning on going for a 2-year degree at a technical school. I do not believe he needs modifications of any kind. He's a bright student, studies every day, attends every class, completes all assignments on time, has no problem finishing a test in the time allotted and was usually one of the first to finish anyway. 

Would further extensive testing help him in any areas of his life? I don't think he'd ever qualify for disability because he's proved he's a good student and can hold down a job. What benefits are there to getting tested at his age? I've been researching and can't find any information about testing in adults. What would you do? He currently has no problems that his dad and I are aware of. He's doing really well after spending 10 months after quitting his job and doing nothing. He said he had an epiphany and wants to do what he needs to do in order to get his own place. He's learning to drive and doing super well. He's going to attend school. With these decisions, I see no other problems he has. 

What would you do?

[Kassia]

Since he's an adult and making good choices, I would ask him what he would like to do.  

[Night Elf]

54 minutes ago, Kassia said:

Since he's an adult and making good choices, I would ask him what he would like to do.  

He's willing to do more testing. We're just trying to find out if it's going to be beneficial.

[Storygirl]

I kind of agree with Kassia, but I also know some of the back story, since I've read your other threads, and I know that his positive plans are new and that you have really struggled to figure out how to help him.

I really hope that his new studies go well and result in the beginning of a solid career. He's making some great choices!

But I think it might help all of you to think in terms of having a Plan B.

He has dropped out of college before. He has quit a job before, and I know in another thread there was a lot of discussion about whether his trouble with keeping the job was related to the ASD. Not because he was fired, which he was not, but because he had trouble sticking with it when he didn't like it, and he was stagnant for months afterward, with no plan. I'm mentioning these things, because some others might not know the back story, and I think it is important to understand why there are concerns, when it sounds like everything is going fine at this moment.

Back to having a Plan B. It's a good way to practice flexible thinking, which is often (maybe always?) hard for those with ASD. You can talk about what you have done at times in life when things didn't turn out as you expected, and how you adapted or made changes. You can talk about different jobs you have had and how some parts of them you didn't like, but that there can be benefits to sticking it out until another job is in place. You can talk about a second option for a major if it turns out that this one is not a great fit for him after all.

In other words, prepare now for the next time that hard things happen, so that he perhaps can adapt his thinking more easily. Does he do talk therapy with the psychiatrist? I wonder if these are things she could work on with him, as well.

I think that if he continues on this good path, maybe you don't need to spend money on more evaluations now. However, if he is in a good place now, where he is willing to do it, it also might be a good time to think about doing it anyway. Later, if he needs that info, he will already have it. And I think it is probably harder to think about doing it when you are an older adult, so while he is still receiving help and guidance from you, it's not bad to go ahead and get a neuropsych report. It is expensive, though; I understand that.

[Pawz4me]

Given your prior postings about his struggles I would go ahead with the testing if it's not a financial strain. I believe that having as much information/knowledge about oneself as possible is always helpful and can sometimes be invaluable. Especially in cases where there is a developmental delay/learning difference/anything similar. If nothing else it may help him understand himself better. And that's always a good thing, IMO.

[PeterPan]

8 hours ago, Night Elf said:

She has confirmed that he is still on the spectrum

 

8 hours ago, Night Elf said:

Would further extensive testing help him in any areas of his life?

Since his ASD and any comorbid issues have already been addressed, the typical testing that is left would be IQ, learning disabilities, adaptive living. The psych should have already addressed ADHD, anxiety, etc. He probably had IQ and testing to screen for learning disabilities when he was diagnosed at 9. It doesn't sound like he needs it right now. 

So I agree with the others that, rather than putting money into IQ testing or something, I would put the money into counseling and answering the questions he has and solving problems. For instance, it sounds like he wants help to live independently, and counseling can help him learn how to do that. You could find someone who has specific experience working with young adults on the spectrum and providing transition services and have them meet with him weekly. That way he has a relationship to problem solve and answer questions he has that are autism-specific. Doubtless he will have questions. 

Under-employment in the autism community is very high. Even though he did well in his early employment experiences, he may struggle in more complex situations and need more support.

So no, I don't think he needs more testing, just access to counseling. If that person sees issues, they might run a screening tool. There are some things they can do as part of a counseling session that would be pretty seamless, like the social communication profile interview or an interoception questionaire or an adaptive living scale. They're things that don't take long and aren't really part of a full psych eval. They're more the provider saying that if they had that data they would use it to tailor their services. 

[Catwoman]

On 10/31/2018 at 7:11 PM, Pawz4me said:

Given your prior postings about his struggles I would go ahead with the testing if it's not a financial strain. I believe that having as much information/knowledge about oneself as possible is always helpful and can sometimes be invaluable. Especially in cases where there is a developmental delay/learning difference/anything similar. If nothing else it may help him understand himself better. And that's always a good thing, IMO.

 

I agree. Things are looking very positive right now and your son seems to be on the right track, but he also has a bit of a history of losing interest in things and changing his plans, so I would proceed with the testing in case he has any issues in his new school and/or needs any kind of accommodations. I think the better prepared he is for anything that might arise, the better it will be for him in the long run. And as Pawz already mentioned, thorough testing may help him be more self-aware — and the test results may end up being very encouraging and positive for him, as well.

[DawnM]

I am not really understanding.  In the previous thread on the Chat board, you said he was never fully diagnosed:

 

"I don't know how to answer that really. First, I want to confirm he has Aspergers or at least qualify for the current ASD diagnosis for the purpose of him qualifying for disability if needed. He has so many limitations for himself and I don't know what he can and can not really do. I've seen him at work as he volunteers at the thrift store where I work. When given a task to do, he does it well. He doesn't have the initiative to just jump in and get down to business. He needs someone to tell him what to do. However, he's getting better but it's taking him a long time to learn. He says he's not confident with the job. He's worried he'll mess up and believe me, it's no problem if he puts linens in the clothing pile or vice versa by mistake. As the paid employees sort through their piles, we just give stuff to the right department if someone wrong is in our pile. He doesn't love being there. He only volunteers because I think it's good for him.

I needed the term neuropsychologist. I couldn't remember who does that kind of testing."

If he is NOT actually diagnosed, that has to be your first step.

[Catwoman]

20 minutes ago, DawnM said:

I am not really understanding.  In the previous thread on the Chat board, you said he was never fully diagnosed:

 

"I don't know how to answer that really. First, I want to confirm he has Aspergers or at least qualify for the current ASD diagnosis for the purpose of him qualifying for disability if needed. He has so many limitations for himself and I don't know what he can and can not really do. I've seen him at work as he volunteers at the thrift store where I work. When given a task to do, he does it well. He doesn't have the initiative to just jump in and get down to business. He needs someone to tell him what to do. However, he's getting better but it's taking him a long time to learn. He says he's not confident with the job. He's worried he'll mess up and believe me, it's no problem if he puts linens in the clothing pile or vice versa by mistake. As the paid employees sort through their piles, we just give stuff to the right department if someone wrong is in our pile. He doesn't love being there. He only volunteers because I think it's good for him.

I needed the term neuropsychologist. I couldn't remember who does that kind of testing."

If he is NOT actually diagnosed, that has to be your first step.

 

I agree. In past threads, it appeared to me that the reason for the testing was because Beth didn’t believe her son was ever properly diagnosed in the past, and getting an accurate diagnosis now seemed very important. 

[8filltheheart]

I'm going to offer you an alternative perspective. Since he is now an adult, more than likely he can qualify for assistance through your state's Dept of Rehabilitative Services. I know that for our ds that the state paid for a complete neuropsy evaluation in order to determine what supports they would pay for. Ultimately he qualified for a job coach (paid for by the state), job placement assistance, private driver's license training, etc.  The DRS was fabulous to work with and much quicker and more thorough than all of the private testing we had done when he was a minor.