Any experience with ASD evaluation for adults?

[Pegasus]

So the university that DD19 attends offers evaluations for ASD using doctoral students overseen by a psychologist to perform the eval.  DD is seriously considering being evaluated but is unsure. I think the cost is the main thing holding her back; it is $950.

I think it would be helpful to DD as a self-discovery exercise but am unsure about any other benefits to having the evaluation. They tailor the report for national exam testing accommodations as well as modifications in an educational setting.  She doesn't need to the first as she is past those exams and is doing well academically in her courses so far.  I'm unsure of what possible accommodations could potentially be available that may help her.  Her main challenge seems to be feeling easily overwhelmed by the workload.  She is in a demanding engineering field of study but we intentionally have her taking the lowest-credit-hours that is considered full-time each semester.

Any experiences with adults undergoing evaluation for ASD? Worthwhile experience?  Any noteworthy benefits?

Many thanks.

[PeterPan]

Since there is not a standardized tool for diagnosis of adults, the quality entirely resides with the experience of the evaluator. No, I would use that money and go pay for 4 hours with a highly experienced psych who is known for doing well with women with ASD. 

Has she talked with the office of student services at her university to see what can be done? It sounds like she has some anxiety. Is she requiring a limited distraction testing service, extended time, writing assistance, assistance self-advocating, EF coaching, assistance with social life on campus, or dorm accommodations? My dd uses many of those things, and they would be pretty typical services to be asking for. They can tell you which of those they can make happen without paper trail. They're going to want full IQ testing, etc. for academic accommodations like extended time. But for anxiety, dorm accommodations, etc. that's actually usually her medical doctor writing the paper to get that. 

So I would start by talking with student services to see what they need to make happen what she needs. I would get the eval PRIVATELY for a better eval and then depending on the basic results from the first few hours with the psych decide whether doing more time and a written report would accomplish anything. But the diagnosis is what you don't want to screw up and the odds of some student screwing it up are high. The anecdotes on LC for people using university psych services to save money have been universally bad. I simply wouldn't do it, not for something this important and possibly complex. I would find someone who evals a lot of WOMEN on the spectrum, who has enough experience to tease things apart. What can literally happen is she's going to pass the ADOS (bank on it) and then the clinician has to really sit and TALK with her and sort it out. Sometimes they'll want developmental history, information you have. They'll want to know what she was like before 5. 

[katilac]

I can't speak to the benefits and such, but I don't think I would pursue it if the main challenge is feeling overwhelmed by a demanding workload in engineering. That seems quite typical to me. If she's taking 12 hours and doing pretty well, that's great. Lots of students take an extra year to finish engineering.

If the main idea is self-discovery, could she explore some blogs and books and forums about young women on the spectrum? On the practical side, there are social thinking books aimed at young adults. Somebody told me about this one recently, it used to have the more descriptive title Social Thinking at Work: https://www.socialthinking.com/Products/good-intentions-are-not-good-enough

[PeterPan]

Ok, here's the thing. If she pursues it, the diagnosis can open up kind of a can of worms and leave her processing a lot of things. It can have some unintended consequences, depending on who she tells. It will leave her with a lot to process. She should do it if she wants it, but that diagnosis, as katilac is pointing out, isn't going to give her the skill set to deal with the stress she's feeling. However if she goes to that private psych, they could choose to spend those hours working on stress techniques and self-awareness. I did this with a licensed social worker a few years ago, learning how to do various kinds of mindfulness and stress relief. There's also the Interoception stuff from Kelly Mahler she can work through to become more aware. Sometimes the psych will punt and say lets work on what WILL help you, rather than worrying about the diagnosis. You can be almost guaranteed an experienced psych will be asking why you want it, what difference it will make. Sometimes it won't make a difference, and sometimes, for the same person, later on it will. So for her, it might be that learning to be more self-aware and deal with her body and emotions would be more useful than hours spent on the diagnosis. The person who does the one can do the other so you're back wanting an experienced private psych, not a novice.

Fwiw, you can sometimes find these people through the Focus on the Family practitioner locator if you want a christian.

Edited June 6, 2019 by PeterPan