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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Our Challenging Children (gifted, ADHD, sensitive, defiant)
How do you get a ASD diagnosis?



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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Oct 23 2022, 7:12 pm
I'm so confused and frustrated. My son is now a teenager and we've been seeking professional help since he was 5 years old! He's been diagnosed with so many different things - ADHD, ODD, OCD, OCPD, anxiety, depression, bipolar... Whenever I read about HFA I feel like it describes him very well but he has never gotten an official diagnosis of ASD. Some have said maybe...He has no problem with eye contact and is generally pretty good in a one-on-one conversation with an adult so that seems to result in other diagnoses rather than ASD, but every HFA thread on here rings so true for me! I guess it doesn't really matter cuz not like there is a magical cure but just feel like it's important to know. I guess my question is who is an EXPERT in this field that can finally give us an accurate diagnosis?!!!
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amother
Clear


 

Post Sun, Oct 23 2022, 7:27 pm
I have exact same question. I asked this to many professinlas, therapists, teachers in lakewood. No one gives me a clear answer.
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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Oct 23 2022, 7:39 pm
Soooo frustrating! Just wish I. Us get an accurate diagnosis
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amother
Dustypink


 

Post Sun, Oct 23 2022, 7:43 pm
Ask your insurance.

Our insurance required us to go through a specialized autism evaluation center which performed multi-disciplinary testing with a variety of providers (psychologist, SLP, Dr, and others) over several days for them to confirm the diagnosis. Also, ADOS testing is considered the "gold standard" of autism testing so that is often required as well. Our insurance would not cover any services without this testing. So again, the first phone call is to your insurance to find out what they require.
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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Oct 23 2022, 7:47 pm
So just trust the insurance company? Seems kind of random. Who does ADOS testing. Anyone in or near Monsey. We would travel too if needed
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cnc




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Oct 23 2022, 7:56 pm
Go to a neuropsychologist, psychiatrist, or developmental pediatrician. They can all administer ADOS testing.
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amother
Dustypink


 

Post Sun, Oct 23 2022, 7:59 pm
amother OP wrote:
So just trust the insurance company? Seems kind of random. Who does ADOS testing. Anyone in or near Monsey. We would travel too if needed


As I said, I went to an autism evaluation center with several different professionals that each evaluated my child. Yes, I do trust them

But really, a diagnosis is only gateway to services. Are you getting the services you need? Which services do you think will help your child? Then work backwards from there. I wouldn't put a teenager who is not low functioning into ABA anyway. Can you try to find a good psychologist who understands him? Does the diagnosis really matter at this point?
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amother
Cyclamen


 

Post Sun, Oct 23 2022, 8:06 pm
In Brooklyn there's Dr. Harris Huberman at Suny Downstate. He is a neurodevelopmental pediatrician. He doesn't just liberally dispense diagnosis to anyone that walks through his door. His team is very into getting the full picture, background, history, past and current reports, etc. before even beginning an eval. I got 2 kids evaluated. The first one was 2 appointments, a 1.5 hour one on zoom (covid times) then almost 3 hours in person a few weeks later. This child got diagnosed with ASD. My other child's eval appointment took aprox 4 hours, and they were able to rule out ASD (Dc has anxiety and some other issues and we wanted to make sure it's not a symptom of something bigger). He accepts insurance, but appointments are scheduled at least a half year in advance, though.
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amother
Darkblue


 

Post Sun, Oct 23 2022, 9:47 pm
A psychiatrist could do it.
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LovesHashem




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Oct 23 2022, 10:05 pm
Of course a diagnosis can mean something at this age. It's opens the doors of knowledge and to better understand ourselves, our triggers, etc.

Yes autistic people can make eye contact. You don't need every single trait to get a diagnosis but unfortunately there's still people nowadays who won't consider you have autism if you can make eye contact or hold conversations one on one easily both things are very common for autistic people to do.

All the autistic people I know do both of these things. Some people I know do not enjoy eye contact and some hate it but they do it anyway as they understand this is what society wants them to do.
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amother
Hyacinth


 

Post Mon, Oct 24 2022, 2:59 pm
Dr Rebecca Soffer
Dr Gampel in Staten Island..
sorry I don’t have phone numbers for them, maybe try googling them
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amother
Tanzanite


 

Post Mon, Oct 24 2022, 3:17 pm
OP if you are interested in pursuing a medical diagnosis for his neuropsychological symptoms, you can see a pandas specialist. There are a lot of red flags in your description for brain inflammation.
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miami85




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Oct 24 2022, 3:23 pm
I'm a school psychologist and a parent of a child who also has a "checklist ASD" child--but most other clinical members who have worked with him know that he's not really on the spectrum. The reality is that it seems that there are more doctors willing to give out ASD diagnoses than bother to differentiate diagnosis. Therefore it leads to more confusion about ASD and "everyone seems to have ASD" more than just "idiosyncratic" or "quirky" or other socially-off personalities. I happen to be related to someone who is incredibly brilliant but has a lot of social quirks, but no one would call him ASD, but I can't say I've really had a REAL personal conversation every in my life that has lasted more than 2-3 minutes. He talks a lot with a lot of other people.

The later you wait, the less clear it is and also less likely to be ASD, but with the way they have changed the DSM-5 definition you never know.
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amother
Slateblue


 

Post Mon, Oct 24 2022, 4:10 pm
amother OP wrote:
So just trust the insurance company? Seems kind of random. Who does ADOS testing. Anyone in or near Monsey. We would travel too if needed


Dr. Koslowitz in Lakewood does autism evals including the ADOS. She differentiates between that and other disorders like anxiety or ADHD or trauma. We were very helped by her evaluation.
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imasinger




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Oct 24 2022, 4:23 pm
One of my kids was diagnosed at age 25. ADOS and other testing, done by a neuropsychologist.

ABA can still be very helpful for teens and beyond. A good BCBA will make sure that a client with HFA has full buy-in to every part of the process. I know of several teens who went from tearing everyone's hair out, to functioning and happy members of society.

There are some people on the board with horror stories about ABA, and many more with success stories. Bottom line, IME -- if it seems demeaning or ineffective, you have the wrong practitioner.
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amother
Wandflower


 

Post Mon, Oct 24 2022, 5:42 pm
miami85 wrote:
I'm a school psychologist and a parent of a child who also has a "checklist ASD" child--but most other clinical members who have worked with him know that he's not really on the spectrum. The reality is that it seems that there are more doctors willing to give out ASD diagnoses than bother to differentiate diagnosis. Therefore it leads to more confusion about ASD and "everyone seems to have ASD" more than just "idiosyncratic" or "quirky" or other socially-off personalities. I happen to be related to someone who is incredibly brilliant but has a lot of social quirks, but no one would call him ASD, but I can't say I've really had a REAL personal conversation every in my life that has lasted more than 2-3 minutes. He talks a lot with a lot of other people.

The later you wait, the less clear it is and also less likely to be ASD, but with the way they have changed the DSM-5 definition you never know.


Im not sure how someone could be misdiagnosed by simply the markers and DSM. (I mean of course there's bad doctors but I mean according to the markers). It's clear you can't just be quirky you need to be struggling with sensory issues, social skills, black and white thinking, and more.
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amother
OP


 

Post Tue, Oct 25 2022, 11:33 am
Thank you to everyone for your replies!
Unfortunately, I think mental health issues can be misdiagnosed fairly easily as most diagnoses rely heavily on subjective criteria. It would be amazing if there could be a blood test that would tell exactly what the problem is. Wishful thinking, I know.
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amother
Wandflower


 

Post Tue, Oct 25 2022, 11:53 am
amother OP wrote:
Thank you to everyone for your replies!
Unfortunately, I think mental health issues can be misdiagnosed fairly easily as most diagnoses rely heavily on subjective criteria. It would be amazing if there could be a blood test that would tell exactly what the problem is. Wishful thinking, I know.


Autistic brains look different in brain scans. I had an MRI as a kid, it's not commonly done these days though.
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amother
Tanzanite


 

Post Tue, Oct 25 2022, 11:58 am
amother OP wrote:
Thank you to everyone for your replies!
Unfortunately, I think mental health issues can be misdiagnosed fairly easily as most diagnoses rely heavily on subjective criteria. It would be amazing if there could be a blood test that would tell exactly what the problem is. Wishful thinking, I know.
If you move away from a psychological perspective and towards a biomedical perspective, there are actually many biomarkers you can test for, such as inflammation, autoantibodies to the brain, adrenal issues, gut bio markers, food allergies and sensitivities, markers of chronic infections, nutrient deficiencies, toxicity, methylation issues, all of which have been linked extensively in the literature to the symptoms you mentioned.

A functional MD or MAPS dr can help you sort this out.
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amother
Royalblue


 

Post Tue, Oct 25 2022, 11:59 am
amother Tanzanite wrote:
If you move away from a psychological perspective and towards a biomedical perspective, there are actually many biomarkers you can test for, such as inflammation, autoantibodies to the brain, adrenal issues, gut bio markers, food allergies and sensitivities, markers of chronic infections, nutrient deficiencies, toxicity, methylation issues, all of which have been linked extensively in the literature to the symptoms you mentioned.

A functional MD or MAPS dr can help you sort this out.


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