Finding a Place to Diagnose ASD: A Frustrating Journey

Asperger's isn't actually a diagnosis anymore. It's not that it "offends people", it's that is inaccurate (it was also named after a nazi, but that's a different story). Autism is a spectrum, different people have a different spectrum of needs. You're more likely to get an accurate diagnosis with the correct language.

When I seen it on America's Next Top Model, I identified with the girl who said she was diagnosed with Asperger's and all the things that went with it for her- it was an aha moment for me and I finally understood why I was so different from my peers and so quiet and observant studying people more than speaking. My communication was extremely awkward and embarrassing because I would get laughed at or confused looks. So I would tend to just keep to myself. I preferred to be alone and get distracted way to easily either there would be a noise that bothered me or not enough noise or too loud in a room so I couldn't do my school work. I would bite my skin on my fingers and use to bite my nails off too but I stopped that and kept it to my skin which I still do all the time. Anyway when I saw that episode I just new that I could finally identify with something (I know labels offend people these days) and to finally not feel so alone. Saying autism isn't a bad thing but I'm still trying to accept that's what it is- aspie is the type of autism on the spectrum I feel comfortable with as people can look info up on it if they want to know more about my quirks and then they will see why it is on the autism spectrum. If I explained it the right way for me, I hope to be understood better.

Getting a diagnosis is an arduous and expensive process :( I came across a suggestion to note down the symptoms/behaviors/memories you have that are related, so that’s what I did. Embrace Autism is a fabulous resource, the results from the self evaluations i added to my list at the bottom. You can skip the insurance issues by calling your carrier and having them find you some in-network local docs. Obviously that doesn’t guarantee anything, but at least you won’t have to worry about insurance coverage.