Any advice for Diagnosis/College?

[Cbreadd]

Hi! I'm still very new to this site, but I've been needing some way to find help and to try and talk with other people who may understand.
I'm 17, and I'm going to be starting college soon, which I'm both incredibly excited about and extremely anxious about. I was diagnosed with ADD when I was 15, after being hospitalized and baker acted for depression and anxiety related events. At the time I had a lot of mixed feelings over my diagnosis, as a few years prior I had actually gone to my mom and tried to bring up that I thought I may have had adhd/add, but she kinda shut me down really quick. After my actual diagnosis my parents didn't quite accept it or acknowledge it, which to be fair they were more distracted with my other mental health concerning my anxiety and depression. Over the past 8 months or so I have actually been acknowledging my ADD and learning more about how it's affected me and a lot of things have been clicking into place, I've even been trying different medications for it because I'm afraid if I can't find some way to function better college and being independent will be far more challenging.
But recently an online friend of mine has been reblogging different posts related to autism, aspergers, and adhd/add, and I realized I could relate to a lot of the things that people posted about autism/aspergers. Different habits and quirks, difficulties with social life, education, or just every day functioning, a lot of small things they talked about I could see in myself.

Now I'm considering talking to my therapist about it, but I have no idea how I would even go about an actual diagnosis or talking to professionals trained in that area. My therapist doesn't really have much experience with that stuff, and I'm worried as soon as I try to bring it up to my parents I'll be shut down (Ironically it turns out that my dad has ADD, and my brother might too-he found out while researching about it)
I don't want to fall back into a funk where I dismiss my symptoms again until it all bubbles over, but there's that voice in the back of my head that keeps telling me I'm just making it all up, and that I'm overthinking things.
So does anyone have any advice/info for how a diagnosis process works? Who to go to, what happens during it, what I should expect from a good/bad doctor (My biggest fear is of a doctor dismissing what I feel if I don't meet the same standards as what's "typical") And if anyone wants to share what symptoms/habits/quirks/etc that are related to their autism or aspergers would be helpful too! I don't really know how to bring what I feel all forward without someone else mentioning it because I've lived for so long seeing what I've always been like as normal/that everyone had similar problems, so it's hard to really know if there's something "wrong" until I see something I can relate to.

Ok whoops this was super long, but any advice or sharing if you relate to something similar would be appreciated! I'm still not 100% sure on how posts on here work but I'll learn.

 

[BraidedPony]

Do you want or need a diagnosis? An official diagnosis? There are tests online and you can test yourself. I diagnosed myself because I figure I know myself better than anyone else, even so called mental health professionals.
Therapists are really good and helping us deal with depression and anxiety and family issues though.
It’s something to think about, just research it yourself.

 

[Sarah S]

Welkome to the forums

As Braided pony says IF you feel concerned about this you need to bring this up with youre therapist so that he /she can refer you to a proper doctor that is qualified to make this cind of evaluations, also i would suggest look around in here and also search the Webb reg this diagnoses theres allot to find out both in here as well as out there.

Heres a start for you https://www.understood.org/en/learn...d-adhd/the-difference-between-adhd-and-autism

 

[Suzanne]

How you remind me of me, when I first discovered aspergers.

Your fears are not unfounded, because I have been mocked when I tried to approach the idea.

It was my husband who brought the subject of aspergers into the conversation with my therapist and all the therapist asked was: why do you think you have aspergers? Now, usually, my mind would go blank, but I had already taken into account this question and so, it was easy to answer and with great relief, he phoned for an appointment.

All in all, it took about 5 months ( due to waiting lists), to get my formal diagnosis.

If you have no one who can be your voice, then try saying: I would like to be tested for aspergers. Since you are only 17, you are in a great place, to talk about how you were as a child, as this is what they would be concentrated on.

 

[Fluffy1990]

I went thru a lot in the mental health world. They ignored my autism and adhd insisting I needed and take meds for bipolar. I'm done trusting certain professionals. I don't know how other areas are but during the research and realization period I remember it not being easy for others too. Getting an official secure appropriate diagnosis usually is best found by professionals that are private pay generally. Its only where I got help. The mental health programs would insist on their people and continue to make me feel my autism was too high functioning to bother my daily life...or sonlmething like this. It took a forensic specialist and my mom's information and support to get me an official diagnosis. She also pulled me out of those programs. Luckily I wanted the help more then not. And am here today writing my story in hopes to help others out there too. Keep fighting for your self. Bc some professionals will sway push and pull around the core issues bc they might not understand it enough or are bias or something.