<p>I'm wondering if I should to get a time extension on the SAT or not. I'm pretty sure I have dysgraphia (no doubt) and Asperger's Syndrome, but I'm not sure if I want it on my record, as jobs will look on it and be like "What the hell is Asperger's? Sounds terrible. Let's not hire him!" So should I? And where should I go?</p>
<p>Make an appointment with a psychiatrist and tell them your story. Then take the tests that they may have for you in order for them to decide whether or not you have a disability.</p>
<p>What makes you think you have dysgraphia? A lot of people just have sloppy handwriting. For instance, I have dysgraphia but it is caused from tourette's syndrome and OCD. </p>
<p>Why do you think you have Asperger's?</p>
<p>a neurologist would be a better person to diagnose aspergers</p>
<p>Autism</a>, Asperger's Syndrome, and the Autism Spectrum</p>
<p>Even if you have been able to get by without accomodations in high school- which isn't unheard of- you may hit the wall in college & I think that it would be a good idea to be evaluated if you have concerns.</p>
<p>In my community a Psychiatrist (especially a child Psychiatrist) or a Psychologist may have more experience with Aspergers but it may not get accommodations; It's not usually considered a "learning disability". I am not aware of any "tests" for psychiatric diagnosis, but there are rating scales and assessment instruments that help a clinician make a diagnosis.Most standardized testing for learning disabilities requires a Psychologist who does testing. Some don't because insurance may not reimburse which means you pay cash. Could be 5K or more.</p>
<p>You may want to look at some of the Asperger's sites or contact a local organization for autism/asperger's to get names of psychiatrists or clinicians who can diagnose Asperger's. Although I cannot vouch for them, here are a couple of Asperger's sites which list clinicians in the US:</p>
<p>O.A.S.I.S.</p>
<p>Asperger</a> Syndrome<br>
See list of clinicians:
Asperger</a> Syndrome: Medical Centers/Clinicians</p>
<p>The following list was put together by Dr. R. Kaan Ozbayrak and is cited on another website for college students with aspergers [<a href="http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/%7Ecns/index.html%5D%5B/url">http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~cns/index.html][/url</a>]</p>
<p>ASPERGER'S</a> DISORDER CLINICIANS LIST</p>
<p>Keep in mind that getting any sort of diagnosis is for your benefit, so that you can learn how to live with whatever disorder or disability you may have - and as a result, improve your life. If you have a LD or disorder like Asperger's these are neurologically based and result from the way your brain is wired, there are no magic pills that will cure you, and it may still require a lot of hard work on your part as you go through college and adult life to understand and learn how to best work with your differences, even if it is determined that you can benefit from specific services or that medication may be required. </p>
<p>You are not required by law to disclose a LD or disorder to your employer, although at the same time if you do not disclose, you may not be protected by laws such as the ADA. However, there are many high functioning individuals with less severe LDs or disorders who go through life either undiagnosed or without disclosing their condition if it does not interfere with their work performance. Getting a diagnosis is meant to help YOU, not stigmatize you for life. So if you really feel that something is "wrong" do not let that fear stop you from getting the help you need.</p>
<p>What do you mean, your record?</p>
<p>In the past I've tried to keep my diagnosis a secret from colleges, because discrimination happens all the time, but with experience I've learned that this is a very bad idea.</p>
<p>I mentioned neurologists because in my area those I know on the autistic spectrum were initially diagnosed either by a psychologist or a neurologist or most commonly by a neuropsych.</p>
<p>Child psychiatrists in my area, seem to have their practices centered around medication management and if the child is not on medication will stop seeing them.
Additionally behavior management and taught skills can be more helpful, although medication is often used alongside the behavior mod.
Autism</a> Center - University of Washington</p>
<p>My daughters roommate in college has Aspergers , he had developed strategies that helped him be very successful and even graduated with a double major- very unusual at Reed. ( although you could probably find many on the spectrum- John Ratey a Harvard med school prof and ADHD who often lectures at other universities- where he plays a game with himself to find the profs who are on the autistic spectrum- when at schools like Caltech or MIT he has to find which profs aren't on the spectrum)
ASPFI</a> - Asperger Foundation International - College Resource Guide</p>
<p>I would also mention that Asperger's and other things on the autistic spectrum are much more in the public eye than you probably realize and employers may actually think it is a sign of intelligence/ ;)</p>
<p>There are lots of groups out there and they are getting lots of publicity.
Bill</a> Cosby, Toni Braxton, Gary Cole, Ed Asner on Larry King Autistic Genius</p>
<p>I've read through all the symptoms and have been to Wrongplanet.net and it has absolutely amazed me how much we all go through the same things, though others are sometimes more extreme. I was thinking of getting tested, but maybe next week in Atlanta with my dad. Would it be transferrable back to California?</p>
<p>And does it cost alot? Or is it covered by insurance?</p>
<p>Agree with shrinkrap-
Start with either a developmental pediatrician, a child psychologist or a neuropsychologist. They will help direct you to, or provide a proper evaluation/diagnosis. However, it is not easy to get an appointment and neuropsych evaluation in a week. The issue of transferring from one state to another should not be a problem, but getting an appointment and evaluation within a very tight time constraint might be a challenge</p>
<p>Depends on how you want to "use" the diagnosis. If its for public school placement ("I.E.P"), or access to a regional center, there can sometimes be different criteria.</p>
<p>Shrikrap-
I read the OP's question as addressing his/her atempt to get accomodations on standardized testing. The testing requirements/recommendations on the CB website should transfer across states. The issue, though, is the CB now typically want the student to have qualified for the accomodation, received the accomodation and used the accomodation for at least 4 mos before they will consider the request. To this degree, the requirements from the home school should be considered. That said, I have certainly appreciated seeing evaluations that were done in previous states when a pt moves to my state and wants an updated evaluation. They are usually pretty consistent if done by someone with the same general background/training.</p>
<p>Makes sense to me. I appreciate seeing previous evals too, but aside from IQ testing for non-Black kids, I find the local school district fairly unpredictable in terms of what they do with it. The community college does not seem to accept community doctor ADD evals. Our regional center may or may not accept kids with "Aspergers". I'm in the habit of letting people know this if the want to see me and "use" the eval for something other than treatment. I an not familiar with CB's requirements. Don't think I want to be in that business. Is it different outside of my area? Do you mind saying where you practice?</p>
<p>Hi Shrinkrap-</p>
<p>I think we are talking about slightly different things here. Can you clarify what you mean by your "regional center" ? Our state U's have 3 regional testing areas, and each one has slightly different criteria for their evals and what tests they might want to see in a certain kind of evaluation. So, even within one state, the criteria for dx and accomodations at the college level may vary somewhat. That said, sometimes it may just take some "tweaking" of the initial evaluation-- ie some additional testing to get some additional information. They may not need to start from ground zero if there is good, quality, solid reliable recent data available. </p>
<p>When someone self-refers, I, too clarify the purpose or goal of their evaluation. Is it for diagnostic clarification? Treatment purposes? Intervention? Attempts to explore accomodations. etc? I clarify who referred them and what the referral question is, as well as asking for previous evaluations, IEPs, report cards, standardized testing, schoolwork samples, etc.</p>
<p>If you recall, we've chatted about this before. I am on the other coast. In fact, I am in the area that the OP mentioned in post #8, which is why I can speak to the challenges of getting an appointment within a week!</p>
<p>Ah! I see! And in California "regional centers" are set up for kids with Autism, MR. etc.;things that are considered developmental problems, and resources not covered by a mental health benefit. Often they share resources with local school and mental health resources, if the all agree about diagnosis and who is responsible for what. In general, these are kids too impaired to be thinking about SAT's.</p>
<p>Autism really isn't a learning disability. Problems in certain areas academically are likely from the analysis of social situations (which is something I'm not doing well with in one of my classes this semester). Usually the folks with high functioning autism will do poorly in school because they are under a lot of stress because of the other kids--they may shove them around, misunderstand them, etc.</p>
<p>Enjoy-
People with Aspergers, HFA, NLD, etc may have a variety of difficulties that affect the learning environment. For example, they may have sensory issues that may cause them to be phonophobic (sensitive to sounds), or have trouble with transition from on activity to another. They may take things too literally, or are too rigid in their interpretation of things, etc. While these issues may not seem to be a direct learning disability, they can affect the learning process or the ability to express what a student has learned, and may thus qualify for accomodations.</p>