Get tested, diagnosed, treated with no insurance or income ?

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I live in Northwestern/Northeastern Ohio in the United States & I have believed for quite some time now that I have an Autism Spectrum Disorder, most likely Asperger's Syndrome or High Functioning Autism. I have been attending a mental health center for three years due to my extreme anxiety. Because I meet the income requirements & have no way of obtaining any health insurance, I qualify for a sliding fee scale & all of my costs are covered by the government. However, I have not benefited at all from going there because it does not offer coping strategies or treatment for those with ASD's, only those with mental health disorders. The typical therapies offered have been of no benefit to me & I seem to be getting worse instead of better, because of it. I believe I can improve my life situation if only I could receive the proper help. But I can not do that without a proper diagnosis & I can find no way of being tested for an ASD when I have no health insurance. Especially because I am an adult & the few organizations around here are all focused on children and require health insurance.

Does anyone know of any way for an adult with no insurance or income to get tested &/or receive help for an ASD?

Thanks

Why are the team treating you currently not able to diagnose you? They must also see that the treatment is ineffective, and be able (at the very least) to decide whether your proposed diagnosis is reasonable or helpful.

I have been diagnosed, but not with anything that addresses all of my issues. I was diagnosed three years ago with bipolar disorder, although my mood fluctuations are the least of my problems & are brought upon by environmental & external stimulus factors. Although I have very severe anxiety, they have not directly diagnosed me with an anxiety disorder, only with bipolar disorder. They have given me treatments to deal with the anxiety, but they don't help because they don't understand that my anxiety does not stem from the typical reasons anxiety issues usually arise. I have told them nothing of the fact that I believe I have an ASD because my current facility would not be able to help me get diagnosed or tested because they only treat mental health disorders, not ASD's. I also have trouble with them believing me when I tell them things about my sensory issues, etc. They believe I am lying & making it up.

I have no job and virtually no money for much of anything. I went for a research diagnosis where they did a sensory study on me and I got paid for the whole thing. I suggest you look into that big universities and sensory study or some such.

Thanks I've never heard of anything like that, but I will look into it

I was in the same situation, being treated unsuccessfully for depression / anxiety / psychosis by a mental health team. I had never considered autistic spectrum disorder, although I was extremely unhappy with the treatment that I was receiving and I had said that the treatment was so unhelpful that it was making things worse. They also thought that I was difficult, invented issues and was not truthful.

At some point one of the psychiatrists suggested Asperger's and the psychologist / psychiatrist made the diagnosis. Everyone agrees that my treatment has been much more appropriate and successful following the diagnosis, and that "unusual" and confrontational or "difficult" statements in the past make perfect sense in light of the diagnosis. I continue to receive out-patient care from a mental health team because there is no other facility for adults with autistic spectrum disorders.

I would suggest that you take some very short ASD leaflet (one with the DSM or principal trait bullet points) with you and explain your suspicions and how you are autistic. If you also do the Baron-Cohen test(s) in the sticky at the top of the forum and take your results with you, it will inform the discussion. If you have a parent, sibling or close associate who agrees with your suspicions, then report their views as well.