College’s require an official autism diagnosis from a doctor

So we attended an information meeting regarding college and special needs and learned that colleges require an official diagnosis from a doctor to request accommodations from the disability office. Our son planning to attend a four year college was only diagnosed by his school district thru the IEP process. We never thought that a doctor diagnosis was going to be needed.

Our son is higher functioning then his older brother and is currently mainstreamed into general Ed within his high school. He still has an IEP and teachers are aware that he still needs movement breaks and the IEP team works with him on social skills.

Planning for the college transition, we are researching accommodations such as single dorm rooms and autism support programs at specific colleges. We are also researching scholarship opportunities that are available for individuals specifically on the autism spectrum.

I inquired from his psychiatrist references for an autism diagnosis. I learned from her that the diagnosis is given by a psychologist and the diagnosis involves quite a lengthy testing process. She gave me two references and they were in high demand and entailed a lengthy wait time for an appointment. I also learned from calling their offices that the testing process involved an all day appointment with a lunch break. I was floored that the testing was so in depth. I assumed that an IEP evaluation would assist the doctor with the diagnosis.

I then proceeded to google psychologists that specialize in autism. I found an office that was close to home and they advertised on their website that they did evaluations for adults that think they may be on the spectrum but we’re never diagnosed. I thought wow this would be a good fit for my teenage son. We visited the office for a first introduction appointment and learned their format was five 2 hour evaluations scheduled over five different days. My son threw a fit. No way he said was he going to go for five two hour sessions. I wish they had shared this info with me before I scheduled the first appointment. I then realized that the one all day evaluation was probably a better option as he would get it over with in one day. The challenge, however, will be getting him to attend.

I felt like sharing this experience with other autism parents as they may want to consider visiting a psychologist for an autism diagnosis when their child is young. If we had did this when our son was young we wouldn’t be encountering the rebuff we are now with attending the evaluation. Our son doesn’t like to think of himself as autistic and this evaluation is frustrating to him. We try to talk to him about the variance of autism and that everyone is on a different spectrum. We will continue to have dialogue with him to comfort him with his diagnosis.

Our son is currently a junior in high school so we still have time before he is off to college. The all day evaluation would require he miss a day of school so we are thinking of scheduling the evaluation during the summer. The autism scholarships also require proof of an autism diagnosis so we will need to get on board with an evaluation before scholarship applications start his senior year. The one college he is leaning toward attending does offer an autism support program and they only require an IEP but the disability department would require the doctor diagnosis. I’m concerned about him wanting to request a single dorm room as I don’t think a roommate would be a good fit for him. He excels academically but struggles socially and having a roommate requires social skills.

I, therefore, highly recommend following thru with the psychologist evaluation during the younger years even if you are not sure if your child will attend college. Our son was non-verbal during his younger years and required a self-contained classroom setting up until fifth grade. It was third – fifth grade that he started thriving and his teacher felt he was ready to be mainstreamed starting in middle school (6th grade). Every child is different and may progress at different developmental stages. We love both our sons, though, at whatever developmental stages they’ve achieved. They are both unique and have their own unique strengths.