I have been very upset by this since it happened and avoiding it, but finally called to speak to the director about my experience (again). I will share the process & hope to see if I’m being crazy & have a few questions about the evaluations as well.
I live in a small state/town (USA). The major hospital here owns or acquired a bunch of other offices. There are few options that are not somehow affiliated with them. I’ve never been a fan of them, but when I started my journey of trying to understand myself better after my mom passed a few years ago, I was pleased to see that a dr here at this practice is known as being very good for adult evaluations. This was important to me. I don’t have to tell you all why. It seems obvious to me that since adult females do a lot of masking, among other things, that an evaluator should be experienced.
I called 4/2/25 & was told the wait to see this Dr would be 6-9 months. No problem. I can wait for a decent dr.
I got a call on 9/16/25 & my intake was scheduled for 10/27/25; evaluation for 11/17/25 with this good dr.
They called again on 10/24/25 & said another dr had an opening if I wanted it. But they confirmed many times that I was only doing this for my own personal awareness, not for work or school or anything. I should’ve flagged that as being suspicious, because what difference should it make? But I trusted this center knew how difficult testing adult women is and would not put any adult woman with someone inexperienced. I was excited to get it done. I was hopeful that it would be enlightening and possibly lead to some support.
I said why not & had my eval w this other dr on 11/12/25 & went over the results on 11/17/25.
Firstly I was confused because I walked into an office that was clearly for children. And then I was surprised when I met the dr that she was obviously younger than I was.
I asked beforehand what it would entail because I like to be prepared and I also have an awful memory, so if they needed to know childhood stuff, I’d have to try to get that info beforehand. They said it should be fine.
She did ask a lot of questions about my childhood and I told her what I could remember, which wasn’t much. Then she had me tell a story looking at a children’s book, come up with a story using toys, and something else I can’t remember.
I basically felt like it was all self reporting. There was nothing in the written report that I didn’t say, basically verbatim. The result was that I am autistic. Most of you seem to receive a level, which I did not. I feel like she tried to gauge and give me what I wanted to hear.
I was a bit upset that she wrote in the report that the first part in which she was asking me questions was “mildly uncomfortable because it was very one sided.” When you tell me it’s an interview, that means to me we’re not having a chat or telling stories. To me, I figured it was meant to be “one sided.”
Lastly, when I was asking her questions during the review, she told me she “thinks that she is autistic herself but she hasn’t gotten a diagnosis bc she’s the one doing the testing.” Is that bizarre, or is it me?
I was so angry about this whole experience after this, I looked her up online. She did not even come up as a provider under this practice. I found her NPI page which said she was active as a psychologist since 9/10/25. So I waited 6 months to get an appointment with someone who had only technically been a dr for 2 months. (Nothing against her personally, but I felt decieved.)
Then it clicked why they asked if this wasn’t for school/work. I feel like they put me with her bc it was only for me so it didn’t matter and they wanted to get the wait list down. I deeply regret not looking her up prior.
I also said I want these records removed from my file. I wasn’t relieved, I was angry. Like I said, almost every doctor in the state will have access to these records. They said they can’t do that.
I then asked to speak to the director. She left me a few voicemails and I emailed the practice saying I’m more comfortable talking over email, to organize my thoughts, and not cry on the phone. The director said she wouldn’t talk via email so I gave up. Also seems bizarre that the director of the Autism Behavioral Health Dept wouldn’t understand and accommodate an autistic person’s communication preferences.
I’ve been thinking about it again recently after trying to find a new psych, and having one recommend the original doctor. I called again today to say I want an appointment with the original dr. They called back and said I already had one so they’re confused. I asked to set up a call w the director again. I doubt arranging a time that works for both of us will be great.
Am I being crazy or am I righteous in my anger?
A few questions about the process if you know:
- can you get those records removed or hidden somehow?
- can you get another eval with a diff dr from the same practice?
- will insurance pay for another eval if you’ve already had one?
- what specific tests did your eval involve?
- how many “levels” are there? Did you all get one?
- are there any virtual/national (USA) practices that can do it without being in person?
- how old would you guess your evaluator was?
At the end of the day, I would recommend not even bothering with a formal eval. Not worth the hassle. Thanks for reading if you did 😊 feels good to get off my chest among those who can understand.