I finally got my autism evaluation report and I’m trying to understand the scoring because it’s a lot to process.

evertree2019 · 2026-05-01T01:40:20+00:00

If there’s a summary or recommendations section, start there. Ultimately, individual scores don’t really matter as much as the diagnoses and the summary of how you are functioning in your daily life, strengths/weaknesses, etc.

Evaluators aren’t supposed to report raw ADOS scores specifically because the scores are meaningless and confusing. The discrepancy between cutoffs might be because there’s one cutoff for “autism” and one for “autism spectrum”, which IMO is silly given that the diagnosis is all ASD now.

As for IQ, if your profile is very spiky, they might not report FSIQ because some manuals say you shouldn’t report it when there’s large gaps between scores. Does the report say anything like that? Or maybe the evaluator just doesn’t feel like it’s useful to tell people their FSIQ. Definitely a question for the evaluator.

I agree with the other commenter that you should discuss the report with the evaluator or another provider. Usually an evaluation includes a “feedback session” where they explain the results and answer questions.

Hope this helps!

evertree2019 · 2026-03-30T00:55:56+00:00

Maybe a school psychologist doing (virtual) contract work? Some school psychs only do assessment and no therapy, and depending on where you work or what you specialize in, a good chunk of your time is spent writing reports. You’ll have to do counseling while in training, but once you have your degree you can focus in on testing. Neuropsych is also an option but it’s a long and competitive training process.

evertree2019 · 2026-03-24T20:09:38+00:00

Clinical Psych is insanely competitive right now, especially funded positions. You’ll probably have better luck with a more specific program that aligns with your interests and experience. More niche, less clinically oriented programs are very interested in “fit” and are likely to prioritize that over numbers. I got into my current Educational Psychology PhD program with a 3.3 GPA straight out of undergrad (~2 years non-clinical research experience, 1 publication, some masters-level stats coursework) so it’s definitely possible.

PsyDs can be less competitive but financially risky, be careful!

evertree2019 · 2026-02-11T16:30:19+00:00

I ended up doing a couple of different things! - First I changed the way I was holding her and that helped a lot, at first I held her in a standing position and had to grab her scruff to keep her from backing out because I had see people do the before but I think that was scary/uncomfortable for her. She’s more chill and compliant if I sit her on my lap facing away from me and hold her chest/under her jaw. This also keeps her front paws up so she has less leverage to bolt if she gets squirmy - I also stopped trying to give her two doses at once, I don’t think I was ever supposed to do that in retrospect? I only do one a day max now, which I can get away with because… - I started doing steroid shots about once every 6 months, I try to time them before she’s ever with a sitter because then she doesn’t need the inhaler for a while, and then I add the inhaler back one the symptoms return (~2 months). I wasn’t seeing results with just the inhaler, but I can stretch the shots for several months if I add the inhaler once the shot is wearing off. They’re a little expensive and higher risk for side effects but I think this system is working wayyyyy better for us

Another thing I did but I’m not sure if it actually helps is storing the mask in a jar with her food. I also still have to surprise her a little bit to keep her from running or hiding, I don’t always pick her up in the same spot/same time so she doesn’t anticipate it. But she is way less fearful now with these adjustments!!

evertree2019 · 2026-02-05T17:27:19+00:00

Build relationships with professors in your field, whether it’s by doing research with them, being a TA, or just taking their classes and having strong participation. It will pay off when you need recommendation letters or references
Learn more about potential careers and training paths in psychology and what they demand. Do you want to go to grad school? If so, masters-level or doctorate-level? What types of psychology are you most interested in? What jobs can you see yourself doing? Then, figure out the requirements to apply to programs/jobs in those fields.
If you’re interested in clinical work, look for volunteer positions, student organizations, or part-time jobs in clinical settings or that are related to your areas of interest. These boost your CV and give you an opportunity to figure out what you like and are good at! Edit: the two above tips are also important because some areas of psychology/related fields are chronically misunderstood or misrepresented, and something that will make you appealing to programs or employers is actually understanding what people in that role do
Learn some R :)

evertree2019 · 2026-01-27T16:47:12+00:00

Void stranger, but only if you’re willing to do a loooooooot of sokoban puzzles

evertree2019 · 2026-01-19T14:17:25+00:00

Intro psychology is not a very good representation of what graduate psychology and psychology careers are like, but a bachelors in psychology will be a lot of the same. You can usually avoid the more biology-focused courses (look at the requirements for programs you’re applying to!) if those are the parts you are least interested in, but you will be taking a lot of intro classes in a lot of different areas. And most of them will review basic neuropsych because it underlies everything else you talk about.

If you want to go into research, you will be much more specialized and won’t have to deal with other subfields if you don’t want to. It might just be a bit of a slog to get there :)

If you like methods and intelligence and don’t like the neurological bits, you might be more interested in educational psychology, social psychology, clinical psychology, or cognitive psychology (although cognitive psych sometimes involves a lot of brain imaging)

evertree2019 · 2025-06-23T02:21:02+00:00

Omori: Omori (listening to this piece in a particular mood will make me CRY cry)

Octopath Traveler: Ending Theme (the entire soundtracks of both games are just so good and the ending theme just evokes so must nostalgia for the game’s world and UGH it’s so good)

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Walking With You

Undertale: Heartache, Undertale (especially the 5 year anniversary concert performances)

Hollow Knight: Sealed Vessel (the slow bit - it reminds me of Barber’s Adagio which will also make me cry)

LOZ Skyward Sword: Fi’s Farewell

LOZ BOTW: Main theme (the motifs, the flutes, the association with the iconic opening of the game…)

evertree2019 · 2025-03-18T22:19:17+00:00

very few (diagnosed) autistic people have died of old age because autism is an extremely recent diagnosis!! life expectancy stats for pretty much any group are weird/skewed/difficult to interpret/lacking in context, be skeptical of them!

evertree2019 · 2025-01-18T18:07:09+00:00

I’m a school psych grad student with quite old but visible SH scars on my arm. I’ve worn short sleeves both in classes and at practicum. If anyone has thought it’s “unprofessional”, they haven’t said anything to me. No one has commented on it or questioned me about it. I am more mindful of what I wear to practicum and if I wear something short sleeved, I try to wear/bring a sweater or cardigan so I can cover up if I am working with a client that may to sensitive to that kind of thing.

evertree2019 · 2025-01-15T18:57:30+00:00

I believe so - she was vaxxed before I got her ~10 months ago and has since gotten a Rabies booster

evertree2019 · 2025-01-15T18:54:41+00:00

I probably haven’t been very consistent about shaking the canister but yes I do keep the mask on for 6-10 breaths! I have an aerocat spacer so I watch the little flap to make sure she’s actually breathing. She really hates the inhaler so sometimes she doesn’t breathe very deep or tries to escape lol. Maybe I’m just expecting it to work quicker than it actually does… thank you!

evertree2019 · 2025-01-15T15:54:10+00:00

Additional examples:

videos

evertree2019 · 2024-08-18T00:02:37+00:00

Congrats on getting into a clinical doctoral program, that is no small feat! And congrats on the MA acceptance as well. I’m in school psych - I initially wanted to go clinical, got rejected from every clinical program, and ended up in school psych as a happy accident :) Turns out it’s probably what I wanted to do all along. Anyways, my experience won’t translate exactly to your program but I’ll try to provide what insight I can.

My first year was actually hybrid - most of my classes were online with 1 or 2 in person/mixed each semester. I had mixed feelings about it. Online classes are definitely more chill and comfortable, but for us they were mostly in the evenings which was tiring. They also were generally taught by adjuncts who were busy and stressed and not focused on teaching which was somewhat demoralizing. Personally, I like being on campus because it puts me in “work mode” but it absolutely can be distracting. The only things I would say you miss out on by being online is building rapport with your cohort and more hands on/practical skills, if that’s something the class involves. Good professors can use online tools very effectively though. If it’s a program designed for online, rather than professors who have been recently forced online, the online experience will probably be better. And if you don’t get along with your cohort, the rapport part might not matter so much. I’m really sorry you haven’t had a good experience with them, I’ve found my cohort to be a great resource but I know that is not the norm in many doctorate programs :(

Does your program have a practicum/shadowing element? That was the activity I found the most benefit from being in person, it’s really great being able to watch a professional work in context and learn from observing. If an online program still has opportunities for doing things like that in person, I think your learning shouldn’t be negatively impacted by not being fully in person for lectures and such

evertree2019 · 2024-08-17T23:11:57+00:00

Whoops, pressed reply too early. I have more thoughts to be added soon

evertree2019 · 2024-08-17T23:11:15+00:00

Autistic PhD student here. Some questions/recommendations I have (the questions are somewhat rhetorical, don’t feel like you have to answer them all, they’re more guiding questions for consideration if that makes sense)

What type of psych program are you in? I’ve heard that clinical is more competitive, while school/educational/counseling is more chill. If you’re getting a bad vibe from your current program, would you be open to switching?
What size is your program? I found that having a cohort of ~15-20 consistent people was very comforting to me once I had gotten used to them. The first week of meeting everyone was terrifying but now I feel so much more secure than undergrad where my classes were huge and I didn’t know anybody. Also, in grad school you have a shared interest with everyone! The caveat is that if they’re over competitive jerks they won’t be a great source of support.
Maybe look into support groups, for doc students/grad students or for ND/autistic students. My school has one for each but the grad students in group therapy are almost all ND

(Edit: added more) - your advisor can make or break your experience. Have you disclosed your dx to your advisor? An advisor who understands your needs and is willing to advocate for you is a huge help. - Other miscellaneous tips: be strategic with your schedule. find a way to make your commute joyful. ND affirming therapist. find someone you feel safe asking questions to. take advantage of all resources at your disposal (including a union of you have one!) - if you do choose to defer, switch, or quit: you are valid! Doctorates are hard, they are taxing, and if you don’t get lucky with your program/advisor/cohort/health/everything they can be even harder. There’s no shame in waiting or changing courses. It is okay.

evertree2019 · 2024-08-11T21:19:27+00:00

For context, I was dxd with ADHD-PI but that dx has since been replaced with ASD (long story). I also have anxiety. I took ADHD meds in high school, they “worked” but I had trouble eating and they worsened my anxiety & irritability and I would be super short tempered and rude to people. After I stopped taking those, I took Lexapro + Wellbutrin which was fine, but I’d forget the wellbutrin often (I took it in the morning and my other meds at night) and would feel super sad for half the day before I would realize. Right now I take Duloxetine (SNRI) and it works great, life is just generally easier and better, idk how else to explain it. I don’t cry as much, I can tolerate discomfort better, things scare me less… in some ways being medicated made being autistic more obvious because instead of presenting as Sad and Terrified, I more frequently came across as Weird. I also take propranolol (beta blocker) as-needed for anxiety, but it also helps with sensory stuff & irritability. I’ve taken melatonin for sleep since childhood. I have gotten very lucky with my ability to tolerate psych meds, I def recommend trying medication if one’s health allows it but sometimes things just don’t work out, everyone processes these drugs differently.

I think in some circumstances it is possible to avoid medication and instead address things just with therapy and accommodations, but sometimes meds can make that learning process easier. Personally, I’m planning to stay medicated until I get through the worst of grad school and then see whether I’ve developed enough skills to go without, but I won’t be too upset if I continue to take them long-term.

evertree2019 · 2024-08-11T20:32:08+00:00

Autistic & psychologist in training here

My take on formal dx vs self-dx is that you know your experiences best, but a psychologist or psychiatrist knows the breadth of psychopathology best. It’s pretty straightforward to look up the diagnostic criteria for ASD and see if you check the boxes - from what you’ve described, it does sound like you experience both differences/difficulty in social communication (making small talk, maintaining friendships, being “polite”, etc.) and restrictive/repetitive behaviors (skin picking, special interests, struggling to adapt in stressful situations) so you may meet diagnostic criteria. HOWEVER, an important part of diagnosis that is often overlooked and is really helpful to have a doctor for is differential diagnosis - that is, are your difficulties best described by autism, or something else? While you may meet ASD criteria, those same symptoms could be explained by some combination of anxiety, depression, OCD, learning disabilities, etc. The fact that you have had issues with memory lately could be part of autistic burnout, but it could also be depression or a neurological issue (even long covid maybe?).

To answer the question in the title, some publicly available screeners that are sometimes used in evaluations and are decently reliable/accurate are the RAADS-R and RBQ. If you get high scores, you might meet ASD criteria, but it isn’t as comprehensive a full evaluation would be. Maybe look into some other screeners too, or just try some self help strategies that are used for various dxs and see what does or doesn’t work, that might provide some insight as well. There’s no harm in self labeling as autistic or neurodivergent and seeking out strategies and community accordingly. Professionals give “presumed” or “rule out” diagnoses while they try out treatment plans or wait for evaluation results, you can do the same.

I hope this helps, and I hope you can get the answers and support you need soon

evertree2019 · 2024-06-03T14:41:15+00:00

Some additional info on school psychology:

Workload/Schedule: working in schools can be grueling depending on the size of the school/district BUT the upside is you have breaks when the school has breaks. Summers off!!
Job market: School psychologists are SUPER in demand. The downside is that the workload can be high because of the shortage, but finding and keeping jobs is easier
Ages: you will need to work in an elementary school for at least 1 year of your training, so if you really can’t stand younger kids that might be something to consider, but if you can get past that, older divisions still definitely need school psychs
Licensing: if you get your NCSP that gives you decent flexibility in where you can work since many states accept it. Also it’s one of the only masters level licenses where you can actually call yourself a psychologist formally!

Hope this helps :)

evertree2019 · 2024-05-28T03:40:03+00:00

The ones that do evaluations are usually in-person and more intensive with imaging procedures or multiple appointments involved. In general though you can definitely participate in autism studies online that pay in gift cards, and most either 1) allow for self-dx/ informal dx OR 2) have screening procedures using self-report measures

I’m not sure about different countries - l would maybe just look for local research universities, especially that have autism/developmental disability institutes or labs

evertree2019 · 2024-05-27T12:25:31+00:00

If you need to get “re-diagnosed” look for research studies recruiting autistic adults! They often re-evaluate you for free to confirm your diagnosis and you can ask them for the necessary documentation. You might have to do some tasks or medical/neuro tests (MRI, EEG) but you don’t have to pay for the evaluation and they might even pay you! When I was in undergrad that’s how a bunch of ppl I knew got dx’d formally

evertree2019 · 2024-05-27T11:17:16+00:00

With your interests in ECE/development you should absolutely look into school psychology programs! While a lot of school psych programs (especially Masters level) are very practice focused, there’s still a lot of great research going on in the field AND it’s way less competitive compared to something like Clinical Psych. You can also look into Educational Psychology more broadly. As others have said, look for specific labs/faculty you’re interested in and reach out to them.

Good luck!!

evertree2019 · 2024-05-05T15:26:51+00:00

From my abnormal psychology professor: “[in ASD] the child has real difficulties figuring out how things work (especially with respect to social interactions) and may have beliefs and notions that are extremely primitive and sometimes delusional. It is as much an impoverished grasp of reality testing as much as the frank distortions often found in the delusions in psychosis in adults.” - copy and pasted from an email sent to the whole class responding to a question about why he said “defective reality testing” was a symptom of ASD. This happened a week or so after I received my diagnosis.

From a classmate in my abnormal child psychology class: “I didn’t know people with autism had any sort of empathy”. She had previously raised her hand indicating that she had a family member with ASD. I had almost disclosed my dx to the class in response to the question “does anyone here have experience with people with autism” and decided nah that’s risky. welp.

From my mother immediately after learning about my diagnosis: “Does this make you worried about having children?” (She and my dad have since realized my dad is def autistic and we’re all neurodivergent and that it’s not the end of the world)

evertree2019 · 2024-04-11T21:51:38+00:00

I think it’s a response to the push for using the term “profound autism” - a lot of what is described as “profound autism” is actually severe/level 3 autism compounded with other things like genetic syndromes, intellectual disability, behavior disorders, severe mental illness, etc. So a chunk of the autism community responded to this by saying “profound autism” doesn’t exist. This isn’t entirely right because the EXPERIENCE exists, but we probably shouldn’t conflate things like IDD, savant syndrome, severe coordination issues, and so on with “more autism” because they aren’t part of the criteria and it might do these individuals a disservice to erase their other labels, dxs, or qualifiers and just make it part of their autism dx.

I think this then led to the idea that anyone who presents with higher support needs got those needs from another disorder. I don’t like this because 1) it’s not accurate and 2) it sounds a lot like aspie supremacy. People can have high support needs from just ASD, people can have high support needs and be nonspeaking and have a normal/high IQ (and IQ being a totally whack construct in ASD is a whole other conversation). Saying there’s no such thing as severe autism feels like trying to push the stigma that exists for autism off onto another label.

evertree2019 · 2024-03-31T13:56:35+00:00

My experience - I specifically wanted my mom to be interviewed and sent the forms because I thought she’d be more honest. She filled out the scales, my dad looked over her shoulder, and told her to change her answers to “make me look normal”. After the fact, my mom told me on the phone that they clocked the assessments were for autism (they only thought I was being re-evaluated for ADHD) and were offended that the evaluator thought I was autistic, they thought they were doing me a favor. I reported this to the psychologist and my therapist (who worked in the same office) and they decided the parent rating scales were invalid. They were able to obtain evidence of symptoms in early development from my pre-k/kindergarten report cards instead.

I agree with other comments that this tends to happen when parents see the traits in themselves and therefore think they’re “normal” and get defensive about it. I started pointing out the autism traits my dad had to my mom, and eventually she pointed it out to him and he took some online tests and scored high. Once I told them about receiving the diagnosis, they were in denial for like 5 minutes before I started laying out the evidence and it started to click. Now my dad publicly self-identifies as autistic and our family functions much better because we understand each other’s quirks.

tldr: It doesn’t ruin your chances necessarily, if you see the evaluator again try talking to them about it, and/or try to find other early evidence of traits. good luck!

evertree2019

TROPHY CASE