Should I get a autism assessment (maybe TL;DR)

💁‍♀️ seeking advice / support / information

Autsim spectrumQ: 32/50 EmpathyQuotient: 26/80 RAADS-R: 152/240 Autism Traits Profile: social communication and interaction 3/3; restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests 4/4 Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire: 127/175 Autistic Burnout Measure: 99/108 Hey, I’m a 18 year old girl with ADHD. I have been diagnosed for about 2 years now. I have always thought that i had the symptoms of Audhd, but i never fully thought that i could meet the criteria needed to be diagnosed with Autism, until this year. Growing up I have always felt the need to mask to be more palatable to the people around me, I never felt understood and always felt dismissed. I had to fight so hard for my ADHD diagnosis, because my parents don’t have a good understanding of what mental health disorders actually are. My older brother is diagnosed with autism, and he got diagnosed at a very young age because of his difficulties with his motor and verbal skills. My parents have always coddled him, and because he had such difficulties in his childhood they only had one type of presentation of the disorder in their heads (and so did I). I have always had to take care of him in certain ways, while also acting like I don’t have to same struggles as him. I didn’t really notice the similarities until I went into the very extreme burnout at the beginning of this year. I couldn’t get out of bed, I stopped going to school, I loathed the idea of having to socialize with people. I stop functioning completely. I thought it was depression because I’ve been diagnosed with MDD for about 5 years, but I have never felt this way before. I almost didn’t graduate (but I did), and it was very difficult for me to do things that I feel like I didn’t struggle doing before (at least to this extent). I do believe that there was depression there, but it has been lasting for so long (9 months to be exact). I have always had issues with sensory, social, and just my ability to function but this is something extreme. I feel like I can’t put back the mask that I had on previously. I don’t know what to do. I have taken some autism test online and I would like to share. They all seem decently high, but I just don’t want to waste over a grand just to be dismissed like I’d been for my whole life. Does anyone have any advice for trying to get an autism assessment (with documentation), or directories that can point me in the way of someone that takes Tricare. Thank yall

Posted Sep 2, 2026, 12:29 PM UTC

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