neuropsych for college-aged woman who has never lived in the US

[Anonymous]

We are pursuing a autism, ADHD, etc., evaluation for our college-aged daughter who has never lived in the US, and been told that her cross-cultural upbringing makes diagnosis tricky. Is there anyone who specialises in approaches for women who are older and have this background?

[Anonymous]

OP it probably makes a difference what languages she speaks, and in what language is she doing her education.

[Anonymous]

She can do this in English. The main issue is ability to mask given cross cultural skills and the fact that she has been formed cross culturally in multiple cultures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She can do this in English. The main issue is ability to mask given cross cultural skills and the fact that she has been formed cross culturally in multiple cultures.

Who told you that about “masking”? Masking is a social mask concept, not something that competent professionals think makes it impossible to diagnose. Some cultural issues could be present (like different body language or eye contact) but autism isn’t diagnosis on the presence or absence of eye contact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She can do this in English. The main issue is ability to mask given cross cultural skills and the fact that she has been formed cross culturally in multiple cultures.

OP what is her primary language? Which cultures? Either culture matters or it doesn't. You can't have it both ways.

Neuropsych tests are designed to overcome various biases. I saw this up close when my child was first tested, and his teachers passed their survey responses to me, to pass on to the tester. There was a stark contrast between the teachers' limited views of my child and the full and nuanced picture the tester put into their final report.

[Anonymous]

Just look for a tester with experience in the culture she grew up in. I used to know someone whose specialty was evaluating autism in Asian-Americans. She knew what was expected and typical in Asian cultures as well as White American cultures and how that looked as immigrant families were more and less assimilated into American culture and was able to figure out whether (for example) eye contact differences were from cultural differences or from neurodivergence.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the helpful responses. This is a kid who grew up in three continents with different cultures (third culture kid) and is currently in a fourth. My understanding from the professional that recommended the testing is that assessment would be harder for her or more specialized given her background.

[Anonymous]

DOS TCKs often come back to DC for testing. If you're hooked in to that community, ask around for recommendations.

[Anonymous]

I’m not sure if anyone has that particular speciality, but I would look for someone who is very familiar with autism presentations in young adult women - Donna Henderson at Stixrud or David Black at CAAT.