ADOS assesment (Adult)

Just to confuse matters even more ... http://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/2014/05/22/there-connection-between-autism-and-bipolar-disorder

Psychiatric "conditions" are sometimes just labels that people put on behaviours that need treatment. Sometimes the condition really benefits from drugs as there is a real chemical imbalance in the brain, sometimes it just needs cbt etc as the brain needs to understand itself better or it needs re-training in a better way of thinking. There are no proper 100% reliable chemical or physical tests for many conditions so all you will get is a doctors "opinion" which suggests the next course of action. Mis-diagnosis is rife in people with ASD due to the communication difficulties that we have and because the condition leads to comorbid conditions like stress and depression which cause us to present to the doctors in various states of distress which may further obscure the underlying issue of ASD. I have seen lots of stories on this site where people have been diagnosed with bipolar and other conditions before they have got to their own root cause which might be ASD. (Search for bipolar in the community posts to see some examples of this). 

Just to confuse matters even more ... http://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/2014/05/22/there-connection-between-autism-and-bipolar-disorder

Psychiatric "conditions" are sometimes just labels that people put on behaviours that need treatment. Sometimes the condition really benefits from drugs as there is a real chemical imbalance in the brain, sometimes it just needs cbt etc as the brain needs to understand itself better or it needs re-training in a better way of thinking. There are no proper 100% reliable chemical or physical tests for many conditions so all you will get is a doctors "opinion" which suggests the next course of action. Mis-diagnosis is rife in people with ASD due to the communication difficulties that we have and because the condition leads to comorbid conditions like stress and depression which cause us to present to the doctors in various states of distress which may further obscure the underlying issue of ASD. I have seen lots of stories on this site where people have been diagnosed with bipolar and other conditions before they have got to their own root cause which might be ASD. (Search for bipolar in the community posts to see some examples of this).