Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello,
I've just gone past my 26 or 27th Birthday. When I was a child I was diagnosed with Dyslexia, when I was around 20 my parents were told that I may have Aspergers. I was never given an assessment, I don't even know how to get one.
My mother told me that I was popular at school, primary school. Always happy but odd. I like that. When I moved into high school it started to become more noticeable.
I can't make eye contact, I've never really been able to.
I hate loud noises that I can't control,
I hate being around too many people or people I don't know
It gives me a panic attack when I've got to talk to people I don't know
I have a tendency to say harsh things or be very rude without meaning too
I become obsessed about a certain thing for a few weeks and then move onto something else
You get the point, all of these things I guess made the "Specialists" I don't know who it was who told my parents, think I'm Autistic.
Moving into adult life it's been pretty difficult. I'd rather hide then face the world. I'm confused and frustrated most of the time, many people I meet see me as some awkward weirdo.
Should I bother trying to get an assessment done? Would there be a point? How would that improve my life in any way? It's not going make it go away.
But to the people who have had it done, does it make things seem more clear? Is it worth the hassle and having to meet new people and go to new places?
Thank you
Different people / areas have different experiences of how much hassle obtaining an assessment can be, some GP's are more understanding of (or open to) AS than others. This may mean that you have to pursue other avenues to being referred for assessment but this website should have plenty of information on how to do that should you encounter any problems with your GP referring you.
Once the referral is made the time until the actual assessment again varies enormously between areas from a couple of months to more than a year.
Shortly before the assessment date you will usually be sent a questionnaire to complete with your parents (or other close family members) about how you were as a baby, toddler, and young child and the different characteristics you may or may not have shown throughout these years. You take this with you to the assessment and, I believe, you can have a parent or family member with you during the assessment regardless of how old you are.
The assessment itself generally takes the form of a 'casual' chat with the assessor (or two assessors) during which they use a series of checklists. The questions range from your baby and toddler years / milestones right up to the previous day and you're usually encouraged to share with them any difficulties you currently experience whether they be social, sensory, or anything else. The assessment, for me, lasted quite a few hours with a lunch break in between. Some people have theirs spread over a couple of separate appointments within a few days of each other, again it varies.
For me, having the official diagnosis has made things more clear and has given me peace of mind in many ways. From what I have heard on this forum most people feel similarly, but others don't. Some feel upset, shocked, or unhappy with the formal diagnosis. It's worth considering how you might feel before going ahead with it. There are lots of people with so many different experiences of the process here on the forum so this is a great place to start to explore the idea more before committing to anything. The website itself has information on a wide range of topics too which you might find helpful.
Thank you, everyone. I don't know how I would feel about it. But for some reason I've felt the need to get this finally done.
I'll talk to my GP, although he has become rather unreliable of late; the past few years anyway and not just for me. He's response to everything is Anti-Depressants, which gave me hallucinations that continue today.
I will see what he has to say first of all.
Thank you, I'm glad I took the time out to reach out to this site.
nexus9 said:These matters but be the questions you may have for yourself too though by the sound of it, you would need to be pretty tough and persistent to get a diagnosis in the UK right now
Yes. I quote this from a later answer in support of it... but cannot offer much more advice than that which has been stated so far, including from Endymion.
Try to change to another GP within the same "Practise". Even under the same address, GPs are different people... Sorry to say this...(!) You might even have to change where you go to see a GP altogether. It is a bit of a "trick" (or "lottery") to find a GP that understands ASCs/ASDs. And as you say, this particular Forum is good. Also try to telephone NAS themselves, and try to access their main Website, here. (autism.org.uk. ...more-or-less.)