Published on 12, July, 2020
New to the site. In fact I only got my diagnosis letter through from the psychologist through the door on Thursday.
I'm 50 and have just been diagnosed with high functioning ASD. What now? I'm in Falkirk in Central Scotland. From what I gather, the facilities available for adults newly diagnosed are sparse.
I'd also like to know what benefits, etc. I may be entitled to. I also suffer with various chronic pains/conditions which make my mobility difficult. What are the odds I'd qualify for a blue badge?
Thoughts, advice, direction, etc. welcomed.
Thanks.
Hi,
As Daniel mentioned, the NAS have a helpline which can be contacted on 0808 800 4104 (Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm, Friday 9am to 3pm), although please note that the Helpline is experiencing increasingly high demand, and you may not reach them straight away.
Please see the following link for further information:
http://www.autism.org.uk/services/helplines/main.aspx
Nellie-Mod
I am sad to hear peoples sad stories of post diagnosis! I live in East Anglia, and have experienced a very good service.
I have had a post diagnosis meeting with details and access to a variety of support, including being invited to group sessions for myself AND my NT partner, which I think will be fantastic.
Also I was provided with many details including leaflets from relevant NAS services, reading lists for myself, my partner and my children, details of places I can go if I am having a sensory overload episode in my local area, and also encouraged to speak to my GP post diagnosis to see if any changes can be made to help.
I think based on this is is different wherever you live, and that I have been fortunate. I would suggest of you have had no follow up at all, the NAS site and helplines can put you in touch with services local to you, which you can help use for advice and support.
Most of all, don't give up! There are many people here in the same situation, or who are happy to offer advice from experiences they have had! Good luck and hang in there!
There plenty of people in this community would be happy to talk to you :)
It's sort of the same here, with the added complication that I had the diagnosis in the UK ( my home country) a couple of months back, but I actually live on the other side of the world, in a country where no one wanted to diagnose a retired adult. No one here wants to talk to a diagnosed person either.
I'm expecting the same....
Not a lot to be honest, it was "you have ASD, goodbye" for me. I was diagnosed last November and had no contact with anyone from the diagnostic team or support groups since. Its rubbish really, had to do a lot of reading and research myself and parents continued prompting me to try and socialise.
Hi NAS24222,
Welcome to the community!
I thought I'd include some information here to address some of the points you raised in your post, but you may find that other members of the community, such as caretwo, will post their responses too.
It might be worth accessing the NAS's Autism Services Directory (http://www.autism.org.uk/directory.aspx) to look for services local to you.
You may also want to familiarise yourself with the NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) guidelines that cover every aspect of care for people with autism across the spectrum, including specialist autism teams in each area for diagnosis, training and support. The best practice guidelines show the level of service an adult should receive. The guidelines were published in June 2012: http://www.nice.org.uk/CG142
Finally, the following link will take you to a page on the NAS website specifically about benefits http://www.autism.org.uk/benefits.
Best wishes,
In terms of your autism diagnosis only, you have no chance of obtaining a blue badge. Blue badge qualification has an in-built bias to physical disabilities. Visit this website for details on qualification in Scotland:https://www.mygov.scot/apply-blue-badge/eligibility-who-can-have-one/
Again, in terms of your autism diagnosis only, you are very unlikely to qualify for benefits.