Published on 12, July, 2020
I am a young adult currently at University and I have suspected for a while now that I have AS. I have always been very hidden about my emotions etc and haven't really spoken to anyone about this. From what I have seen from the symptoms and online testing (although I'm aware these may be nonsense) it seems to fit exactly the way I feel.
Having seen many stories from others who have been diagnosed in adulthood I think this seems to be the best way forward in order for me to either get some closure or start to deal with it. I'm aware of the process for a diagnosis, however I'm absolutely terrified to speak to my GP about this, especially if it turns out I'm just being paranoid. Is there any way to bypass this stage and simply go straight to the psychiatrist (not sure how I would cope with this either, but it would be one less step) or otherwise does anyone else have any tips on how they approached their GP?
Any help at all really would be greatly appreciated.
Talk to your university disabled access team. They should be used to this kind of request and have a system in place.
Unfortunately GPs don't seem to be taking adult diagnosis seriously, at least in some areas. But the University disability team may be able to give you some interim assessment options. For example there may be a SENDA research team in the faculty of education and sometimes they can talk to a student.
The main thing is not to let anxiety about this detract from studies, if you can avoid it. Also while the symptoms may seem to read right, there are other causes.
University support teams are supposed to be geared up for this kind of help, but it does vary university to university. First thing is contact them and arrange an appointment. It might take time if they have a waiting list for appointments, but the staff there ought to be familiar with this kind of question.