Published on 12, July, 2020
I am a 30 year old girl and I am considering taking an autism test. I have some questions:
i) What is it like to be diagnosed later in life?
ii) What kind of diagnosis tests exist? I have read about the disco test on this site however there is not that much information about it. Is there other types of autism tests which I should also read about?
iii) What are coping strategies for obsessional thoughts? I have reached a stage in life where I need a holiday from my obsessions, as it is very difficult to stop my mind from constantly looping over things. I see obsessional thinking as a double edged sword - it can really help me when I am doing constructive things, however, it can also be a burden emotionally, especially when the obsession is directed towards a person.
Thank you in advance for sharing any feedback.
I originally took the online test here 10 years ago and it is said to be pretty accurate. This year I managed to find a lot more and the ones from the Autism Research Centre were created by Simon Baron-Cohen - these may be more formal and certainly closer to the referral document I completed to go on the waiting list. I have a few others that cover other areas if people are interested.
Do you know long it takes to get an appointment? Yes sure, it would be great if you could share the other links.
I was told by my GP that the waiting list for an adult is upwards of 9 months (much longer for children) but I'm yet to find out (next appointment with GP in a couple of weeks). Happily I have discovered that the Specialist Autism Services hold regular weekly meetings that has been valuable in being able to talk with others with the same challenges.
Here are the rest of the links that I used to assess what other areas may need to be considered: -
Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Test
Test My Brain for the following
Musings of an Aspie
Anxiety Centre
Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale-Revised (RAADS-R)
Alexithymia (unable to identify/describe their emotions)