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Adult diagnosis

James

Hi all, just looking for a bit of advice and guidance on the following really:

I am 32 years old and my son, 6, was diagnosed with high functioning autism several months ago. My wife originally suspected it when our son was around 2-3, but I was somewhat dismissive at first as I saw his behaviour as similar to my own, both when I had been a child and also as an adult. Eventually, when our son was around 4 and after I had done more research into autism I became more convinced of his being on the spectrum (now borne out, obviously), but I also began to think that perhaps I might be also. Now that my son has a diagnosis and I have done even more research into the topic I have become fairly convinced that I am likely on the spectrum also.

I have mentioned this to my wife and she thinks it is quite likely and she often comments that my mind clearly seems to work in a different way to that of most other people, particularly around experiencing emotions and sociability.

I have not had a particularly difficult life; I have a wife and two children, I have a good job in management and I do not feel like I need any adjustments to make my life more complete or easier to live, however I feel like I would quite like to know for sure (or at least be given a trained professionals opinion on the matter) whether I am indeed autistic or not.

I suppose I really have two questions:

1) What is best way to approach obtaining a referral for diagnosis as an adult? Is it something I should raise with my GP or is there another way? Also what have other people experienced going through this process?

2) What benefits have people who have had late diagnoses experienced?  As I said, I am not looking for any adjustments to be made at work for me, or for anyone to treat me differently in my day-to-day life, but I do wonder if it might help me to have the diagnosis in some way, even if it just makes me feel more satisfied in knowing whether or not I am convincing myself of something that is not actually there!

Thanks for any help/advice.

Parents

  • Hi, I'm a 23 year old women and I got diagnosed with Autism last year in October when I was 22 years old. I have always had trouble in my life with friends, relationships, understanding everyday things. I was getting more annoyed with myself and upset that I went into a depression state. My parents was looking up diagnoses that I could be, so we went to my GP to pull up those pointers that my parents had found. My GP referred me and it took about 6 months+ to have an assessment. When I went it was a complex assessment wanting to know everything about me. So they had my mum in one room and me in another and we swapped (since there was too different people). After they told me on the day that I am Autistic it was a relief. I now understand why I am the way I am. 

    However, what disappoints me is the lack of support you get once you find out. When we got the letter we had to check it over and call up the place to add in, remove or correct things. Once that was done we waited about 6 weeks or something to go back and have a little chat, hand leaflets an Autism wallet and then that was it. Since then my parents have been struggling to find help for me. They have been trying to find groups to help me get out more. I have been looking for jobs etc and been asking around.

    If you would like to know if you have Autism I would ask your GP to refer you (since it is free) otherwise look somewhere for adult diagnoses which could cost you (£250+). Once you have the assessment done (which you probably won't get a reply for at least 6 months+ to a year) and the answer then you can proceed to what you will do with that information. It can be a relief to know why you are the way you are.

    Hope this has helped sorry for the long reply haha xD x

Reply

  • Hi, I'm a 23 year old women and I got diagnosed with Autism last year in October when I was 22 years old. I have always had trouble in my life with friends, relationships, understanding everyday things. I was getting more annoyed with myself and upset that I went into a depression state. My parents was looking up diagnoses that I could be, so we went to my GP to pull up those pointers that my parents had found. My GP referred me and it took about 6 months+ to have an assessment. When I went it was a complex assessment wanting to know everything about me. So they had my mum in one room and me in another and we swapped (since there was too different people). After they told me on the day that I am Autistic it was a relief. I now understand why I am the way I am. 

    However, what disappoints me is the lack of support you get once you find out. When we got the letter we had to check it over and call up the place to add in, remove or correct things. Once that was done we waited about 6 weeks or something to go back and have a little chat, hand leaflets an Autism wallet and then that was it. Since then my parents have been struggling to find help for me. They have been trying to find groups to help me get out more. I have been looking for jobs etc and been asking around.

    If you would like to know if you have Autism I would ask your GP to refer you (since it is free) otherwise look somewhere for adult diagnoses which could cost you (£250+). Once you have the assessment done (which you probably won't get a reply for at least 6 months+ to a year) and the answer then you can proceed to what you will do with that information. It can be a relief to know why you are the way you are.

    Hope this has helped sorry for the long reply haha xD x

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