Terrified of Diagnosis Negative Result

Kraeig said:

trying for it for career development.

Like it’s really going to be a beneficial career choice.

I also should add that in hindsight I think the first GP whom referred me didn't actually believe my intentions for having a diagnosis and is the reason why I was rejected from my first referral.

They mentioned about certain careers valuing autistic people and they added no supporting documents so I think they thought I was trying for it for career development.

Kraeig, it is utterly refreshing to know how you feel. I got diagnosed 3 days ago. And feel exactly the same, in the end I went private as I was fed up with the NHS. It’s like they were Intentionally trying to misdirect me. 

Any way well done for getting you diagnosis, it’s a marathon emotionally. I guess it’s little steps into the ASD coloured world we’ve just been introduced to.

I just wanted to follow this up to give the whole journey:

• I have just this week received my diagnosis of ASC.
• After THREE botched attempts at referrals by GPs I finally a year later was put on the waiting list.
• It was just under a year I believe on the waiting list in the end once successfully referred.
• I am feeling both relieved and a bit strange after having the diagnosis now and wondering what next...

I don't have advice other than to say I know how you feel as I am in a very similar situation. Now that I have started the process I feel really consumed by thinking about it. My anxiety is definitely higher than it should be right now!

well done on getting through it. Glad you are feeling positive about the result. I am quite new here, just waiting for assessment appointment. What reasonable adjustments will you be requesting at work? I have some issues around being in offices and should I get a diagnosis, this would be a huge area of reassurance for me that I can ask them to allow me to work from home more.

Hey!

I was also diagnosed through WADS a few months ago and was amazed at how quick the whole process was!

He's  in the States so there's no way he'll physically make the appointment.

I wouldn't be too concerned about what your father thought about your early years. My mother told the assessor that I had a perfect childhood during my primary school years - parents tend to get very defensive when talking about the upbringing of their children but she did admit that  I was extremely shy and introverted. She also admitted that she was told during a primary school parents evening that the teacher thought I seemed to be unhappy and not mixing. From what I remember about my primary school years, I recon I was pretty normal, I was happy and had lots of friends. I didn't feel different until I started going to secondary school (age 11).

If your father cant make the appointment they can arrange to contact him by phone or mail

You shouldn't change or want to change your brain ever ) (

It does help to see why you made the choices and decisions you've made though. I can now see it wasn't because I was a quitter or an exaggerator. It was because I simply couldn't continue. In my case ASD causes a lot of overload.

And because I am quite a serious case, that helps too in a funny way. I see myself in a different light. Less hard on myself.

Hi Kraeig,

Sorry I'm late joining this thread.  I'm 59 now and only got diagnosed 3 years ago.

Just a couple of things I wanted to say.  I had my diagnosis on the NHS, and the whole process from initial referral took just over 2 years.  It will vary, probably, from region to region - but I'd expect that you'd have to wait at least this long.  It can be difficult, waiting that long - but all the while, I was absolutely convinced that it would be positive; so much so, that I self-diagnosed and was happy to live with that.

I was told to take someone with me who'd known me all of my life, and the only person was my mother (my brother wouldn't have been interested).  In the end, though, her own interview was very short and was just about how things were in my childhood generally and if I'd reached my usual developmental milestones.  She was able to confirm that I had a difficult childhood at school, was disruptive at home, was a loner - but other than that, I think my own testimony was what really swung the case.  I didn't put on any pretences.  I was my natural self.  I disclosed all of my behaviours and issues, and some of them - my over-detailed answers to relatively simple questions and my lack of eye contact - were pretty self-evident.  My final report was 16 pages long, and mainly focused on the things I'd said and the things the psych had observed about me.

It's easy to say 'try not to stress'.  But even if you have a long wait, and have no one you can take with you (maybe one of your parents will finally agree), just remember that you will be the focus on the day.  Be yourself.

Keep talking to us on here, too.  We're all here to help and give you any reassurances you need.

Take care,

Tom

I wanted it to be a reason why, an understanding of who I am, 

Remove brain and substitute with a different one. Thank you.

I think anything can be used as an excuse, ranging from minor headaches to toothaches to La Tourette's. I am sure ASD fits in there somewhere.

So I wouldn't let that kind of comment stop you :-)

Deep breath!

The main reason I haven’t tried for an assessment isn’t the long wait or the cost although the money isn’t easily found.

I agree money changes things significantly. I had concerns about going outside he NHS but things were so bad I ended up doing so. My marriage and employment were both at risk. 

The company I used is a social enterprise that invests any profit back into helping other autistic people. I also justified my decision because it will have speeded up assessment for the next person on the NHS list. 

It feels very uncomfortable knowing that so many people can't pay for an autism assessment. I am actively campaigning for better access to autism assessment and aftercare.

Someone in this forum has had an NHS funded assessment after a 3 month wait which is encouraging. The wait seems much longer in most areas. 

It seems if you have money you get a quicker route to an assessment and possible diagnosis. Unfortunately that kind of thing is out of the reach of some of us due to being on benefits due to disability. Suggesting things are not necessarily done on a needs based basis but on having the available cash basis.   

I'm in Wiltshire too, From getting the appointment letter to the initial appointment date in February it will have been just over 15 weeks.Like the OP I'm worried about a negative assessment and a failure to get to  the bottom of things. I'm absolutely certain I'm not neuroptypical but less certain about the ASD bit.

What isn't helping is that info re the very early years is reliant on an 88 year old father who has recently said he sees no signs that would warrant such a diagnosis, and has previously admitted  he remembers not that much of my early years.

I am thinking due to being late onset I would be more likely to be atypical (atypical autism) . By 8 the way I am had definitely developed. I had a poster on Reddit tell me that 8 was about the age you first notice social differences in someone with Asperger's .

I was quoted £1500. A fairly local ADHD centre who also include autism. 

You are definitely one of us ) ( not an interloper - you make a really positive  contribution to this forum () 

liking the aspie hugs sunflower.. I give them to convey my feelings. 

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