I approached my GP in January with a request for referral for autism assessment. Today I've heard that the referral has been rejected after the initial triage stage. Part of this was a procedural problem, but they also looked at my previous interactions with mental health services and said that it was 'telling' that there was no mention of autism in any of those.
I'm a woman in my early 30s and I've had multiple episodes of depression and nearly lifelong difficulties with anxiety. In particular, if my levels of anxiety get unmanageable I start an episode of depression. I've had lots of different depression treatments but none of them keep me well for very long. I've thought about autism/Aspergers (and had family members suggest it) for quite some time but decided it wasn't worth trying to get a diagnosis because I thought I wouldn't meet the threshold. There are two reasons I've changed my mind on this. Firstly, because the recurring depression is seriously affecting my quality of life and ability to cope (I had to leave university because I was too ill to keep studying, I've never been able to work full time, I still live with my parents and struggle to complete all the basic household tasks I need to do to live independently) and I think it's possible autism is the cause of the anxiety and depression and not coping. Secondly, because I think the descriptions I read of autism in the past were mostly, if not all, male presentations and I couldn't identify with them. But when I read about women diagnosed with autism it sounds a lot like me.
I was receiving help from primary care talking therapies and my therapist was supportive - we took some time to discuss the reasons for my recurring difficulties and after I described my difficulties in the context of autism and autistic traits she agreed with me that it was worth seeking an autism assessment.
But from reading the information sent with the rejection letter it sounds like they are looking for a much more classic or male presentation of autism, not someone like me. I'm academically very able, particularly if the work involves analysis and logic, and my memory is very good (sometimes too good, I can remember things other people were happy to forget!) and I can spot patterns easily. I think I might have learnt to mask or camouflage and get by and maybe even pass for 'normal' in some social situations (but I still feel very unconfident, like I'm scrabbling around in the dark, and sometimes have something that might be an emotional meltdown - unexplained crying and being completely unable to speak).
My GP is encouraging me to go through with another attempt, highlighting more of the difficulties I have (and without the procedural issue she messed up on!) but I'm not sure it's worth it because if the assessment service has already made it clear they are looking for a different presentation then even if I get past the triage stage they won't be the right people to assess me.
Has anyone else experienced rejection at this stage and got past it? I'm sorry I've written so much text, I tried to be concise but I find it very difficult!
