Advice for woman wanting to talk to a professional about diagnosis?

I don't have specific recommendations, but perhaps the women on this link could advise you

SWAN – Scottish Women’s Autism Network 

http://www.autismnetworkscotland.org.uk/swan/

In relation to your Psychiatrist, it's really unfortunate that she has no competence in ASD and uses this as an excuse to misdiagnose you. The thing that she might be have in mind, Borderline Personality Disorder of is a common misdiagnosis for autistic women, totally unhelpful and a nasty label in addition. So you might see how to block that by insisting that if she has no competencies in autism, she should refer you to someone who has.

Hi,

I have found here https://www.autismresearchcentre.com/arc_tests proper tests for autism, the first one AAA measures your AQ, EQ and your mum's score. For instance, I am waiting for my mum's sheet but without hers, on AQ  I scored 35, on EQ 19 which shows I actually lack social understanding and I show traits of autism.

I am in the same situation. The educational psychologist I saw 2 weeks ago said I could not be autistic because I make eye contact(and I don't, I'm looking at mouths or nose to everybody beside my kids, my mom and my feiance) and I am ok at abstract reasoning test.

I don't have money to spend on the expensive diagnosis, and I don't know what to expect from one(is it that test I referred you to? would be actually my first question given the fact that they ask a relative or more of them to be with you?)

Through time  I learned to go and calm down in the bathroom rather than say what I think to certain people or ask for help . This really impairs with my academic performance now. I don't ask for help and the tutor won't ask me anything, I am feeling like the invisible man when all I want is learn adequate stuff for postgraduate study and do it properly to satisfy my need of everything to be perfect in my project.

Sorry for my English,is my second language.

Most psychiatrists aren't that well acquainted with ASD so I wouldn't be too surprised that they didn't have much knowledge about it.

Psychologists, speech and occupational therapists are often more involved in ASD diagnosis (with kids it's often a whole team of people, with adults it can vary). The NHS service I got my diagnosis through employ a variety of professionals (I would guess probably with an overseeing psychologist) and the guy that did my assessment was actually an occupational therapist.

You almost certainly want to look at seeing a psychologist, not a psychiatrist. I would look at the British Psychological Society register here for psychologists in your area, look through to find ones that have experience in autism in adults and then contact them individually to see what they can do and how much experience they have in diagnosing women. As already pointed out, if you're set on going privately almost everywhere will do a preliminary screening before deciding whether you should be assessed further, so you don't usually have to commit to a full expensive assessment right off the bat.

Getting an assessment through the NHS is a possibility, but the waiting can be quite a long time in some areas (e.g., 2-3 years). You can look up the NAS directory to see if there are any private services that cost less: https://www.autism.org.uk/directory/browse/cid=80~aid=9.aspx Google can also be useful to look up information. You can also ask your GP if they might have any suggestions. Or call the NAS helpline for advice.

Hi, 

I'm not sure I can be much help but If you are planning on paying for private diagnosis then alot of places offer a "screening"  service that gives you an indication of whether or not you should pursue a full assessment. 

These vary in price I know that the lorna wing centre starts at £200 it may be worth talking to them before hand to see what they recommend. And at least they are understanding autism in women