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Any advice on being assessed for autism?

Jen25

Hi everyone. I am just here looking for a bit of help. I am 24 years old and have struggled mentally and socially for as long as I can remember. It started with being obsessive as a child. I struggled with s chool and to this day I still struggle to make friends. I find myself not understanding other people and how they feel and just things that other people find easy are hard for me. Things like having a conversation. I hide it really well, but I feel as if I have been hiding it for a long time and it is exhausting. I have outbursts caused by frustration and becoming too overwhelmed. These outbursts have involved anything from head butting or punching things to throwing myself down the stairs. I don't understand why I do this I just feel like I am so overwhelmed by situations and I don't know what to do with the emotions and information I am dealing with. I have now booked a doctors appointment for next week but I was just wondering if anyone is in a similar situation and how others have coped. Particularly with the social side, outbursts and sensory problems. Thank you so much in advance. 

Parents

  • Hello.

    apologies in advance for essay response

    I hope your doctors appointment goes well. Be prepared for a long wait after that, depending on where you are in the country it can take quite a while to get an actual assessment (18 months for me although this I understand is the far end of the scale) 

    That aside one useful thing that I wished id recognised before I was diagnosed, a lot of the resources, advice and coping mechanisms that you will/may get signposted towards after assessment are available now (such as this site) and coping mechanisms from other areas can be used as well such as various cognitive behavior therapy techniques.

    The bits that weren't available before diagnosis were in person activities, in my case I was offered a variety of groups that I could join from social to educational to help learn about and deal with issues and cope better socially.

    --------

    In regard to the concerns and problems you describe I directly relate to your list, in particular the feeling of having hidden it for a long time  and finding it exhausting, which was what finally drove me to get the assessment. As you will find reading through posts in this community having a bit of paper confirming diagnosis is surprisingly liberating in terms of making it internally more acceptable to stop hiding all the traits (still hide most but even a little can make it a lot less exhausting)

    I don't know if it will help you at all but my (self conceived pre assessment) coping mechanisms included -

    Redirecting physical - For me id hit myself on the head a fair bit when i got stressed or overwhelmed. This used to cause all sorts of drama so i started repeating other actions that felt satisfying such as tapping my head, touching corners as i walked down corridors, playing air piano (i dont actually play piano but i find trying to hit the right imaginary keys distracting for some reason). These got so ingrained in my mind i found that most of the time when i got stressed or panicked i would go to these instead of the more destructive head blows. Not all the time but it made a big difference.

    Situation cards - I freeze. a lot. the train is extra crowded. someone is being confrontational. social situation uncomfortable. I freeze and then first moment I am physically able i leg it, or if i cant do that i just freak out. It was always frustrating as when in calm moments I could see ways out of the situations or ways to deal with them better. So I wrote myself little cheat cards, about the size of a business card  with short bullet pointed actions for given situations. Now when my mind is screaming at me to flee i am on some occasions cognicant enough to look at the cards (I have them hidden in my phone case) . I use them as a mantra, repeating them in my head again and again, occasionally following my own advice but mostly just repeating in my head until im calmer.

    I'll stop now, this response is already waaay too long. i hope it is of some help but either way good luck with your assessment and future

Reply

  • Hello.

    apologies in advance for essay response

    I hope your doctors appointment goes well. Be prepared for a long wait after that, depending on where you are in the country it can take quite a while to get an actual assessment (18 months for me although this I understand is the far end of the scale) 

    That aside one useful thing that I wished id recognised before I was diagnosed, a lot of the resources, advice and coping mechanisms that you will/may get signposted towards after assessment are available now (such as this site) and coping mechanisms from other areas can be used as well such as various cognitive behavior therapy techniques.

    The bits that weren't available before diagnosis were in person activities, in my case I was offered a variety of groups that I could join from social to educational to help learn about and deal with issues and cope better socially.

    --------

    In regard to the concerns and problems you describe I directly relate to your list, in particular the feeling of having hidden it for a long time  and finding it exhausting, which was what finally drove me to get the assessment. As you will find reading through posts in this community having a bit of paper confirming diagnosis is surprisingly liberating in terms of making it internally more acceptable to stop hiding all the traits (still hide most but even a little can make it a lot less exhausting)

    I don't know if it will help you at all but my (self conceived pre assessment) coping mechanisms included -

    Redirecting physical - For me id hit myself on the head a fair bit when i got stressed or overwhelmed. This used to cause all sorts of drama so i started repeating other actions that felt satisfying such as tapping my head, touching corners as i walked down corridors, playing air piano (i dont actually play piano but i find trying to hit the right imaginary keys distracting for some reason). These got so ingrained in my mind i found that most of the time when i got stressed or panicked i would go to these instead of the more destructive head blows. Not all the time but it made a big difference.

    Situation cards - I freeze. a lot. the train is extra crowded. someone is being confrontational. social situation uncomfortable. I freeze and then first moment I am physically able i leg it, or if i cant do that i just freak out. It was always frustrating as when in calm moments I could see ways out of the situations or ways to deal with them better. So I wrote myself little cheat cards, about the size of a business card  with short bullet pointed actions for given situations. Now when my mind is screaming at me to flee i am on some occasions cognicant enough to look at the cards (I have them hidden in my phone case) . I use them as a mantra, repeating them in my head again and again, occasionally following my own advice but mostly just repeating in my head until im calmer.

    I'll stop now, this response is already waaay too long. i hope it is of some help but either way good luck with your assessment and future

Children
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