Any advice on being assessed for autism?

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
  • Im in exactly the same situation as you, except i had an appointment with my gp today and hes referring me for an assessment.

    In the meantime, im on medication for anxiety and have started counselling

    I also have outbursts, with me it seems to be when i am struggling to articulate something or process verbal instructions. I tend to overreact and it just builds up inside me and i cant control it, and i end up verbally lashing out. On really bad occasions ive kicked or thrown things too

    Ive been getting a lot of complaints about it, so at the moment if i feel it building up i leave the room. People still see it as rude, but at least im not taking my anger and frustration out on other people. 

Reply
  • Im in exactly the same situation as you, except i had an appointment with my gp today and hes referring me for an assessment.

    In the meantime, im on medication for anxiety and have started counselling

    I also have outbursts, with me it seems to be when i am struggling to articulate something or process verbal instructions. I tend to overreact and it just builds up inside me and i cant control it, and i end up verbally lashing out. On really bad occasions ive kicked or thrown things too

    Ive been getting a lot of complaints about it, so at the moment if i feel it building up i leave the room. People still see it as rude, but at least im not taking my anger and frustration out on other people. 

Children
  • Been there, gone that.. November last year :) I wrote an 8 page dossier on my history and all the "odd" or "quirky" things I have done. Got referred to a private Psychiatrist in May (after giving up on the NHS, just for a simple review of my notes, to see if any further investigation was warranted). I got diagnosed with Asperger's and then referred to some private Psychologists for an ASC assessment. This included the ADOS observation test and two interviews (one with my wife present). These occurred over July and August resulting in a confirmation of the Psychiatrist diagnosis ie Aspergers but now the term they use is Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC). Cost was £300 for the Psychiatrist. £285 for the pre-assessment interview (For them to decide whether I full assessment was justified) and £1500 for the full assessment.

    I just got my final report, so my saga took nearly a year!! But at least I know now - shame I didn't know when I was younger but Autism and specifically Asperger's were not on the radar in the early 80's :(