Getting a diagnosis- afraid about this process

Soph483 said:

My boss (whom I have been friends with for the past 8 years) has offered to come with me for this. But I'm so worried about it and what to expect during this.. has anyone got any advice? 

Maybe have a look through the information via the following link on this website:

https://www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/adults.aspx

And it should give you a basic idea of what to expect and some avenues of support if needed.

If you have any further questions which is quite often the case, you will perhaps have a bit more of a framework to compartmentalize your anxieties into more manageable chunks and better formulate your inquiries here.

From what you describe, it seems that you have may have been referred to a Mental Health Team to see if you meet the criteria for being referred onto having a full autistic diagnostic assessment, which usually takes around a year or two even to get, although some get through sooner depending on waiting lists, area healthy authority funding and staff availability and all that.

I originally had to wait two and half years myself to get diagnosed back in 2013, but got offered an appointment at the two year stage of things due to a cancellation. I accepted the appointment much to my surprise as I usually cannot in any way be considered spontaneous!!! It just felt intuitively and compulsively right at the time although I missed the first appointment (my mother drove me (without sat-nav) and we got lost as she was relying on me to read directions and I get numbers and directions muddled up and wrong) so we got lost and had to make another appointment for a month or so later. Hey hoe!

And it always helps to remember:

IBCCES Board Member and international speaker Dr. Stephen Shore was recently interviewed by Lime Connect. Read on for an excerpt and a link to the full interview delving into Dr. Shore’s perspective as a professor and professional who happens to be on the autism spectrum:

Lime Connect: You’ve famously said, “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” Why is that an important point for people to understand about their interactions with individuals with autism, in particular?

Dr. Stephen Shore: This quote emphasizes that there is great diversity within the autism spectrum. While the commonalities of people on the autism spectrum include differences in communication, social interaction, sensory receptivity, and highly focused interests, it’s important to understand that the constellation of these characteristics blends together differently for each individual. This is why some on the spectrum are good at mathematics while other may be good in their arts, sports, or writing – just like the rest of humanity. Autism is an extension of the diversity found in the human gene pool.

https://ibcces.org/blog/2018/03/23/12748/

Hi Sophie,

I too am a constant worrier and as I got older, my anxiety and stress got worse (It's supposed to get better as you get older). With my eldest son diagnosed a few years ago with Asperger's, my GP said that maybe there was another underlying reason for my anxiety etc. Routine is important to me ie I have worked for the same company for 32 years, eat a very narrow range of food, hate travelling and like to holiday in the same place (much to the annoyance of my wife), I even listen to a narrow range of music (Deep House). I have obsessional tendencies especially with wrist watches.

In the work place, as I am an Engineer, my logical and visual thinking brain makes me pretty good at my job. On the flip side, although I get on with people OK, I am not especially diplomatic sometimes and this has got me into trouble a few times and this was another reason to seek help from the GP

I decided to write 8 pages of notes, documenting my quirks and anecdotes, He referred me to a Private Psychiatrist who spoke to me for nearly two hours and concluded that I had Asperger's. He recommended a full assessment and I saw two Psychologists from Hampshire & Surrey Psychologists.

Before I saw the Psychologist for the first time, I was sent a whole lot of forms including the AQ and EQ forms - I scored 42 on the AQ form and 7 on EQ form (I think)

The first 1hr45 session was to decide if I needed a full assessment - ie they had to decide whether they thought that I did actually have Asperger's. They asked me, what I understood about Autism, and generally what my day to day life was like, So I talked about my anxiety, my over-thinking, how I had to rehearse social situations and what to say. I also mentioned my fussy diet and my sensitivity to sounds and smells.

The Psychologist agreed that I would benefit from a full assessment and then saw another Psychologist for the ADOS test. This is the observational test, where you look at a story, some pictures, solve a puzzle, make up a story and answer some directed questions.

The next meeting was with my wife - she didn't believe that I had Asperger's but accepted that I had problems in social situations eg I always get her to deal with ordering and paying in shops, pubs etc.

The Psychologist couldn't delve into my childhood as they needed a parent to ask, so this bit was skipped over.

A month or so later I got my second diagnosis of ASC (Autism Spectrum Condition) with a footnote to say that I would have been diagnosed with Asperger's under the older classification.

Since then, I have had some modifications to work but nothing has really changed, although I really rely on my noise cancelling headphones to get through the day now :)

I would suggest that before your session, that you write about your day-to-day like and if possible email it in advance (although it sounds like you don't have much time) - you are bound to forget a lot of important stuff in the meeting. 

Finally, I would suggest going on your own and in any case the "Specialist" will want a 1:1 anyway.

I hope it goes OK :)