Published on 12, July, 2020
I've had mixed responses from:
You are so brave, well done for asking for support (friend/colleague who has child and brother who are autistic)
You seem to just want to be autistic and you are looking for things to fit into it (husband)
Everyone has some autistic traits (other friend)
Outright ignored my messages about it completely (best friend)
Maybe I'm autistic too (not sure if being sarcastic or not, she has had issues with me telling her I suffer with anxiety in the past) (my mum)
I mainly want support with work-related issues if I am autistic. Maybe my parenting too as I'm struggling with that in some ways (listening to my children speaking and showing them enough affection).
I'm really tired since I spoke to my GP last week. I feel like it is all I can think about and I'm scared of waiting a long time for assessment just to then be told I'm wrong. Online tests that I've done so far suggest I am likely to be autistic but are they reliable?!
M said:You seem to just want to be autistic and you are looking for things to fit into it (husband)
That must have hurt a bit when he said that!
I find it hard to hear. He has never been understanding of the anxiety I experience so I was prepared for him not accepting this. It makes me wonder how he would react if I was diagnosed as autistic too but I suppose that could be a while into the future yet. GP told me to expect a 6+ month wait at best but we do have a dedicated autism team in my area at least.
Sorry to hear that. It's good you've been told 6 months, my diagnosis took nearly 3 years. However this included the pandemic and lockdowns, which slowed things down a lot of course so yours probably won't take as long as that. Good luck.
tbh I assumed I'd be ignored, like every other medical help I've requested, so I actually forgot about it in that time, with everything else going on at the moment. So I was surprised when I was contacted by the NHS to be assessed. A bit funny eh.
The GP said it is faster in my area because of the service compared to neighbouring areas but whether that ends up being the case or not, well time will tell.
It must have been frustrating to wait for 3yrs.