Published on 12, July, 2020
After what has Honestly been several years of recommendations This week I had my initial appointment for diagnosis with asd. During this appointment the Dr asked me about my repetitive behaviours such as my schedule, during this I tried to explain that because of my inconsistent university schedule and a difficult relationship with sleep that I do not have a schedule based strictly off of time e.g. waking up at 7:30 everyday but rather that I have a schedule based on the order of and how I do things in my day to day life. I also tried to go onto explain behaviours such as sticking to eating the same foods and using the same bowels and plates and glasses and such to eat with. Before I could do this my Dr cut me off and told me he was going to put that down as 'no repetitive behaviours' which I do not feel is the truth.
I would like to know if anyone feels this would be worth bringing up at my next appointment as I really do not want to misrepresent myself or be misrepresented during this whole process or even if I am just being completely incorrect in my own assessment of the situation. Thank you.
Hi, Luke:
Thank you so much for the post and I’m sorry you experienced that situation with your doctor. I don’t know how you felt, but I would’ve felt not only misunderstood but also hurt and disrespected. I hope you’re doing alright.
I would definitely recommend bringing this up with your doctor when you have your next appointment. The caveat, however, is that no one likes to have the feeling of being criticized or their back up against the wall”, so if I was you I would be gentle and take a very soft approach as I brought it up with him or her.
Specifically, I would say something to the effect of, “Perhaps I hadn’t communicated it clearly, and I just wanted to clarify that I definitely have repetitive behaviors. I engage in them throughout the day and I’ve brought with me a list of all of them to give to you. I would really appreciate it if you would please record these behaviours as a part of my assessment and place this document into my file.”
Then, I would make sure that you had kept a copy of that list for your own records, to have on hand. In the event that for some reason you are not diagnosed with ASD, and your “lack of repetitive behaviors” appears to have played a role in the lack of diagnosis, I anticipate you could formally apply to NHS for a reevaluation/second opinion. As a part of that you could provide the second doctor with a copy of your written list, as well as your oral account of what you said to the first doctor about the issue.
I would also recommend that if at any point you feel that your current doctor is not listening to you or engaging in the assessment process in a thorough or respectful way, you consider contacting advocacy groups such as the one that hosts this website, to request that a support worker if possible attend your assessment appointments with you. You could specifically say you would like to ensure that you are communicating clearly and that the doctor is hearing you and giving you the benefit of the doubt.
I’m wishing you all the best in your assessment process, Luke. Again, thanks for the post,
Elizabeth
Hello,
Thank you for your response to me I have found it very helpful in how to approach this situation with my doctor. Whilst not a support worker my mother is planned to be attending my next appointment with me which will be helpful in terms of extra back up in helping me accurately discuss what I wish to!
good idea