Referral

I was referred in December 2019 and I heard from the clinic last week that they are currently seeing people who were referred in mid 2018! Been investigating going private, but confusing myself with all the options. 

actually your sisters children show that the genes are in your family so mention to your sister  & her children  to your assessors.

I'm hoping that you don't necessarily need a person who knew you as a child to be part of the process. My mum is one of those "if you've met one autistic person you've met them all" people and my dad is dead. I'm not sure that my sister would be a good person to ask as one of her children is autistic and she's had quite a time coming to terms with the diagnosis and supporting them. It sounds an excellent idea to send in lots of notes :-)

It varies wildly by where you are. I struck so lucky - the adult autism unit in my area only opened in September, so there is no waiting list and I went from GP referral to diagnosis in around 3 months. 

Basically I got sent an AQ-10 a few days after my GP referred me that I had to send back, then a month or so later I got a phone call to book an initial assessment and they sent through AQ and EQ forms for me to send back. A couple of weeks after that I had my initial assessment via Microsoft Teams where ask about the issues you are having and how they are impacting you. At the end of mine, the doctor decided she'd heard enough to not need me to go in for the other assessment (my mass of notes and talking points I'd prepared obviously did some good!). They also needed someone that knew me as a child to have an interview as well, so my older brother did that for me a week later. A couple of weeks after that I had my results meeting (also remotely). 

I was diagnosed thirty years ago - whenever I was 12 - guess my mum had tremendous foresight. 

I have also been advised that a two-year wait is standard from GP referral to the diagnosis. There might be some pre-diagnostic support in your area and organisations who work with people without a diagnosis, who can help you to accept this unknown. I was blissfully unaware for a year that I wasn't even on the waiting list after a mislaid email in the referral process. I guess that I am also bothered by the possibility of a "no" diagnosis. Having done the questionnaire I'm wondering whether I am both autistic and ADHD, which might make it more difficult to diagnose. However I am working on self-acceptance and strategies for living well whatever neurodiversity or not might be going on. Take very good care of yourself x

Thank you so much for sharing. I'm so glad your employer have been so good.

i told work and all hell kicked off  i dont have friends to tell  i told members of my family who didnt really care but that's a normal reaction. My nephew who also is autistic was surprised but I think we now have a connection. I talk to him about his autistic world which is very deep and dark at times but with a happy front presented to the world.

tell as few as people as u can get away with at work because I found some people completely stopped talking to me at all. But that shows more about them than me. 

Will going for the diagnosis I told no one because I thought I would be told there is nothing wrong with u ------- so i was shocked to be told i was on the spectrum ! i was speechless for a week. i told HR in my work one month later. I told HR I only wanted my Line manager to know. But 2 years later  I reckon more people in my office now know. On reflection my employer has been quite good to me so far which when I say it, like now, cheers me up

Two years? Wow, that is longer than I thought it was going to be. Did you tell work / friends / etc you were going for the diagnosis or did you wait to get the formal diagnosis first?

I was  called for an initial chat  to see if I should be taken forward to a full assessment. It took 2 years from referral by my GP to my Diagnosis ( under NHS ).    It was well worth the wait as I now can work on the issues I was having at work and at home with relationships with other ( humans ).