NHS say no to adult autism diagnosis

Hi - Welcome aboard - I'm a mid-50s aspie.

If you recognise yourself as ASD, there's a lot you can do to make your life easier - analyse your stress triggers and work out how to avoid them - but be aware that you might need to make radical changes if you want to find happiness.

Silly question - do you work?  If so, your company healthcare insurance sometimes covers private diagnosis - mine did.

Im classed as disabled, i do not work. I just want to get a diagnosis to help me go forward.

Im classed as disabled, i do not work. I just want to get a diagnosis to help me go forward.

Youtube is my best friend, id be lost without it its all I watch and learn.

We still do ComicCon......       Do you watch the Youtubes about costume making? - I like the armour costumes like HALO etc.   Some people are unbelievably skilled!

Been looking through some photos of when I used to go to comic-con, as a family we made all our own costumes it was good times but life changes and things come to an end so got some pics made at amazon came today in post so there now hanging happly on my wall hehe.

Been playing with the new toy - £26 well spent!!

Are you making anything at the moment?    Any projects on the go?

it all sounds so much fun, and yes the sculptor on there is awesome.

Well thats another day here and atleast its not raining yet hehe.

I'm into synths too - I've literally just received a Korg DS-10 from ebay this afternoon - it's cool - a couple of analogue synths, drum machine, effects unit and sequencer in a Nintendo DS cartridge - I'm gonna have fun with it!   I can't read music either but I know/  can fake enough to be able to create electronic music - think very old Depeche mode or Human League (Pre Heaven 17).

I also do Technical Lego, huge RC models boats, Airfix models and any other nerdy / techy stuff.  

Do you watch Salvage Hunters- the Restorers?    The sculptor on there blows me away!

I seem to jump from hobby to hobby so quickly its like i need to know it all in one go hehe. 

My profile pic is a sculpted fairy I made years ago, super sculpey  was my thing.

I like to play electric piano and synthesizers with a guitar looper pedal and make ditties small tunes yet I can not read music.

And a strange hobby came about after holding a baby doll that someone had painted and weighted to look and feel freakishly real. I felt something that I had never felt before, I felt calm and safe.

I started sculpting life size babies with clay limbs and cloth body my partner at the time owned a shop, every baby made was sold to nurses and midwives and some as far as Hong Kong.

Not so creative these days as its hard to stay focused but I try

What do you like to do hobby wise :)

I could have been the quiet one - I just decided not to be.     It's all a big performance - I probably deserve an Oscar for "most convincing performance in the role of normal person"    Maybe an MBE too  

It all came at great cost - I developed a stress-related health problem 20 years ago.

What do you do to relax and wind down - do you still draw?

Hands up I was the quiet one who got targeted by the bullies but most of the time I had my head stuck in my sketch book with a pencil.

I'm a twin too - I had a 'working version' of me to copy and measure any time I couldn't work out what was going on.       I was very independent thinking and couldn't understand why the 'normal' people did all the crazy, chaotic things they did and weren't able to solve simple problems.

By around 12, I'd decided to create a huge extrovert personality so I could be loud and 'eccentric' rather than a quiet target for bullies.

We were always treated as a composite person so my quirks were covered up by his normality.   I was only diagnosed in my 40s.

Yeah my sis helped me with one of these online question thingy it was a struggle understanding half of the questions but I did score enough points.

You describe life perfectly, 

Having a Twin thats how I coped with it, when meeting people i  always stood behind my sis, she did all the talking.

 Life just got harder growing up, I was holding her back at school so they put us in different classes. 

It didnt go well after that.

Have you had a dig through the standard questions that you would get asked at an assessment?      It might be worth googling the tests and see what chimes with you.      The 'brain lock' you speak of is very common - always unable to say what needs to be said.    

A diagnosis might unlock some benefits and local support - but that support may be minimal or non-existent

I always explain to people that my life is like living in a noisy, smelly Vegas casino 24/7 - it's all just too much of everything - I'm overloaded in every way.

I struggle with words, communication since I was little, i had my sister, my mum finishing sentences verbally for me. They just seemed to know what I was trying to say it was kinda creepy.

Being diagnosed would help me make others understand something ive not managed to do. 

I know for me id feel a big relief mentally id be able to show the dr, the mental health team I wasn't wasting there time and efforts.

im tired of being the bad person that im not. 

Tired of the angry people around me.

I just want to say sorry and hopefully others may learn and understand this is how i roll.

And finally for me to accept myself for who I am and its ok.

What do you think you will get from the diagnosis?    It's just a piece of paper.   

I've done a lot of self-analysis about my ASD - it all seems to boil down to the inability to process stress and being over-stimulated all the time.

How does it affect you?