Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello, My names Nev, I am 26 years old and I am currently at a bit of a loss with how to proceed in certain aspects of my life. Very vague! I know! I haven't been diagnosed, however I have had multiple people who are very close to me suggest that I could be on the spectrum and surprisingly thats a very confusing thing as I now try to educate myself on the subject. My biggest question is just 'how do you know?'My partner and I have been together for almost four years now and I know that a lot of my behaviour can and does upset her from time to time. I also thought I was particularly ok in social scenarios as I've worked in bars most of my adult life and locals and I usually get along really well. I've also had it pointed out by my partner though that I can be great... As long as I can be bothered or if my moods in the right place. Emotions in general are a particular hard spot as we differ in our approach to things. I tend to look at most events practically and logically and if there's no benefit to feeling a certain way about something I wont. Although I do experience swings of exhaustion and depression for seemingly no reason at all, it's just what the day has in store for me. I have a friend with Autism and he directed me to speaking to others about it and to see if anyone can shed some light on my circumstances or if I can possibly relate to others in similar predicaments. I guess I am just a little lost with all the information lately and I could use some help with it, if anyone finds the time to read this ... what is now lengthy post. Thank you. I hope I can get to the bottom of it all.
Hi Nev,It's great that you've reached out on this forum. Are you serious about wanting to know or is it just a mild curiosity? If you are genuinely interested about finding out whether or not you have autism, then there is only one option - get a referral for an autism assessment. It's very easy to do and there is some good information on this site and on the NHS website on how to go about it. If you use the NHS, there's no cost involved either. It involves a series of interviews with experts and everything is explained to you at each stage. At the end of the assessment period, you are either given a positive or negative diagnosis. It really is that simple. Typically, there is a long waiting period for the assessment due to a lack of people trained to carry them out. Another avenue is to go for a private assessment, which is much quicker, but also very expensive. In the meantime, you can find a lot of very useful information on this site and others about the general traits of autism and some of the ways you can adapt your lifestyle to better suit your needs. Experiment with them. The worst that can happen is that they don't make any difference. For autistic people, navigating intimate relationships can be very challenging. The fact that you are in a long-term relationship suggests to me that your autism may not be of a severe nature, as this is typically one area of life that most autistic people greatly struggle with. But again, that's just pure speculation on my part.Keep in touch and good luck!