Adult experience of getting an autism assessment

Hi 

This is my first post on here.  I am 46 and female and am considering the possibility that I may be mildly on the autism spectrum.  I am unsure about trying to get a professional opinion as have heard of some negative experiences of the process and just wondered if others could share how they went about getting diagnosed and what the process was like?

I have done four different online tests which indicate if you may be on the spectrum and they all said I may be mildly.

Thank you very much.

Parents
  • 1st time I raised it with my GP he gave me the AQ-10 to do, saw I scored high, checked some records, saw that the local autism diagnosis pathway was closed to new referrals and sent me away telling me they couldn't pay for me to be seen outside the CCG.

    2nd time years later my GP was very sympathetic. Gave the the AQ-10. Saw I scored high. Referred me to our local councils adult neuro developmental service. They sat on my referral for almost a year I think, huge backlog, Then conducted an ADOS-2 test which involved a series of telephone interviews and video calls. Mostly with me but also one with my farther. There was supposed to be only one telephone interview but we kept overrunning so it was more like 3 + the short video call. I would describe the telephone interviews as gently prompted questioning where I was encouraged to ramble off answers about my personal experiences and difficulties.

    They gave me a summery of my diagnosis at the end of the video call and a written report in the post and long with a directory of local services 99% of which I wasn't eligible / suitable for.

  • Thanks for sharing your experience Peter, I hope you are able to find some support locally.

Reply Children
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