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Adult experience of getting an autism assessment

NAS73915

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

  • Don't want to put you off but mine took many years and the only "help" that was offered at the end of it was a 6 week course in pretending not to be autistic (or social skills training as they call it). I was essentially handed a label and told "good luck with that". The psychologist who completed it did spend most of the assessment staring at me like I was an interesting zoo exhibit.

    The process involved a 1 year wait for an initial 15min meeting to do a basic screen in person, then another 1 year wait for the full assessment which involved filling out a lot of questionnaires, a long face to face interview and they spoke to my mother. 3 months later I was sent the diagnosis. I can go into more detail of exactly what happened via PM if you would like.

    However, if you are looking to use it to get help from benefits or social services, you really need an NHS diagnosis as they seem to be very suspicious of privately obtained diagnoses. As if you bribed your way to it... I know this is ridiculous but I have experienced this attitude towards my private therapy etc.

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  • Don't want to put you off but mine took many years and the only "help" that was offered at the end of it was a 6 week course in pretending not to be autistic (or social skills training as they call it). I was essentially handed a label and told "good luck with that". The psychologist who completed it did spend most of the assessment staring at me like I was an interesting zoo exhibit.

    The process involved a 1 year wait for an initial 15min meeting to do a basic screen in person, then another 1 year wait for the full assessment which involved filling out a lot of questionnaires, a long face to face interview and they spoke to my mother. 3 months later I was sent the diagnosis. I can go into more detail of exactly what happened via PM if you would like.

    However, if you are looking to use it to get help from benefits or social services, you really need an NHS diagnosis as they seem to be very suspicious of privately obtained diagnoses. As if you bribed your way to it... I know this is ridiculous but I have experienced this attitude towards my private therapy etc.

Children
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