Advice for Referral/Assessment?

Unfortunately, I am 27 so won't be able to go down this route. I also work in education, so I know these can also be rather tricky too. Thanks anyway though! 

Hi Pea,

A bit of a tangent but if you are under 25 you might be able to go down the EHCP route, no idea if it's relevant but you don't need a diagnosis and it sets out exactly the help you need.

Thank you so much! I think this is exactly what my GP was talking about 

contact these people

https://psychiatry-uk.com/

they can get nhs funds to diagnose u i think

Yes, South East. 

if yes u can contact these people

https://psychiatry-uk.com/

they can get nhs funds to diagnose u i think

are u in england ?

I'm really sorry to hear that you had such a tricky time. I hope you are feeling a lot better now  Your university sound very supportive! My lecturer did recommend I go to support services anyway, just to get the ball rolling. I think I will try this as well. I think I have also experienced the anxiety/depression diagnosis, when actually I have felt like this my entire life - the diagnoses never really felt appropriate, almost like there was something else? Anyway, thank you for your reply! 

I will be following up with my GP soon, as they are rather slow with most things and often forget to get things done (my dad was supposed to have his annual cardiology appointment last year, but they still haven't sent him anything ) Like you, I am feeling very stuck in limbo. I think I will start chasing this up. Thank you! 

I was told that by my GP. At the moment, my local area has seen a really huge increase in referrals apparently, so that's why it will take a long time. Most places nearby only assess children as well, so the adult services are really stretched :/

My university sadly only do an assessment for 'additional support', rather than providing an assessment for an individual need, except for dyslexia. Thank you though!

Good idea re. going through the disability team. I'm still waiting to hear back from them, as a lecturer reached out to them for me, but will ask once I get through. I have tried Googling clinics, but most results aren't overly helpful. I didn't think about online chat boxes etc., will try that instead of phoning. Thank you very much! 

it just varies across regions  and its hard to explain why. some regions refuse to do adult autism assessments at all.

I also heard there was a 2-3 year wait on the NHS. But it only took 3 months for me. Maybe I was lucky as my Doctor went through https://psychiatry-uk.com/.

At this point, you can effectively "declare an emergency" You have now been strongly indicated as being on the spectrum and you need that confirmation in order to keep living. I had the "I will refer you but it could be months/years" thing going on, and I was simply not able to accept being unable to make meaningful life decisions for all that time.

I followed up with the practice a week later to see if the referral had gone out yet, (It hadn't) so I jivvied them up a bit until I was certain it had been sent. When it was slow to get a date back I escalated to the CCG, apologising for my impatience but explaining that I am stuck in "limbo" until I know, and I need my life back. It still took about three months or so to get processed, and all that happens is a more compehensive interview with a very expensive man who pins the label on you, Tells you there is no treatment available, and send you away with a list of various organisations.

Hello. I do not have an autism diagnosis yet but whilst at uni I had a breakdown and they made me go to somewhere for a disability assessment and they said I needed help like taxis to uni because I had anxiety on buses and recorders for lectures because I was trying to write every word down in real time, I got a helper to keep me on track, and they said the uni has to provide a quiet space. I dont know what they thought was wrong with me, ended up with a laptop & stuff, so I got help. I'm doing another degree and I think I'm still classed as a disabled student. I think they helped because my issues looked like anxiety/depression and my GP confirmed this. I think you can register with student finance as a disabled student and then get GP or uni to confirm you're not making it up. Maybe my route was different because the uni was quite worried about me.

ask at your university,,,,,  some of them will do an assessment for u at a knock down price

Do the disability team at the University know of any clinics? Can they make some phone calls for you if you don’t feel able to? Or have you tried googling for clinics? They may have online enquiry forms or social media pages you can have a look at. Also try looking for local autism charities , my county has one which works with autistic adults as well as kids