Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm having a problem with my GP, he won't refer me for an autism assessment because in his eyes ( and the second opinion doctor ) people my age are rarely diagnosed because it's always caught in childhood.I know that's not true, more and more adults are being diagnosed.I had been seeing a psychiatrist a few years ago and he leaned on thinking I have BPD ( I looked at his Twitter page, he seems like posting about BPD)I researched BPD and though I did understand it, it didn't match what I go through or how I feel.I've been called autistic since school, though I never knew what it was.I was getting called the same thing when I joined college, so I started looking it up and they actually seem to be right. Not all of those people were being cruel, some said they had autism themselves or had family who did.The GP won't listen, and I'm going to have a huge problem trying to pay for a private assessment.What the hell should I do?
I've got a similar issue with my GP, they are fixated on midlife crisis because you can't possibly function at the level I do whilst having autistic traits. I am also married to a GP who is pretty certain I have ASD and ADHD, I have children who have ASD traits and one of them is in the process of getting an ASD diagnosis so it's really important that I have certainty of my diagnosis to be able to support them.
I also know that their peers consider them to have an Autistic Profile but they lack the self awareness and this is leading them to project their masking onto me as a patient.
Whilst its been really frustrating and every attempt to make progress leads me to dysregulated and shut down, I've actually had to look at my masking behaviour, to understand what it is that I do and what might be useful because it now seems we have to justify our successes.
There is nothing stopping you changing GP's, part of the problem is the number of GP's with ASD without a diagnosis, there are also a lot of GP's with children with ASD who are part of the solution.
Update - I sent the GP a completely unedited email telling them how to make a referral as they clearly weren't aware of the local service and they have now completed the form and sent it in.
excellent work u are also helping other autistics coming after you, so thanks
Yes, it is appalling that so many GP surgeries rely exclusively on 'on the day' early morning phone calls for making appointments. The online service 'Patient Access' has both appointment booking and messaging services, neither of which my practice is making use of.
yep, have to call at 8:00 in the morning, then disregulated for the entire day and that's just to get the appointment
super well done, I also hate these kinds of phone calls/emails
blimey
No worries, it's only taken me 3 months to make a phone call and an email.
(and 20 minutes writing a sentence)