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High functioning ASD

Cathy

I’ve recently been unofficially diagnosed with high functioning ASD.

Despite my advanced age (54)!, it has been life changing as so liberating.

It’s really helped my understand why my life has taken some of the turns it has, both personally and professionally, and why certain things effect me.

I’ve managed pretty well so far but there are a couple of areas where I feel my life would improve if I could learn how to manage and deal with certain feelings and situations.

I’ve had a look for counselling on this site but without much luck and haven’t been able to find a counsellor or psychologist experienced with ASD.

Can anyone recommend a counsellor or psychologist? Thanks in advance

  • in reply to Cathy

    Thank you, you are welcome. Best of luck with finding someone who can help.

  • in reply to HappyRambling

    Hi, thanks for your reply.

    I’ll definitely have a look at that site. 

  • in reply to Soifre

    Hi, thank you so much for your reply. 

    Good luck on getting help too.

  • I found a really good counsellor local to me through psychologytoday.com  I found it through an internet search, you can search for specific terms, so I searched for ASD, and this narrowed it down to those that specialise in autism.

    In fact the counsellor I am using has personal experience as a family member is on the spectrum.

  • Hi Cathy.

    For what it's worth, while I was diagnosed with high-functioning Aspergers Syndrome in my 20's, what I needed and I see you need is the help of people who understand. I wish I could tell you getting that help is easy, but it isn't always easy to get. However: I can say that the National Autistic Society is an excellent place to start, having received help from them myself. I have had difficulty finding and keeping jobs and dealing with social issues over the years and, at 43, have found out hard that certain things which should seemingly be simple are not.

    Just as a for example? I have often had to explain what ASD actually is and what the difficulties I suffer from are as a result. Few have understood, so you are far from alone here.

    I'm still working on getting the right kind of help, not least because Employment Agencies are far more interested in getting their payment from getting you into work than finding you the right kind of work. There are people I can turn to for help and, thankfully, I found one of the good ones-Elite Supported Employment both supplies people you can talk to about your problems and supports you in and out of work if you need them.

    The only drawback is that you have to sign up with them to get their help. But they are well worth it.

    Hope this helps.

  • in reply to Senor

    Thank you so much, really appreciate your response. I’ll definitely take a look. 

  • Hi Cathy! You are definitely not alone on this site. I'm well over 60 myself. As regards psychologists/counsellors, it might depend on the area where you live, and whether you want to be referred by a local GP within the NHS system. However, you might want to take a look at this very recent support group presentation. There would probably be a number of suitable individuals on that site, and in future they are likely to be moving to two or three new locations; perhaps nearer you? They do both private & NHS referrals. NHS referrals would almost certainly have to live within the catchment areas of certain health authority regions, though. Or they might know someone appropriate in your own area. But, take your time to find a good match.

    It sounds like you are dealing well with things! It can definitely be quite liberating:-)

    axia-asd.co.uk/.../