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Autism and a mental health assessment gone wrong!!

Chris

Hi have autism and ADHD and have had to have a mental health assessment due to my mental health being so deplete, in my assessment my assessor was rude and spoke to me like i was her naughty teenager, i have never felt so disgusted on how someone can treat someone on a mental health assessment, i am 32 and only just coming to the terms i grew up ttrying to fit in my whole life with no family support, i have tried to work and never been able to connect with anyone now i have lost my job to my mental health from this situation, i cant stop thinking how bad someone can make someone else feel by talking down to someone in a mental health assessment which affected me in being able to communicate with the person correctly throughout the assessment and now i cant stop thinking the assessment did not go clearly at all and now i have to wait for an outcome on an assessment where the person did not treat me right, i think if i jusst sat there and didnt say a word it would of went clearer then my actual assessment. 

i was wondering if anyone else has been in this situation and being spoke down in an assessment, surely they must of had some kind of training on how to speak to someone who has autism and is mentally ill, it would be just like in a shop where someine would of had to do customer service, i have never felt so bad after this assessment and has impacted me with other people that i try to get help from, all i want is the correct support and advice so i can recover from my mental health

  • Make a formal complaint using the NHS procedures, i highly advise using your local autism advocate to assist you in making the complaint. 

    Yours not the only one who has experienced this as an nondivergent advocate I have talked to several autistic and ADHD individuals who have been through something similar. One mental health professional was operating with the decade outdated theory that autism and ADHD can't be comorbid and i assisted them in getting that individual sacked and barred from working in health or social care sector.

  • in reply to Chris

    Ah! Ignore the below.  I see you've done that.  Good.

  • I'm sorry you've had to go through this.  A rude attitude isn't acceptable for anyone, ASD or no.  All of their patients will in one way or another have problems they find hard to talk about.  They are hardly likely to open up to an assessor who is rude or patronising to them.  And if this individual is doing that to you, they are likely to be doing that to others to.

    You might want to take advice from PALS, who help with the resolution of problems in health care delivery, and the processing of complaints.  You can lodge a formal complaint, but there might be other options you'd prefer, such as raising and addressing your concerns informally with the team manager.

  • in reply to Chris

    i know. it sounds like a tough situation. it's good you put in a complaint

  • in reply to autileaf

    Thank you, yes im so fixated on this situation that something needs to be done about it, plus if the assessor is doing it to other people aswell then someone needs to talk to the assessor about it.

  • in reply to Chris

    ah okay. i get what you mean. hopefully, it works out okay and if it doesn't, there are other services around. obviously, i don;t know what area you live in but most areas have charity services etc

  • in reply to autileaf

    my outcome is in the first week of January but i know it was not a clear assessment on the way i was treated and how i came across to the assessor, i have asked to speak to the manager and still waiting for a phonecall from them i also made a complaint to PALS, i hope the assessment does come out correctly but i see no facts on how it could, i have to try and get another assessment but its just a joke how people can negatively affect someone when there meant to help. i thought there would of been some type of rule on how to assess someone properly.

  • i'm so sorry. there are many people who go through this and it is something that most definitely needs to change. there are good mental health professionals out there- however, there are some which are just terrible and are clearly in the wrong field. 

    have you received any results from the assessment, as in a forward plan of action or are they still yet to get in touch?