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Should I get diagnosed officially?

Grace

Hey! So I need some help.. Ever since primary school I have suffered with social situations, making friends, bullying etc. I am now 21 and after having counselling since I was 14 years old and not really getting any help/any better I've come to the conclusion there must be something else going on. 

It first started when I watched a documentary on a famous women who has autism and so do her 3 children. Her personality and ways she deals with different situations is very very similar to me! I then remembered that in college, after struggling a lot to deal with work load, focusing, remembering information and making friends, they asked if I had ever been tested for autism. 

So it got me thinking...could I be autistic? So here I am, after reading a lot of articles on autism, taken multiple online autism tests (and scoring very very high, results saying I indicate significant autistic traits) wondering what the next step is. 

I am in two minds, one half of me wants to get an official diagnosis so that I can have access to support systems aimed at adults with autism and finally find ways to cope with day to day things. The other half of me thinks that I can work with this myself and accept the fact I am highly likely to be autistic (I am totally at peace with this, I actually feel like this has taken a massive weight off my shoulders). 

For years and years I have always wondered, why me? Why do I struggle with day to day things, struggle to make/keep friends, get extremely overwhelmed with loud noises, have major meltdowns over tiny things and then can't get out of this mindset? But after myself and my mum who I am very close with having a 'light bulb' moment that I am probably autistic, I finally feel like I belong and actually there is nothing wrong with the person that I am! But I need help, I need ways to cope with all these overwhelming feelings and thoughts.

So yeah... please help! Is it worth getting an 'official' diagnosis from a medical professional? What benefits/negatives have you experienced either getting a diagnosis or not? 

Hope to hear from lots of you soon! 

Grace xo

Parents

  • Hi there and welcome!

    I think there are benefits to pursuing a diagnosis. For me, it didn't change my perception of myself in any way - I "knew" before the diagnosis and had embraced it - but it is a useful thing to have in education and work situations. Because it is classed as a disability, however rightly or wrongly we might regard that classification, it does entitle you to some reasonable adjustments in the workplace.

    Getting diagnosed is a bit of an uphill slog (if you can afford to go private, do), but all the more reason to get started asap. An appointment with your GP is the place to begin - some GPs are more receptive than others, so I would bring along the results of any online autism tests you have taken (provided they're legit and not from Buzzfeed!) to use as ammunition.

  • in reply to Akkrenskarin

    Hello, thank you for your reply. I totally agree, it wouldn't change my perception either. I feel the same, I 'know' so embrace it :) I am worried about having issues with travel visas etc which is what I have read on other pages so I'm unsure what to do as I want to travel in the future. 

  • in reply to Grace

    That's okay! I've never had an issue with it... I mean, they let me into Australia and they can be pretty picky! I don't think my travel insurance would have paid out if I'd had some kind of issue that could be blamed on autism, but that's a risk I'm willing to take.

  • in reply to Grace

    Mostly just little things around routine. I work in a secondary school and everyone's quite used to autistic students, so an autistic teacher wasn't too hard for them to get their heads around. Basically they don't change my routine at short notice - so they don't ask me to cover registrations or lessons if someone is off sick - they don't put me on duty in the main hall because the noise builds too much in there - and they don't schedule other lessons in my classroom when I have free periods because they understand that I need to hang out in my nice, quiet safe space, not in the staff room. 

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  • in reply to Grace

    Mostly just little things around routine. I work in a secondary school and everyone's quite used to autistic students, so an autistic teacher wasn't too hard for them to get their heads around. Basically they don't change my routine at short notice - so they don't ask me to cover registrations or lessons if someone is off sick - they don't put me on duty in the main hall because the noise builds too much in there - and they don't schedule other lessons in my classroom when I have free periods because they understand that I need to hang out in my nice, quiet safe space, not in the staff room. 

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