Hi, all - just joined the forum as I’m in the process of being assessed. I’m a female in my early 50s and have had the initial chat with GP; done the AQ10 with them; had a follow-up appointment with the local primary care mental health team where we discussed the AQ10 in much more detail. The practitioner has referred me to our local NHS autism clinic as she agreed I have very strong autistic behaviours and scored highly on the AQ10. I’ve now just filled in all the paperwork and questionnaires for the autism team. I hadn’t told any of my family that I’m being assessed as I don’t feel comfortable and I thought they would find it hard to believe. I didn’t struggle too much academically when I was younger; I’m highly creative and love reading and writing so always did well in the arts-type subjects. I really struggle with maths - I still have to count on my fingers for basic arithmetic and have always thought I’ve had numerical dyslexia (a term I’ve made up) because I can’t do mental arithmetic at all.
Anyway, my dad is my only surviving parent and is nearly 80. He’s in good health but the clinic has said that I needed a relative to do that part of the questionnaire otherwise they may not be able to progress with the assessment. I was dreading this and dreading telling him even more - he is the sort of person who will come out with nonsense such as “people only come out as gay these days because it’s the fashionable thing to do”, etc - not particularly helpful, and probably extends to those with mental health issues. When I approached him, he was very surprised about the assessment, but after a chat about how I’ve felt all my life and how odd and different I feel, he was more understanding.
Unfortunately, we are talking about events from nearly 50 years ago so he struggled with lots of the questions as they were asking things like whether I used the word “I” instead of “they”, and whether I could count to 50 without missing out numbers. Obviously his view of what sort of child I was is very different to how I felt, so after he filled in the questionnaire to the best he could, I sound like a perfectly normal child with no issues. To him, I was a tomboy who wanted to be a boy, who wouldn’t dress up, had really odd interests, and was a bit quiet. Obviously, that isn’t how I felt - I’ve never wanted to be a boy; it was a label my parents gave me because I was only interested in dinosaurs, archaeology and football, and I wouldn’t hug or want to be hugged by anyone, and that’s how boys act.
I’m just wondering how this will look to a professional. My dad’s account of who I am looks perfectly “normal” and probably wouldn’t raise any flags. How I feel, however, is very different. Will a professional dismiss my assessment as lots of people with autism struggle at school, ano in their early years, and I didn’t?
Have any of you been in a similar situation and, if so, how did it pan out with your assessments?
Many thanks for reading x
