RADDS-R and Social Communication Questionnaire

Thanks for your reply, I do have one elderly aunt who I lived with sometimes, she is also 91 and was always a very stern person, being different wouldn’t have been tolerated. I do have an excellent memory and can go back to pre school. I still wonder what the remedial lessons were for, I was quite a high achiever even in infant school, when the other children were playing with clay I was playing chess. Infant and middle schools didn’t do school reports, I have found one from Secondary school which just states that I don’t join in or make my presence felt. My mother can remember that every parents evening was exactly the same, “ he’s very quiet and doesn’t join in.” The forms are from Oxford NHS and it does have contact details if you don’t have relatives who can help. Im going to contact them tomorrow and let them know that I want my wife to be included, I’ve lived with her for over 35 years, I only lived at home for 19 years. My only worry is that they try to discharge me. I’m seven months in, after the forms are processed, the clock only starts then which they state will be at least 2 years. Thanks for your help.

Hello, I was diagnosed age 56, my mum has passed away and my dad is 86 so my daughter gave some information for the diagnosis. As others have said you could say your mum is not able to contribute. I’ve tried to explain my diagnosis to my elderly Dad who I love dearly, but he just doesn’t get it. Wishing you all the best.

I had a similar problem, but because of language barrier, my family don't speak english

I did write instead what I remembered, describing situations from school, or interacting with others, and the games I played solo as a child before I went to school

but I wouldn't worry about your mother messing it up, often showing what they percive as normal in your behaviour from the time when you were a kid, has those little things that makes us autistic embeded in it

Yes, as has been said by others, you need to inform those undertaking your assessment that your mother is unreliable as a witness of your childhood traits and is hostile to you receiving a diagnosis of ASC. As both my parents were deceased, and my only surviving elder relative was 91 and frail, I received a diagnosis on my own memory of childhood and the testimony of my wife, who has known me since I was 26.

It is surprising that some autism assessors seem to want almost legalistic levels of proof of childhood traits, when for virtually any other medical condition personal history of symptoms is quite sufficient. It's not like being diagnosed as autistic leads to any notable advantages for the majority of adults; who have, presumably, managed to function for years, more or less successfully, in society.

I don't think it is essential to the diagnosis that the questionnaire is completed. Presumably the other relatives who looked after you are no longer surviving?

I think it might be better to explain to the diagnostic service that your mother does not have any sufficiently reliable memories of your childhood, due to her mental health difficulties at the time.

If your mother has kept all of your old school workbooks maybe she has your school reports too. They may provide some helpful evidence of what the teachers were reporting about you. There should be something in there about why you were placed in special lessons. Just because the school workbooks show you were doing well certainly doesn't mean you are not autistic. Many autistic children do very well academically and may have learnt to read and write by themselves before they even start school.

Asking your mother to go back to what would have been a very traumatic time in her life is likely to result in negative emotions and responses. She has probably blocked out many of those painful memories and finds it easier to believe that everything was fine. It's possible that she may be autistic herself, but that it was never diagnosed at the time she was experiencing mental health problems. Back then even the experts thought that autism was something that only affected males.

Like you my mum suffered from mental health problems throughout my childhood. I was looked after by my grandmother when my mum was in hospital. Even when my mum was looking after me she was taking high doses of both antidepressants and benzodiazepines, so wasn't really aware of much. I now believe her problems arose from undiagnosed autism, but during the 60s and 70s hardly anything was known about it.

However in my case my mum was supportive of me during the diagnostic process. She filled out the questionnaire as best she could but really struggled with a lot of the questions. She did have memories of the numerous times she was called to the school to discuss multiple issues they had identified, such as my meltdowns, refusal to interact with the other children, refusal to eat anything at lunch times, etc. The school even told my mum to take me to the doctors, but he just dismissed their concerns.

There some people here who have been diagnosed later in life without any family input as their parents and other family members of that generation have passed on, or their health or memory is too poor to fill out the questionnaires or attend interviews. Have you told the people who sent the questionnaire that you don’t have anyone to fill it in?