Diagnosis - help

I proposed that perhaps I have ADHD, CPTSD and ASD, but I think the CPTSD can show up similar traits to that of ASD if not properly detected...

That must have been hard for you, growing up.

I can see that that would have misled the psychiatrist assessing you.

Thanks for your reply.  My mother didn't pay much attention when I was growing up and seemed rather more focused on how I should behave and 'what would people think?', etc.  She would also punish quite harshly and allow my father to spank me 'bare bottomed' when I did anything wrong - whatever I could have done so wrong to warrant that, but that is how it was.

When it came to my assessment, she said I was fine and reaching all my milestones.
She neglected to mention that I fell over a lot, wet the bed until I was 10yo, struggled with friendships, cried a lot, needed a lot of reassurance and struggled with spelling and maths.

This sounds promising, I'm pleased. Was there an issue with your parents' contribution? Something similar happened with me. (You don't have to say if you don't want.)

I'm sorry it's so hard. I'd like to say it gets easier, but I don't know if it does, or it hasn't for me yet.

Thank you so much.  It's so hard self-advocating and being able to recognise things that I do.  I've been told that I might be dissociating and may have done that all my life as a means of survival...  So, we shall see.  I just keep telling him I need help.  I am showing him that I am trying to push forward and am a very self-driven person but social and employment is where I struggle the most and often find I have no one in my life, other than those who wish to exploit me.

Hi Penny Jane,I am glad that you have spoken to someone who can try and get the ball roilling for you.An ADHD assesment is surely a good start,and would afford you legal protection at least.Try to be patient regarding assesments,I am sure you will receive a favourable response from your ASC assessing department in time too.Good luck in all you do. 

Thank you all for your kind support.  I have had a chat with my psych today and he has agreed to speak with the ASC assessing dept to see if there is any chance of reassessing me due to lack of honest input from my parents.  

He is sending me to be assessed for the ADHD but has agreed that I may have a mix of ADHD, ASC and C-PTSD, which is why I find life hard to deal with.  So, I guess it's in his hands now to see what the ASC dept. say.  And then a 2-3 year wait for the ADHD.

He has suggested that I speak with the Mind centre near me in regard to making friends in the meantime.

Gosh, why does this have to be so hard?

Sadly not

Just take it a step at a time.

Get the GP to refer you for another assessment or second opinion. Then ask for sick leave. Speak to them about how you are feeling, and see what services they can offer (counselling, CBT etc). 
Tell them about your suspected Fibro, and see if they can offer advice to help symptoms.

Regarding ‘support’, there isn’t really any if I’m honest. But I do think a diagnosis would work wonder for you and your self esteem. I know my ‘label’ has helped me greatly. I had to use my savings to fund it, but I felt it was necessary,

Hi,

I was diagnosed ADHD aged 58 last year. I was also diagnosed ASD this week and I went through the NHS 'Right to Choose' referral scheme using Psychiatry UK - they have a hugely informative website which includes template letter for GP referral. As far as I know there are only a couple of UK areas who won't use this 'shared care' scheme, I believe this is listed on the P-UK site.

As far as school reports go, I was lucky that I had some old primary school ones of my own, as both parents are long dead and my brother wouldn't have a clue where to start speaking about how I was growing up as he had his own issues at the time.

So my daughter - aged 27 filled in the 'informant report' section which they said at the time of my assessment was probably much better information than, say, ageing parents who might dispute the whole neurodiverse thing out of hand.

I hope that helps. The waiting times at P-UK are also very much shorter than waiting times with the NHS.

Debs

No trouble at all, it's all new to me, too. Well looking for an diagnosis that is. I just speak as I see. 

I'm not sure how I'd feel if I didn't receive the diagnosis, really. It won't change whom I am. It's only the last few years that I've really give it any consideration to be honest, because this is my normal, my normal wouldn't be someone else's, at least I don't think so, anyway. 

I'm very lucky & have a very supportive family. This has helped me through, I also have other chronic health conditions (auto immune disorder), too. So this for me is only part of whom I am & what I have to deal with on a daily, hourly basis. 

Having a diagnosis may help me understand more about my past, growing up, dealing with things, this I'd assume may also be the case for you. 

I've only made a few posts on here, so far, but I feel as though I've come to the right place.

I hop you find some happiness moving forward. 

I was where you were, told that I wasn’t autistic, I just had a lot of autistic traits. The good news is that I am now diagnosed. The bad news is that it took me fifteen years to get it (sorry), but the long process was partly because it took me over ten years to realise that my non-diagnosis was wrong and that I am on the spectrum, so you're ahead there.

If you want to get a second opinion about your assessment, I would say do the reading they suggest. Read everything you can get about autism, especially how it presents in women. Make a big list of all your autistic traits and difficulties and how they relate to the diagnostic guidelines, the bigger the better. Then take it to your GP and ask for a second assessment. Show them the list of traits. Then take the list with you to the second assessment too and show it to the psychiatrist too.

In terms of being signed off from work, sadly that generally doesn’t happen even with an ASD diagnosis, no matter how difficult work is (I struggle with it too). I would go down the route of your “mental health and physical ailments... possible fibromyalgia” to see if you can get a sick note from the GP for those. Is there an HR department at work or an occupational nurse who might be able to help?

Similarly, in terms of study, have you spoken to the disability advisor at the university and seen what help is available even without an ASD diagnosis? Do you have a firm diagnosis of ADHD and dyslexia? If you do, those should enable you to find some help.

And I don’t think you’re a weirdo!

Bless you. Where there is one neurodivergence there is often another, or several. You are ADHD and dyslexic already, you might well be autistic too. 2016 may not sound like long ago, but the research has moved on since then. Maybe you need reassessing.

I am also dyslexic and a synesthete btw. 

Even if you aren't, but are a 'near miss' so to speak, I hope we can be helpful.

And nop! Not a lot out there for us, even with a diagnosis. Sigh!

Hi , it sounds like you have an aweful lot to deal with at present.Mental and physical illnesses often run in tandem and make life a challange to say the least.You mention that you have ADHD and dyslexia,presumably these conditions were diagnosed at some stage for you.If so,you already should have the protection afforded by a disibility diagnosis.I was diagnosed with ASD quite late in life,I just about managed to stumble my way through life before a formal diagnosis allowed me to go easy on myself.Use the diagnosis as a frame of reference to understand what my strengths and weaknesses are.There is nothing to stop you from using your own current awareness of yourself to gain a deeper understanding regardless of a formal diagnosis.A formal diagnosis affords protection in law,but life is still lived,challenges faced etc.I hope that my comments are of use to you and you regain your health and are able to continue studying.

Speaking to someone who understands is soothing to me, thank you.  If only more people like you could come to the fore, I might not need to get pursue a diagnosis.  Thank you for replying - you have helped.

Sorry to hear that you are struggling to find an official diagnosis.

I don't have one as yet, either. I'm going to have a 3 year wait for my assessment, as I'm on the waiting list, I'm OK with this, as I've not had an official diagnosis for 54 years, so a few more years won't harm. I'm still the same person with or without a diagnosis. 

Just because you may feel that you are different, you are not a weirdo. I've struggled to socialise or work with most people all of my life & also dislike working within close groups of people, too. 

If it's really important for you to have the diagnosis then I'd advise you to go private for one, if you could. 

Sadly, no.  I could go private and claim SOME back, if they decide I'm not ASD, then I guess it's still not a waste of money, I guess...  I get so fed up with people saying, 'Do you really need a label?' - I'm like, YES.  It's not a label, it's a box I can identify with and keep myself safe.  I feel so vulnerable and always have.  I need support.

Can you afford a Private Diagnosis? If so, do it!