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Should I get a second opinion?

Kyle

Hi, 

I've already posted here recently but it was before I had my feedback interview so I have sort of an update on my situation. 

I recently received a result saying I didn't meet the criteria what I was initially understanding of. Today I asked this assessor who did my ADOS test why he thinks I scored low points. He said that because I could look at him for even a second when he was talking to me that anyone who is autistic wouldn't even acknowledge him. He also said that a sign was that he told me a joke and I laughed and that anyone who is autistic does not show any facial expressions. I told him that my special interest was video games at this assessment as I not only spend basically all my time playing games to the point I neglect important things, when I'm not playing games I'm watching video analysis of game design and looking up videogame trivia, he said that videogames aren't a special interest and they're just something that people get addicted to. He also said that if I was autistic my behaviour wouldn't change regardless of my surroundings so I would behave around my parents the exact same way I would around complete strangers who are making me anxious. 

At this point I sort of just felt like this assessment wasn't at all based on any kind of any ASD spectrum and just came down to that if you didn't show the stereotypical traits of someone who is low functioning then you're not autistic at all.

I know these are professionals and I'm not but I just personally feel like this particular assessor was basically using no intuition and just basing his decision off stringent guidelines made to only diagnose people who can't even function in everyday life.

I was just wondering what everyones thoughts on this were and if I should seek some kind of private diagnosis as I asked this assessor for an appeal and he said he wouldn't know who to go to and I'll have to return to my GP and start this whole 3 year process again.

Thank you if you read this. 

Parents

  • On the NHS they are stringent, and use outdated criteria. He is also not supposed to say what autistic people do, since we are all different. Whether you look at him or not, it has no bearing how autism affects your life day to day. I won’t bore you with my experiences when getting my daughter assessed, but we both ended up being seen privately for our diagnosis’s. 
    If you need to be diagnosed, do ask your GP for a second opinion and explain why. There’s always the chance that you can be referred elsewhere and not see the same team who didn’t diagnose you. 
    If you go privately, ensure that the person there specialises in autism, and is up to date with everything. Even if it’s a special interest it’s still helpful.

    My private diagnosis was great. It wasn’t the NHS standard, yet meets all NICE guidelines. The sessions were relaxed. Jokes were made. Bad language popped up here and there, and the NHS assessment process was mentioned more than once. Not in a bad way, but more to do with how out of touch it is, and how it’s all about postcode and budget. In the case of my daughter, her NHS report was used, so that the specialist could mark the contradictions and put right everything that was written incorrectly about her.

Reply

  • On the NHS they are stringent, and use outdated criteria. He is also not supposed to say what autistic people do, since we are all different. Whether you look at him or not, it has no bearing how autism affects your life day to day. I won’t bore you with my experiences when getting my daughter assessed, but we both ended up being seen privately for our diagnosis’s. 
    If you need to be diagnosed, do ask your GP for a second opinion and explain why. There’s always the chance that you can be referred elsewhere and not see the same team who didn’t diagnose you. 
    If you go privately, ensure that the person there specialises in autism, and is up to date with everything. Even if it’s a special interest it’s still helpful.

    My private diagnosis was great. It wasn’t the NHS standard, yet meets all NICE guidelines. The sessions were relaxed. Jokes were made. Bad language popped up here and there, and the NHS assessment process was mentioned more than once. Not in a bad way, but more to do with how out of touch it is, and how it’s all about postcode and budget. In the case of my daughter, her NHS report was used, so that the specialist could mark the contradictions and put right everything that was written incorrectly about her.

Children
  • in reply to Catlover

    I'm happy that you and your daughter got the support you needed in the end.

    I'm definitely just gonna chase a private diagnosis now as I think whatever team they've got in Southwest Yorkshire is just inept. I've just now looked up the guy who signed off on my report and obv is the leader of the group who discusses your verdict and I've seen people saying that 3 different GPs have told them this guy has been reported and I've seen a few stories about him telling people not to take their medication, it's insanity.