Published on 12, July, 2020
For the second time, I was told by a GP that I "suffer with autism"
No I don't. I am autistic and any suffering involved comes from my needs as an autistic person not being met predominantly, in fact, in health care settings.
Grrrrr! Partly venting my spleen here, but at the same time I know this faux pas is born of ignorance not wilful intention to insult. This GP was trying to be sympathetic, I'm sure. He does not seem to know much about autism though since he's asking the patient who has diagnoses of autism, dyslexia, Irlen's syndromes and has further been identified as a synesthete, whether I have an SPD diagnosis - excuse me while I bang my head on brick wall (metaphorically, of course).
Then he stated I "suffer" with autism.
Are you folks getting the same from health care professionals? And how do you go about correcting them?
This obviously isn't his fault. It's just ignorance because he hasn't been trained. But none of us is getting very far, if our GPs don't understand what being autistic means. I'm wondering if it's time I popped my old trainer's hat back on and offered to do some training sessions for them free of charge.
Knowledge is power. It sucks that it is up to us to educate the world when our heads are already spinning. And yes a lot of GP's are not educated on the subject of Autism.
If it helps ,i've known since i was 18 but i am still stuck in life at 40. The world is not set up to accommodate us but future change is both desirable and possible.
Clearly my one sentence wasn't enough. It just bounced off, lol. The more I think about this the more I need to start educating.
Ugh, I hate that. I just correct them. One sentence is usually enough lol.
Thanks
Love it
Oh thanks
That ought to illuminate the darkness for your doctor..:)
https://www.tonyattwood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/The-Discovery-of-Autism-by-Attwood-Gray-Jan-2013.docx
Dawn said:Are you folks getting the same from health care professionals? And how do you go about correcting them?
Just a quick reply ~ one approach I took was the 'NHS Expert Patient Programme', with one of it's modules being 'Learn about developing more effective relationships with health professionals.' which was quite handy as I was not all that adverse to correcting and explaining things to people anyway, and it just made me more proficient at it ~ especially once I got diagnosed as having Asperger Syndrome! >(Big Happy Grin Emoji)<
I was 56. Wish I'd known at 16.
Lol. Nice one. Maybe I'll try that.
I did directly say: "I don't. I'm autistic". That simple. He didn't react. I think it went over his head.
I thought there was a resource somewhere on NAS site for GPs, but I can't remember where I saw it. There is this:
https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/professional-practice/research-gps
But I think there is something else you could give them.
Hmm, I've not had that with my GP, but if I did I'd probably do the NT thing of dropping hints if I didn't know how to say it directly once actualy in the room, but then I am autistic so it would be an anvil sized hint, something like: "Do you know about the social model of disability? Because I worry like that's happening to me all to frequently these days." And then the GP would google it up after I got out the door. Who knows, maybe that could work?
I suffered from ASD for 67 years but since my diagnosis have felt a whole lot better.
Knowledge brings relief, but oh how I wish I could have known when younger.
Ben