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Looking for advice...and maybe some reassurance

Emma

My name is Emma, I'm 30 years old and I think I may be autistic.  I have spent my entire life feeling different, out of place, not a "real" person.  I had never considered I may be autistic until meeting another female with autism and learning more about how it presents in females. 

I have since done extensive research on autism in females, diagnostic criteria and done some of the assessment tools I have been able to access.  All of these have indicated to me there is a high likelihood of autism.  I should also mention that I have a background in adult nursing and although I don't have a background of looking after people with ASD, I feel confident enough in my education and background to know how to follow assessment tools and have enough clinical suspicion to say that I meet the criteria for diagnosis. 

I guess I'm just scared to speak to a healthcare professional about this.  I have struggled for a long time with my mental health and I don't have a lot of trust in doctors in general.  I feel like they will automatically dismiss me, as they have done with so many other things. I find GP appointments really scary and actually quite intimidating and I wonder if I sometimes don't always get my point across to them in the most coherent way (especially because I normally visit my GP when my anxiety is very high and my brain is all over the place).  I wondered if anyone had any advice about their experiences approaching a their Dr for a referral to ASD diagnosis services?  Have people found it helpful to write things down in form of a letter or something like that? I feel like I'm pretty coherent when I'm writing so would be able to get my point across much better on paper than in person. 

I also wouldn't mind some reassurance that I'm not making all this up in my head?  The more I learn about autism, the more I feel at home. I feel comforted by the fact there are other people out there like me and I'm not alone.  I have never been able to explain why I have felt different my whole life and why life has been one big confusing mess of an experience for me until I learned more about autism.  Have other people felt this way as well? 

Thank you for reading 

Parents

  • The way I did it was with the askmygp online thing at my surgery.

    I explained my "symptoms", long term mental health struggles, and importantly how my life has been affected ,(this was hard). (Also that it has been there since childhood). I asked for a referral outright (not sure if this is the best way). You can go through the DSM and list the things that match, for symptoms. 

    I'd look at it as making it as easy as possible to see youeet criteria.

    My gp asked me to fill out the AQ 10 and what it would mean to me were I diagnosed. I scored below the threshold so included my score for the AQ 50 (just over threshold). She referred without even seeing me in person.I would expect it would have been more difficult in person. 

    Spob

Reply

  • The way I did it was with the askmygp online thing at my surgery.

    I explained my "symptoms", long term mental health struggles, and importantly how my life has been affected ,(this was hard). (Also that it has been there since childhood). I asked for a referral outright (not sure if this is the best way). You can go through the DSM and list the things that match, for symptoms. 

    I'd look at it as making it as easy as possible to see youeet criteria.

    My gp asked me to fill out the AQ 10 and what it would mean to me were I diagnosed. I scored below the threshold so included my score for the AQ 50 (just over threshold). She referred without even seeing me in person.I would expect it would have been more difficult in person. 

    Spob

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