Published on 12, July, 2020
I will keep this brief but I was diagnosed as not autistic. Here’s why....
good eye contact despite struggling (can only keep eye contact in one eye)
good childhood apparently, loved school....had friends. perfectly normal apparently according to my mum (I wasn’t)
I don’t flap my hands or dance in circles. I do other stuff
i didn’t notice pictures that were not straight in room
didnt talk excessively about special interests (I don’t want to bore people)
can communicate well, when people are asking my questions
I had friends but can’t maintain them now don’t want any.
can play football
despite struggling with a raft of problems since I can remember. I was just told......your not autistic. Goodbye
i very well may not be autistic but......I feel they were looking for an extreme case. I hide my stuff well and had to too survive.
I just feel like I’ve been given no help and just basically told, yeah....you’re just not very good at stuff and maybe it’s trauma? I felt different since a kid and this was brushed off. Rant over.
anyone else had something similar?
I was lucky, I went to the Lorna Wing Centre and they are experts in subtle presentations. However, we've heard all the above before here and it really is quite disheartening. I feel sorry for you.
One of two things is possible - the assessors are not upto date with current understanding and do not grasp that autistic people can have friends and can force themselves to make eye contact or approximate it by staring at another part of the face etc. I wouldn't get the straight picture thing either because my Irlen's skews straight lines for me, I don't flap my hands, all my stims are in my feet and knees...the list goes on..., so they may not have been competent enough to spot any neurodivergence you have, be it autism or something akin.
The other possibility is that you aren't autistic and that something else is the cause of your difficulties. I certainly would not be happy with a response that just said "dunno, maybe trauma". If they don't think you are autistic they should have a more concrete explanation for you than that. I'd be particularly upset by "dunno, maybe trauma" if they are also noting a childhood that does not seem to sound very "traumatic" to them. It's not good enough, I think to conclude you aren't autistic without being able to give you another explanation that makes sense.
Sounds to me like you need a second opinion by someone who can look at all the possibilities; autism, an alternative neurodivergence, and alternative psychological explanation and tell you which.
Thanks this helps. Feel bad for other people who’ve had similar experiences.
don’t get me wrong. I might not be autistic and I’m fine with that but.....I think they have missed things. Badly
They've missed something by the sounds of it and can't just leave it there, otherwise you'll sit in limbo forever without the support you deserve. Good luck!