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The Start of my Journey to getting an Assessment

Jenn
over 1 year ago

Hi everyone,

I'm nearly 40, pansexual and have just started working with Autistic adults (3 months ago). I'm also a published author.

Since doing all the awareness etc training and my own research, it's feeling more and more likely I'm Autistic. 

I've always been 'weird', have to decide how to feel and what to say about stuff beforehand, and have various sensory 'quirks' that I always assumed were normal for everyone.

I suppose I'm just here looking for accounts of experiences of the assessment process as an adult, and any barriers anyone has hit regarding other people believing or understanding my suspicions that I'm Autistic.

Thanks everyone,

Jenn.

Parents
  • over 1 year ago

    Hi Jenn. Welcome! 

    One of the best resources for female and non-binary autistic people that I've found is Squarepeg : https://squarepeg.community/podcast/

    Amy, the creator, is a late diagnosed former teacher. Her podcast is now in season 8, so lots of episodes to choose from. 

    As for diagnosis, wait times are long as more and more people are becoming aware of autism and then questioning if they are. There are not enough assessors to keep up with demand. My son was diagnosed 18 years ago and the wait time was 6 months (it's meant to be 3 months). I was told wait times for my diagnosis would be 4 years in the area I live in. I decided to go private. This isn't possible for everyone, and it's perfectly fine for you to self-identify. The autism community that I know of does not discriminate against those that have a medical diagnosis and those that don't. However, you will not have legal protection as an autistic person without formal diagnosis. So you can take your time to research and see how you feel or go to your GP and try to get on a waiting list, depending on how you feel and what you want from diagnosis. 

    Hope that helps somewhat. 

Reply
  • over 1 year ago

    Hi Jenn. Welcome! 

    One of the best resources for female and non-binary autistic people that I've found is Squarepeg : https://squarepeg.community/podcast/

    Amy, the creator, is a late diagnosed former teacher. Her podcast is now in season 8, so lots of episodes to choose from. 

    As for diagnosis, wait times are long as more and more people are becoming aware of autism and then questioning if they are. There are not enough assessors to keep up with demand. My son was diagnosed 18 years ago and the wait time was 6 months (it's meant to be 3 months). I was told wait times for my diagnosis would be 4 years in the area I live in. I decided to go private. This isn't possible for everyone, and it's perfectly fine for you to self-identify. The autism community that I know of does not discriminate against those that have a medical diagnosis and those that don't. However, you will not have legal protection as an autistic person without formal diagnosis. So you can take your time to research and see how you feel or go to your GP and try to get on a waiting list, depending on how you feel and what you want from diagnosis. 

    Hope that helps somewhat. 

Children
  • over 1 year ago in reply to This Person (Ottilie)

    I've asked to be referred through right To choose via Psychiatry-UK. It's a service that will assess you for both adhd and asd and that's funded by the nhs. Wait time I think is just a few months. I worked in primary care for a while and sent patients to them all the time.