Worrying about assessment

Does a psychiatrist assess you for autism or is it someone else? 

In the NHS not usually.

I was assessed by a (mental health?) nurse and a speech therapist.

( Technically autism is a childhood developmental disorder and not a mental health disorder but often they are dealt with by the same people particularly as people who are autistic may have other co-morbidities such as anxiety or depression which can be mental health disorders depending on how severe they are.)

I found a list on line and it could be:-

- a speech and language therapist

- a clinical psychologist

- an occupational therapist

- a psychiatrist

- a nurse

- a specialist gp

or

- a specialist diagnostician whatever they are

This is for adults in Scotland but the list should be similar elsewhere although slightly different for children

ideally you would be seen by at least two people with different qualifications

Of these I think I am correct in saying the highest qualified is a psychiatrist. Certainly as far as I am aware only a psychiatrist could have diagnosed your bipolar.

Given psychiatrists are scarce in the NHS it makes sense for the NHS to use psychiatrists just for work only they can do  and leave work like autism assessments to more junior staff.

in the private sector however psychiatrists will do whatever they are qualified to do as long as you pay them enough.

if you have a look on the nhs website there is a link to what to expect during an assessment.

yeah the nhs seem too focused on children on this and it puts me off personally as i dont wanna be put through any shaming shite like sent to a childrens hospital or be treated like a child, it would insult me too much. 

is it better to go private then if the nhs infantilises us?

i can remember my childhood and im surprised i wasnt seen to when i was a kid because i was really totally openly mentally insane and not coping at all. but yet my words i dont feel would be evidence as they are just words and i could be making it up or lying for all they know. my mum could attest that i had no friends and was bullied alot, did bad in school despite being smarter than what they judged me as then eventually began skipping school. but yet my parents wouldnt likely know the extent of how unhinged i was in school. most would recall what they accused me of making animal noises all the time lol but there was alot more to that. one school counsellor saw me one time and tried to talk to me i cant recall much but i remember her asking me to do a example of my noises but i didnt do it on demand because its embarrassing and cringe, its something you dont do intentionally,. likely extreme coping or social anxiety reaction. but yet nothing still came out of anything and no one cared.

I didn’t feel in the slightest bit infantilised.

(They will ask you questions about your childhood however because autism is a childhood developmental disorder so you will usually have to have some evidence of it in childhood in my case however they still diagnosed me as ASC/Asperger’s without sufficient evidence in childhood probably because I was 50 and my mum was 84 so neither of us could remember that much.)

I was lucky though when I sought my diagnosis my local nhs trust had just opened an autism diagnosis centre (a bungalow attached to a mental health outpatients unit) when I was there it was just the nurse, the therapist, my mum and me.

whether you go nhs or private is up to you if you can afford to go private. Waiting times on the nhs can be a consideration

I didn’t feel in the slightest bit infantilised.

(They will ask you questions about your childhood however because autism is a childhood developmental disorder so you will usually have to have some evidence of it in childhood in my case however they still diagnosed me as ASC/Asperger’s without sufficient evidence in childhood probably because I was 50 and my mum was 84 so neither of us could remember that much.)

I was lucky though when I sought my diagnosis my local nhs trust had just opened an autism diagnosis centre (a bungalow attached to a mental health outpatients unit) when I was there it was just the nurse, the therapist, my mum and me.

whether you go nhs or private is up to you if you can afford to go private. Waiting times on the nhs can be a consideration

i can remember my childhood and im surprised i wasnt seen to when i was a kid because i was really totally openly mentally insane and not coping at all. but yet my words i dont feel would be evidence as they are just words and i could be making it up or lying for all they know. my mum could attest that i had no friends and was bullied alot, did bad in school despite being smarter than what they judged me as then eventually began skipping school. but yet my parents wouldnt likely know the extent of how unhinged i was in school. most would recall what they accused me of making animal noises all the time lol but there was alot more to that. one school counsellor saw me one time and tried to talk to me i cant recall much but i remember her asking me to do a example of my noises but i didnt do it on demand because its embarrassing and cringe, its something you dont do intentionally,. likely extreme coping or social anxiety reaction. but yet nothing still came out of anything and no one cared.