Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello everyone,
I am 43 and currently being referrred for an ASD assessment. I know the road ahead is long but I am so hoping there'll be some answers at the end of it.
The GP send me a checklist for the referral and there is the part someone who knew me as a child has to fill in.
My question is what is the age range to consider for that form? Some questions my mum would tick different answers for pre and post teenage years. We disagree on some issues obviously but I am a bit thrown by the immense range of "childhood" that little ticklist is meant to cover. It also leaves no options to consider masking issues.
How have you all handled this one?
Thank you so much and it is fab to be here.
Eva
The diagnostic criteria ask for evidence of traits in early childhood. As I was 59 when diagnosed, both my parents were sadly deceased and I only had one very frail aunt in her 90's, I had no one to verify my childhood autistic characteristics. I said that on starting school at four and a half I was selectively mute for three months. This was sufficient proof of early autistic traits. I don't think that the clinicians who assess for autism diagnosis require 'court of law' levels of proof, they just need some indication that your traits go back to childhood.
It is a feature of some autists that their autistic traits do not become apparent until their ability to cope with social pressures are exceeded. I was a happy and contented child at home, my speech was early, no delay, but being confronted by a classroom full of other children and strange authority figures in the form of teachers, was obviously far to much for me to cope with, hence the mutism. So the age of onset of noticeable autistic traits can vary between autistic children.
Oh thank you that is good to know.
My mum is not very supportive of the idea. She is saying "you were very sociable and made eye contact. Yes you exclusivley talked about the opera "The Magic Flute" and made children at nursery reenact it but that is normal. You had friends, you just did not like socialising but that is who you are. You never WANTED to fit in...."
I might annotate the form. I tried adding school reports but at this point I was told they are irrelevant. Tempted to leave that part of the form out, apparently it is optional?
Parents can be reluctant to admit that something is 'wrong' with their child. They can become defensive, thinking that it is a reflection on their ability as parents. Make sure that you tell your mum that you being autistic has absolutely nothing to do with her abilities as a parent and everything to do with the wiring of your brain. Telling parents that famous people like Anthony Hopkins, Elon Musk (the richest person on the planet), Daryl Hannah etc are autistic and that Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Mozart and Picasso were probably autistic, sometimes helps.