Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all,
I had my ASD assessment this morning and was told that I am not autistic because I only meet 2 out of the 3 criteria for a diagnosis. I originally scored 45 out of 50 for the AQ50 and I really felt like I was going to be diagnosed wih ASD.
The one that I failed at was to do with habits, routines and dealing with change etc. At the time of the assessment I didn't really think that much into this side of things because I have always been more focused on the socialisation side of ASD.
I don't really like to do anything other than stay at home and don't have any special interests other than films/tv so I never really thought about whether I have routines or habits. There are little things I like to do and I struggle with ambiguous instructions but other than that, I can't think of any other routine type things.
I was just wondering if anyone has had a similar issue or any advice? I don't know whether I should contact psychiatry UK to just let them know of the things I have thought about now but I don't want them to think I am making it up because I failed the examination. Sorry for the long post.
I think it pays to think about this ahead of the assessment. I had mine recently and we spent over an hour on the routines, habits, dealing with change section, and the assessor kept saying "it doesn't sound like this is a big issue for you." I was struggling to come up with occasions where I was stressed out by a change in routine because I have structured my life in such a way that those issues rarely come up. I think she was ready to diagnose me not autistic until we got onto the sensory section and I said, "oh by the way, I eat exactly the same foods every day."
You could also try to get a second assessment, either from Psychiatry UK or another provider.