Published on 12, July, 2020
I had my assessment 2-3 weeks ago and was told I'm autistic. I don't have my report yet and have been told not to expect it until the new year as they have a backlog of them to write up. Apparently I'll also get a follow up appointment around that time.
I find myself frequently thinking about things I should have said during the assessment. For example, the assessor spent a long time asking if I had any collections and I kept saying no, I can't think of anything, so we moved on. It's literally just dawned on me that for the last 10 or so years I've spent upwards of two hours every day playing a card collecting game online, and that I'd be pretty upset if that collection vanished. But because it's digital rather than physical, and it's a thing I know is "boring" and that I shouldn't talk about, it didn't spring to mind.
I guess I'm worried that my report is going to make me look "less autistic" than I really am. By the halfway point of the assessment, the assessor seemed pretty unconvinced by my autistic experiences, as she kept saying "it doesn't seem like routines are a big thing for you" or "it doesn't sound like you do that to an extreme extent." Needing to stick to routines is a big part of why I don't travel (ever), have close relationships, or have a regular job, but I couldn't seem to get that across, as I was simply answering the questions honestly, and really, no it's not a big deal if I have breakfast 10 minutes earlier one day than another, and no, my special interests don't interfere with things I need to do (because I've structured my life in such a way that I can devote several hours a day to them). Once we got onto talking about social stuff she seemed more convinced, but I think I might still have been heading for a "not autistic" diagnosis until she asked how often I used to have meltdowns before I structured my life to give myself more solitude and I said "oh, every day." She seemed surprised, like she'd assumed everything I was describing were occasional problems, not all-consuming.
I know all I can do is wait for the report, but I just wanted to vent.
I was diagnosed by the NHS in a single 4-hour interview with no tasks to complete, just questions about my experiences.
I would echo what others have said....don't worry about it.As far as I see it, it's happened and you got the positive diagnosis that you were looking for / expecting.Unless you are disputing the diagnosis and feel that you are not autistic.
There was so much more that I wanted to say during my assessment, but time restraints did not permit.I could easily have spoken in more detail in the first "interview" part of the assessment.There were important events in my life that we could have discussed, but the questions weren't asked.I could have talked and talked about the map, the places that I had visited on the map, my experiences, etc.
Hopefully things should start moving for you now that you have your diagnosis.Follow ups, group sessions, etc should be offered to you in the coming weeks.They should give you the opportunity to cover things that are still bothering you about the assessment.
Thanks. Yes, I'm hoping that when I get my report early next year there will be some kind of follow up too. As the assessment ran over so much I was out of the door within a couple of minutes of being told I'm autistic, so that left my head whirling a bit.