Published on 12, July, 2020
I am a 44 year old woman who has always had behaviours, sensory, and social difficulties which seem to match a diagnosis of ASD. I was given a diagnosis of anxiety depression as a teenager. After a long wait I have finally had a NHS remote ASD assessment with a locum psychologist the result of which was that I am "neurodivergent but do not meet the threshold for diagnosis", this appeared to be scored using a questionnaire on his computer (no idea if this is normal) and didn't ask about about stimming, just what I do when I'm exited (again, no idea if this is normal) and strangely the only sensory issue he seemed to care about was smells. I also had to remind him 3 times that my mother is dead! I got the impression that because I live alone and hold down a job he thought that I must be coping fine, despite the significant struggles I have had all my life. I am not sure what to do now or where I can go for help, all he could give me was self referral links for CBT. I have had CBT sessions before, the therapists always conclude that they are unable to help me because I already have so many coping strategies in place. I would appreciate any advice you can give to me on where I may be able to get further help, as I feel like I have just been sent back to the start in terms of NHS support and just don't know what I should do next, or if I should even do anything. Thank you.
Hi, thanks for the reply, I have not yet had the written details as the assessment was yesterday. I asked him at the time to explain, but he said the same thing worded differently. He read most of the assessment questions off the computer, before filling in the questionnaire in which I did not score high enough for a diagnosis. The questions seemed a bit basic?? "What would you do if someone sat down next to you and was crying" "Describe being happy" (I can't )"can you lie?" He told me that he was a locum, I have searched to see if he specialises in anything, but found very little about him and no mention of autism, I could have missed something though as I had to rely on Google translate. If he had told me that my problems were fully caused by anxiety and depression then at least I would know where to turn for support, but to tell me that I am neurodivergent but not enough for a diagnosis feels like I have been left in limbo- I can't access any NHS support for autism (what little there is) and CBT is really not what I need. I have however followed his advice and self referred to the service.
Have you received written details following the assessment? I would want to understand how he came to this conclusion? What does he mean.....
am "neurodivergent but do not meet the threshold for diagnosis"
Can you contact him and discuss this? X
Very little quality support, available, for Autistic Adults. Especially in the NHS. Healthcare is so politicised, everything's aimed at kids. Mums = Votes.
I learned to paddle my own canoe. Learning to keep my distance, from the White Noise of society, in order to survive.