Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
I’m an undiagnosed autistic who’s looking to go scuba diving. This isn’t something that will affect it particularly however I have what I believe to be an autistic shutdown on my record from 2019, but at the time it was written off as an absence seizure. All test results came back fine but the diving doctor said there was too much neurological concern over what it could be if not a seizure.
I know this is a very specific query but does anybody have any advice on what to do? You can’t commercially dive until at least 10 years after a ‘seizure’ and I was hoping to start much sooner.
Like Ice Swimmer said, if I were you I would get assessed and diagnosed - there is a wait but it would be a lot sooner than 10 years. Or you could get tested by the GP for epilepsy, also quicker than 10 years, and then you should be clear for diving.
A few years ago I did a sky dive, nearly had a heart attack lol and at first I wasn't allowed because of an epilepsy risk so I got tested and it all came back as fine and then I was allowed to dive.
That skydive sounds wild and like so much fun! Thank you for your suggestion, I appreciate it, although I believe I’ve been tested for epilepsy before and the results were negative - this dive doctor refused on the basis of I may have had a seizure before and even if I hadn’t that I’d had ‘concerning neurological symptoms that couldn’t be explained’.