Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi. I am 63 and for a few years my son & his wife have told me they think I’m autistic. I know I am sensitive to noise & smells but just thought that’s me. I can also be blunt & direct (or as they say no filter) and I tell people oh that is just my weirdness. However, the other day a colleague asked me if I was. I asked her to tell me specifically why she thought that. As there is no point telling me you think, I am if you can’t say why?
since then I have looked into this a bit and can tick a lot of boxes and more things I do make sense now. I will be visiting the doctor to see about getting diagnosed however wondered if any knew if a good book I could read about autism in women.
by the way. Now I know what my ‘weirdness’ may be. It’s like my brains has said “finally, we are there “
thanks for you help
Hi and welcome to the community!
Many of us here are late diagnosed, so you're in good company! :)
I recommend reading through the various resources in the NAS's recently revamped diagnosis hub:
NAS - diagnosis hub
They cover all stages of the process, with each section containing several articles relating to that stage:
For example, these articles (from "Before diagnosis") would perhaps make for a particularly timely read:
NAS - Signs that a child or adult may be autistic
NAS - How to request an autism assessment
For those who live in England, it also includes information about requesting an assessment via Right to Choose (which enables access to private providers who might have shorter waiting lists than the NHS, but with your referral and assessment still fully funded by the NHS).
Examples of Right to Choose providers are listed here, for example:
ADHD and ASD assessment – Right To Choose
Thank you I will read those and thanks for telling me about Right to Choose. I think the sooner I can get a proper diagnosis the better.
You're most welcome!
I wish someone had told me about RTC at the outset. Not knowing about it cost me over two years of wasted waiting time on the NHS list (with a similar further wait likely to follow, before I made the switch to RTC), which caused my mental health to deteriorate badly.
When completing the screening questionnaires, you might prefer to use the website below rather than the versions linked in the NAS article.
It provides some useful commentary and also enables them to be completed online (with scores calculated for you), saved as PDFs and - if the results support your suspicions - printed off to take with you to the GP.
The AQ-10 or AQ-50 seem to be the most frequently used / required by GPs in support of NHS referrals. RAADS-R might also be helpful:
Embrace Autism - screening tests
I wish you the best of luck with your journey! :)