re autism assessment (right to choose) filling in forms remembering childhood

I just want to add that being in my 50s, I had no witnesses to my childhood. No parents. A brother who was only a few years older and who I didn't want to involve.

It did make things more difficult for them, but they didn't 'criticise' me for something beyond my control.

My wife helped them a lot. But it was mostly my own recollections. I still keep remembering things months later, so the earlier you note these, the better. (How strongly you felt about hobbies. What friendships were like. Bullying etc.)

My following post is very private and please do not discuss this with anyone. 

I have very few photos of me as a child when I was doing my brownie promise. One when I was pictured with our family dog, one of me when I was about 21/2 years old, one of me sitting on a gate on holiday with my sisters. One of me on the beach aged 12 yrs old. 

I remember saying my brownie promise, I remember being a guide and going on guide camps. Horse riding lessons memories from age from 7-18 years old. 

I had two friends in primary school Hedi and Sarah  I was bullied for the last two years of primary school because I developed a skin condition. I grew out of it. There was one particular boy who was horrible to me Mark Hobbs. I remember standing in the line and I thought I would kick him and he kicked me back obviously and I remember I won't do that again that really hurt. I never told my parents I was being bullied. Children generally didn't tell their parents in those days. 

I went to a girls school in secondary school after that because I hated boys.

I remember lying in bed when it was announced  that we were at war with Argentine (Falkland War.)  I remember thinking this is what its like to be at war. 

An autism diagnosis requires that traits are noticeable from early childhood. However, they can be your uncorroborated memories, it is not a legal process requiring witness statements. Looking at old family photos could jog your memory. Teachers' comments on school reports - such as 'Should try to engage in discussion more in class', would be useful evidence.

Did you do anything along the lines of - being selectively mute - not answering questions from strange adults or having a parent have to answer for you - rock - flap hands - spin around a lot in the playground - like being in enclosed spaces (cupboards etc.) - have difficulties making or keeping friends - lining up toys - keeping packaging to replace toys in after playing with them - obsessively make collections, especially of unusual things - dislike birthday parties - prefer to be alone rather than play with other children - have an excessive dislike of school? All these sorts of things help to build up a picture of autistic traits in childhood.

I agree with Iain completely, I'm not sure Iain if you have experience of the assessment your self but I do as I went through it last year (aged 46) and I to was a little worried about this section.

My rubbish mental health and options for support were dwindling to nothing and getting a focused strategy based on Autism felt very important to me - I didn't want to screw it up! So as I don't have any family which could comment on this section, I too worried that it would provide inaccurate or worse - insuffient, evidence to be able to get a diagnosis.

But as Iain mentions it is one of a number of tools used by the assessors as to getting a picture of you and your world processing style.

A couople of pro-active pointers though - have you got access to any photos of you at the time?

As part of some different therapy I tried, I was asked to collect some old photos of me from moments in the past (which there are very few), but they worked in a very good way, just to stare at and relax my mind and allow myself to think about events around that time.

Also, you say you're 56, so time traveling back to 1979 when you were 10-11, looking on line Maggie Thatcher became prime minister, Sid Vicious found dead, Village People had In The Navy in the charts - have you any thoughts associated with these things, e.g. projects at school, conversations in the playground, your mum and dad talking?

I'm a little bit younger than you, but I remember in 1986 being in primary school at the Challenger Rocket exploding killing the astronauts inside.  There was a big mood in school and I distinctly remember the front page of a newspaper one of the teachers had put on the wall which read

TRADEGY: WE WILL NEVER FORGET

And the only thought I had was "that's stupid, of course people will forget, you can't  remember everything all of history for ever!?"

I kept the thought to myself, and to be honest have only remembered now  but I think on reflection this was such an 8 year old me thing to think.  I understand now post-diagnosis that "we will never forget" is more of a symbolic statement about honouring the dead, I doubt very much the paper editor meant it literally.  However even back then, I was confused and interested how humans use emotion as a communicative tool.

So this one memory I think would be illustrative of how you and I may see the world differently.

As you probably know, Psychiatry UK are correct in requiring evidence of autism symptoms during your childhood, as this forms part of the diagnostic criteria.

Your medical records might well prove helpful for this purpose, as mine were for my own assessment (I also have a very poor memory of my childhood, but my medical records turned out to contain excellent evidence in themselves, whilst also prompting many of my own memories to resurface).

I suggest asking for an extension, in order to allow enough time for you to receive and review your medical records.

Your brother's recollections can certainly also be used as childhood evidence.

More info: 

NAS - Criteria and tools used in an autism assessment

elanoali said:

I don't remember much about my childhood and am finding it hard to fill in the form that asks questions about what i was like as a child

This is not uncommon and they will be setup to adapt to this. There are plent of people with a late diagnosis request who have no parents able to talk to and personal memory of so long ago is quite unreliable.

Just tell them this up front and say that info isn't available so they will focus on other elements of the process. There are plenty of areas for an assessment to look at in your current life and recent history to still make an accurate diagnosis.

The assessments are more geared for younger candidates which is why this is assumed, but if the child is adopeted then a lot of the info would also be unavailable and other questions can be used instead.

If they push you for it then ask for their manager or governing body contact as this is unprofessional and shows a lack of professional understanding on their part. Bullying behaviour like this is unacceptable.