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

elanoali

Hi all 

I have a diagnosis  of ADHD fairly recently in June this year at the age of 56. I am now looking into getting a diagnosis of autism too. I  am one of 4 siblings with adhd (all diagnosed within the last 4 years)  One of my sisters  (mother of  niece who has  adhd and autism ) she thinks may have autism too. My sister was the one who suggested I get an assessment. I did the AQ10 questionnaire and talked to my husband about the results. He thinks I may have autism.  I also have a nephew with autism diagnosed with autism at the age of 16 this year. 

I asked my doctor to refer me to the same provider with the right to choose (psychiatry Uk) who diagnosed me with adhd.  I have some forms to fill in for my assessment and a deadline of 3 weeks.  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.  Today I asked my doctors to find my medical records from when i was a child to see if there is anything in it that might help me. They may take up to 29 days so may not be in time for me to read and answer some of the questions. 

Psychiatry UK will be asking me again for someone who knew me from childhood. I could  ask my brother to be my informant (my father is deceased and my mother has dementia) but I don't know if he will be of any help. We were children a very long time ago! I could ask my husband again to be my informat as he did it for adhd assessment. However I was criticised for using him as he didn't know me a child. However  he has known me for 32 years). I am worried that   I don't have any evidence from before the age of 12. years old.  However have just got hold of records from the time I saw a psychiatrist from when I was 13-14 years ago (I wasn't doing well at school) that may help. So this may help I don't know. 

I would like to know one way or another. Can any one walk me through it please. 

Parents
  • 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.

Reply
  • 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.

Children
  • in reply to Iain

    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 Grin 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.