Autism diagnosis and the change it may have

Hello there, I am new to this forum, really just posting out there to get some different opinions and ideas on what I am experiencing on a day to day basis. I’m a 37 year old male, left secondary school in year 7 due to bullying and not had any real education since. It wasn’t all the bullying that made me come to the decision that me and school were incompatible but it went a long way in that choice, I refused to go back. I was put on anti depressants ect but every time I tried to attend the school I would freak and withdraw from those trying to help. Anyway, that’s the rough background but in my adult life up until the last few years I never considered myself autistic until I read about it. I’m very social avoidant, dislike change unless I decide to, have a strong dislike for people making plans that involve me because I probably don’t want to go, avoid eye contact, that’s way too personal. I thrive on routine because it makes me feel safe like nothing bad will happen and it makes me feel good about myself also because I can repeat those good days where it’s just routine. I’m told I’m also very righteous? I mean I did want to be Batman of that helps but people said it wouldn’t really be possible which kinda made me have to grow up a bit. I suffer from anxiety and depression pretty much daily, I mean it’s always there really, no cure. Even at my work which is in an office environment I feel seriously overwhelmed, I’ve been there almost 20 years but my colleagues are still strangers to me and I’m almost frozen to my chair at times thinking that if I don’t put 110% in I’m gonna be looked down upon or looked at badly even though I know I work hard. I think I will seek out a diagnosis . Thank you for reading and look forward to the replies, 

Parents
  • Hi and welcome to the community!

    Many of us here are "late realised" and/or "late diagnosed", so you're in good company! :)

    Whilst the information that you've shared could be consistent with autism, we can't offer medical advice here, and the professionals involved in assessments also consider a lot of additional information.

    If you haven't yet seen them, you might like to read 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:

    • Before diagnosis
    • Assessment and diagnosis 
    • After diagnosis 

    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

    If you live in England, you might particularly like to read 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).

    Some examples of Right to Choose providers are listed here, for example:

    ADHD and ASD assessment – Right To Choose

    The NAS articles include links to some screening questionnaires that you might like to complete, to get a better idea of whether your suspicions might be correct. You might prefer to use the website below for this, rather than the versions linked in the NAS article.

    The site provides some very useful commentary for each questionnaire, and also enables them to be completed online (with scores calculated for you), saved as PDFs and - if the results support your suspicions and you decide to seek a formal diagnosis - 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, although some recent research has thrown doubt on its validity as a screening tool):

    Embrace Autism - screening tests

Reply
  • Hi and welcome to the community!

    Many of us here are "late realised" and/or "late diagnosed", so you're in good company! :)

    Whilst the information that you've shared could be consistent with autism, we can't offer medical advice here, and the professionals involved in assessments also consider a lot of additional information.

    If you haven't yet seen them, you might like to read 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:

    • Before diagnosis
    • Assessment and diagnosis 
    • After diagnosis 

    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

    If you live in England, you might particularly like to read 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).

    Some examples of Right to Choose providers are listed here, for example:

    ADHD and ASD assessment – Right To Choose

    The NAS articles include links to some screening questionnaires that you might like to complete, to get a better idea of whether your suspicions might be correct. You might prefer to use the website below for this, rather than the versions linked in the NAS article.

    The site provides some very useful commentary for each questionnaire, and also enables them to be completed online (with scores calculated for you), saved as PDFs and - if the results support your suspicions and you decide to seek a formal diagnosis - 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, although some recent research has thrown doubt on its validity as a screening tool):

    Embrace Autism - screening tests

Children
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