ASD waiting list

Lonieke said:

I keep reading the DSM-5 thinking: yeah, no, I don't fit these the way they are written down here.

The thing with autism being a spectrum condition is that you are going to have some of the traits and these will be at various intensities so no two of us are the same.

We are also frequently really good as "masking" our autistic behaviour as it gets us into trouble and we learned since childhood that it is safest to blend in, so you probably camouflage and don't really realise you are doing it so will have self doubt about who the "real" you is.

Lonieke said:

I've been on a waiting list for ASD assessment since February 2024. I know it can take a reaaally long time, but this seems too long

If I were in your shoes I would not wait for the assessment - the lists tend to be many years long (I'm hearing of 4-5 years in some parts of the country). I would self diagnose initially to see if I am likely to be autistic just to put my mind at rest.

The easiest way to do this is to use your favourite search engine to look for "free online autism test" and take one or two of these to see if you score above the threshold to be classed as austistic.

I would recommend making a printout of your results and also to list which of the autistic traits you recognise strongly in yourself. The list can be found here: https://thespectrum.org.au/autism-diagnosis/checklist-adults/

Try to note when in life these have been an issue for you and how they presented. 

This will be really helpful to present in the assessment when it comes as I read that many autists either mask in the sessions or shut down and can't remember of converse well under the perceived pressure.

Assuming you reach the criteria then this is a great way of keeping the discussions focussed on the relevant facts and will ensure that they take you seriously.

In the off chance that you don't reach the criteria then remember that autism as a diagnosis is a label for disability so you can be on the spectrum and affected by it, just not badly enough to be considered disabled. It doesn't mean you are not autistic, just not disabled enough for the label.

Lonieke said:

I'm sorry for such a long post!

There is a lot to take in with autism so don't be afraid to be as wordy as you need to be. We are here to listed (if you want to rant) or to help if you ask.

Lonieke said:

I keep reading the DSM-5 thinking: yeah, no, I don't fit these the way they are written down here.

The thing with autism being a spectrum condition is that you are going to have some of the traits and these will be at various intensities so no two of us are the same.

We are also frequently really good as "masking" our autistic behaviour as it gets us into trouble and we learned since childhood that it is safest to blend in, so you probably camouflage and don't really realise you are doing it so will have self doubt about who the "real" you is.

Lonieke said:

I've been on a waiting list for ASD assessment since February 2024. I know it can take a reaaally long time, but this seems too long

If I were in your shoes I would not wait for the assessment - the lists tend to be many years long (I'm hearing of 4-5 years in some parts of the country). I would self diagnose initially to see if I am likely to be autistic just to put my mind at rest.

The easiest way to do this is to use your favourite search engine to look for "free online autism test" and take one or two of these to see if you score above the threshold to be classed as austistic.

I would recommend making a printout of your results and also to list which of the autistic traits you recognise strongly in yourself. The list can be found here: https://thespectrum.org.au/autism-diagnosis/checklist-adults/

Try to note when in life these have been an issue for you and how they presented. 

This will be really helpful to present in the assessment when it comes as I read that many autists either mask in the sessions or shut down and can't remember of converse well under the perceived pressure.

Assuming you reach the criteria then this is a great way of keeping the discussions focussed on the relevant facts and will ensure that they take you seriously.

In the off chance that you don't reach the criteria then remember that autism as a diagnosis is a label for disability so you can be on the spectrum and affected by it, just not badly enough to be considered disabled. It doesn't mean you are not autistic, just not disabled enough for the label.

Lonieke said:

I'm sorry for such a long post!

There is a lot to take in with autism so don't be afraid to be as wordy as you need to be. We are here to listed (if you want to rant) or to help if you ask.