Lanyards

I have a lanyard for Anxiety rather than Autism. I don't have an autism diagnosis so don't want to claim it as I think I'd feel like an imposter. I definitely have had issues with Anxiety though, and from what a counsellor told me, it is extremely rare to get a diagnosis for Anxiety. I didn't have to prove anything to get the lanyard.

I don't often wear it, but I keep it in my jacket pocket. I sometimes use it when I'm on my own. I'm also not sure how well known they are outside of airports, so doesn't seem much point elsewhere. If they are recognised, there are usually signs, sometimes rather subtle.

There is a free car sticker you can also get from the website which is recognised by highways england. I'm not sure what extra support they would give as I would think they would be doing anything to help anyway. I quite like that one though because to anyone who is unaware it just looks like you like sunflowers, rather than effectively having a label that says "I have Anxiety".

Ahh I didn’t know they have stickers for cars as well! I’m too nervous to learn to drive still! I can understand why you wouldn’t get the autism one though. A lot of people have mentioned this imposter thing but can you explain to me what that even is? I’m trying to think if I’ve had it. 

Ahh I didn’t know they have stickers for cars as well! I’m too nervous to learn to drive still! I can understand why you wouldn’t get the autism one though. A lot of people have mentioned this imposter thing but can you explain to me what that even is? I’m trying to think if I’ve had it. 

Wow that is a really long wait! I was on a waitlist for over 2years on the local autism diagnosis thingy but I went with right to choose and chose psych uk and I only had to wait about 3 months, plus with psych uk I got messages often confirming I am still on their list. I had my assessment over zoom so I didn’t even have to leave my flat! The local one was rubbish and next thing is I have a letter to say I’ve been kicked off their waitlist. I got very lucky that I had a lovely dr who was willing to get me with psych uk as most of the drs are a bunch of jobsworths who do their jobs from home or if they are in their room they literally put their feet on the desk or the chair that I was supposed to sit in! Do you mind me asking if you are from the uk? If so it might be worth going down the right to choose path. 

With my diagnosis I have been labelled level 1 autistic but the psychiatrist said that I had only just made it on the spectrum. But the autism seems to make my other conditions worse and harder to recover from. 

I understand why you wouldn’t want a lanyard for autism at the moment though, I felt guilty saying I have autism when I was only going by the scores on these online quizzes. Ironic thing is I only scored 4/10 on an aq10 but higher on the adhd test yet I had adhd ruled out. Say my local mental health hospital is rubbish and the staff are very rude and take advantage of issues

For me it's a case of being unsure myself if I do have autism or not. I'm still awaiting assessment. Sometimes lots of things add up and I think I'm about 90% sure, sometimes it's down at about 50%. Usually it sits somewhere in the middle. I don't want to say I have autism (even on a badge) and then find out I don't. It feels like I'd be taking advantage of others for supoort and adjustments; or misrepresenting people with autism. 

From what I hear about assessment though, you don't get a definitive no. It's more about working out if you do and if it's to the level that you need support/adjustments. So even after assessment I might still be unsure.

Think I've been on the list for about 15 months now. It was an 18 month wait when I went on the list, and is now up to 27 months.