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Confused after diagnosis

lorodo

I just had my diagnosis call with Psychiatry UK who said I have autistic traits but not ASD. While I've been reading about autism over the last couple of years, I felt like I'd finally understood why I find life hard and find humans so confusing, and was really hopeful that finding I had ASD might give me the key to managing to sustain a relationship - but now that I don't have that diagnosis I feel absolutely lost, like there's no chance for me with relationships and I must just be bad at them. 

I don't understand it because I seem to have every symptom / characteristic they consider, but I guess not "enough". I feel like I failed the assessment. Like I'd finally found my people, but I haven't made the grade and now I can't join. I almost wish I'd stuck with self-identification. 

My sister was recently diagnosed with ASD and is now getting lots of support from friends and family, and people are taking her needs seriously, and I feel like now I can't voice my needs in the way that she is because I didn't get a diagnosis. 

If you only have autistic traits but not ASD, can you still get support from an autistic community? 

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  • lorodo said:
    If you only have autistic traits but not ASD, can you still get support from an autistic community? 

    Absolutely. And one thing to consider is that there are people that self-identify as Autistic without an official diagnosis. Also, you could get a second opinion, if having an official diagnosis is important to you.

  • in reply to profdanger

    Thank you, this gave me some encouragement. In the end I did get as ASD diagnosis as I pushed back a bit with the psychiatrist and she reconsidered. I know it shouldn't really but having an official diagnosis does matter to me - I think because people I'd talked to about it beforehand said similar things about 'oh, we're all on the spectrum' and I felt I was going to be able to make my voice heard without a diagnosis. My dad has definitely paid attention since I got a diagnosis rather than when I self-identified a couple of years ago, when he totally ignored it. 

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  • in reply to profdanger

    Thank you, this gave me some encouragement. In the end I did get as ASD diagnosis as I pushed back a bit with the psychiatrist and she reconsidered. I know it shouldn't really but having an official diagnosis does matter to me - I think because people I'd talked to about it beforehand said similar things about 'oh, we're all on the spectrum' and I felt I was going to be able to make my voice heard without a diagnosis. My dad has definitely paid attention since I got a diagnosis rather than when I self-identified a couple of years ago, when he totally ignored it. 

Children