Hi,
I've recently visited my GP about an adult diagnosis for the first time.
He pretty just told me that the NHS no longer fund this ("too expensive") and wouldn't go any further.
Is this true? Is there anything I can do?
Thanks.
Hi,
I've recently visited my GP about an adult diagnosis for the first time.
He pretty just told me that the NHS no longer fund this ("too expensive") and wouldn't go any further.
Is this true? Is there anything I can do?
Thanks.
Do you think you will follow the path of getting a formal diagnosis Warrior? I think we are all learning from each other which is taking the place of what is lacking around us. It won't be the first time legislation is put through without thinking about and planning for the consequences with nothing in place to follow it through. It happens over and over again. It looks like something is being done but in reality it is not. Let's hope change really does happen. I read something today too which was about the lack of services for adults. It suggests that as more children are diagnosed and have provision , as they grow older and become adults they will notice what services they have been used to aren't there any more. So their parents will start shouting for the provision to continue and in this way something might happen. I have read about support dogs for autism which I think is a great idea.. only at the moment in this country it is only for children. The training is expensive but I would love to have a support dog. Now it really is late . I suppose you are right about being proactive by contacting our mp's but I doubt very much whether the one here would listen.
Hello I feel a formal diagnosis would help me come to terms with why my life has been the way it is, tonight there was an item from the national autism society posted on face book .here basically reporting an upcoming debate by mp's the debate is"Autism Diagnosis waiting times" it has a link to help find your local mp,you can then contact your local mp and ask if they could lend support to the debate.
The reality of assessment is as others have said,a postcode lottery.
Yes we all have rights under new regulations bought in but they have ways of putting adults off,some children can wait as long as seven years,an absolute outrage considering the sooner it's diagnosed the sooner a child can have extra support.No it cannot be cured but even being on here and receiving a huge amount of understanding has helped me to find strategies for coping.They say numbers for autism diagnosis is rising,It is becoming more understood in general and I myself found out about autism via social media.without that one link/story I would still be believing I was just an ill-fitting individual who was a one off mental case!
As it becomes more available for viewing then more adults see it and connect with the varied specific traits in them selfs.
As there is not much support they end up researching looking for answers and some come here, it is then that you see others who are inquisitive or suffering offer to help.quite often those who have a diagnosis talk of there struggles and outcomes.
So we are the ones doing our own councilling.we have a connection or understanding of the condition.
Push to see another doctor or request to see another go.
good luck with your quest.
I was funded by the NHS for both first and second opinion. However the downside is there are no or very little services in the area for adults once diagnosed. And yes assessment and services are a postcode lottery. I look with envy at some authorities provision where there is so little in my own makes me wonder if I should move to the catchment area. However I think the NICE guidelines and government initiatives are becoming more autism supportive so worth looking into those.
Like many things in the NHS these days, the rules are a bit patchy & left to the interpretation of your doctor or the local health authority.
I am a mid-fifties male living in Manchester & have been suffering from depression for several years. In addition to prescribing anti-depressants, my Doctor referred me for therapy (not just CBT). After a very long wait, it proved to be unhelpful for me & just left me puzzled as to how it was supposed to work, so the therapist recommended to my Doctor that I had an ASD test in order to better ascertain what treatments might be more successful.
The assessment was outsourced (like much of the NHS these days) & consisted of three separate one hour sessions approx three months apart (I was told they were very busy). I am still waiting for the official written report, but was given a diagnosis of ASD in the final session two weeks ago.
My doctor is excellent, being very pro-active on mental health in my area & also sits on various regional mental health committees. I am not sure whether my depression influenced his decision to fund the assessment, but I suspect he would probably have done it anyway.
As someone who has only just received a diagnosis, I think my life would have been much easier had I known sooner, but when I was at school no-one had ever heard of Aspergers or High-Functioning Autism.
If you can't change your Doctor's mind though, maybe you could just try changing your Doctor.
Best of luck :)
dontworrybehappy said:What I mean is if some people know of your daignosis they could see it as you were always the problem and use it against you. Like work situations etc.
If there was a problem in work and it was over a rude comment or a violent outburst let's say and it was a neurotypical or someone with asd it would most likely be the neurotypical who would be sided with I would say.
In that situation, the equality act would apply. Your 'disability' should not be held against you. Siding with someone without knowing or establishing the facts would certainly be discrimination, let alone the fact that your condition would give you mitigating circumstances anyway even if you were entirely to blame.
Having a diagnosis opened doors for me, I'm sure without it I would have been dismissed from work. Being autistic gives you the right to 'reasonable adjustments and access to help at work through 'Access to Work' who were a great help to me.
And 'coming out' and letting others no was a very positive and liberating experience, and especially in a work situation gives you rights. If others do not know of your condition, you will almonst certainly be discriminated against and this will lead to great and severe anxiety and depression.
If a professional is able to conclude you have asd within five minutes, you can be sure others will think you are 'odd' and have peculiar traits even if they do not realise it is because you are autistic.
Being diagnosed at last meant I could be myself without trying to pretend to be someone else.
I'm 22 and waiting for my Assessment. So, yes, I totally sympathise. I confided in my GP who was treating me for depression, she'd seen me at my lowest point (hadn't gone to the doctors in years even if I probably needed to). I didn't have a large barrier because she knew that my troubles were impacting my life (hampering employment, educational attainment). All she asked was 'why do I believe that?' and I provided a pre-written page of all the traits/issues I have that are associated with ASD and comorbid disorders. My doctor didn't know the adult process, but she researched it and sent off my referral that week, and I know from talking with others I had a remarkably pleasant experience with that.
Please try another doctor, and go with your written list of reasons. Explain how it is impacting your ability to function in day to day life. That a diagnosis would provide you the opportunity to access support that could help you to be productive in employment or education.
I believe from reading that you are entitled to an assessment (even if they must refer you to a Adult Autism Assessment team outside of your area). Have you checked your GP surgery website and looked at the specialties of each doctor? Maybe one might have better background that makes them more understanding. With my surgery, we are not assigned to a specific Dr, though, we can request an appointment with a specific doctor for non-emergency appointments. I hope you have this option as well.
Don't give up! All an official diagnosis will do is allow me to access a bit of extra support when I require it. It'll help me be more comfortable with myself. Best of wishes! Don't let them discourage you from getting answers.
Following the Autism Act (2009) the NHS is obliged to provide details of a pathway to assessment for adults in a given area - I contacted my local PALS citing this and was given all the information I needed to instruct my GP in making a referral.
The cynic in me thinks that the pre-assessment and assessment process is being made increasingly difficult as a cost-cutting measure, to try and put people off and/or make the circumstances under which they will fund a full assessment increasingly narrow. When I was being referred, the gatekeeping process actually changed between them receiving my referral and processing it, so I needed to get re-referred and provide a lot more information, fill in many more forms and get input from my family, before they would agree to fund a full assessment.
Hi Haumea,
There are NHS mental health services that can, and do, help people with autism in this country. They won't try and cure autism but they can help you to live better with it. Please don't give up on pursuing this if you think that you need help. The money is there for people in genuine need of treatment.
When talking to a GP and asking for help, it is necessary to explain two different things.
1) What problems do you think that it is giving you. Are you stressed, anxious, unable to socialise or work or get education etc etc,
2) What symptoms do you have that lead you to think that you have autism?
These are very separate questions and should be addressed separately. It is good to have your ideas written down before visiting the GP and it is also OK to give the doctor your notes. Having something written on paper can make the consultation easier.
You are entitled to go to another doctor to get a second opinion. Some doctors are harder to convince than others. Some doctors are also afflicted with poor communciation and empathy skills - some of them are autistic themselves!
There's no cure for autism. Despite what some may claim, you can't 'cure' us so we want to socialise. Unless you have a more specific reason many GPs will see no economic benefit in a formal diagnosis. And I've yet to meet a GP who didn't put the economy above their patients.
My adult son was diagnosed as autistic last July. I searched the Web and information said not all authorities diagnose adult autism. Luckily this was out of date. The new information told me all authorities must diagnose adult autism. My gp rang his wife while we were in his surgery. She diagnosis autism in children, but, instructed him . It took only 2 months for nhs appointment. Go back to gp, or a different one. This was my 3rd gp at same surgery. Don't give up.
Why do you want a diagnosis? Do you think
a) that you are autistic and want to know for certain
b) that you have significant mental health or welfare issues that are not getting resolved?
If you present to your GP, and ask for a diagnosis, and they think that it might be driven by curiosity then they may not help you. If you present to your GP in a state of distress and have mental health issues then they might take you seriously.
Perhaps you could explain more about what prompted you to ask for a diagnosis?
Unfrotunately this seems to be the attitude these days.
i think certain areas will fund the diagnosis, but it is very much a lottery. Services are now commissioned in many areas of the nhs, and this has a result that they may be commissioned by a department who has to make cuts. And, unfortunately, they think, quite wrongly, that adults do not need help, they have been able to adapt and cope.
i also get the impression from some that the doctor himself (or herself) doesn't believe how the condition can affect someone who has reached more than a little into adulthood.
i am 62, and was diagnosed at the end of last year. Being honest, i knew that I was autistic. Events took a turn that i felt i had to get a diagnosis to be able to explain to others, rather than appearing as some sort of hypochodriac.
i was told a similar thing to you. The doctor added that 'even if the NHS did provide an assessment for you, there was a waiting list of at least two years'.
So i decided to go private. It was money I could ill afford. But it turned out to be money very well spent. It has helped me at work in that i have got adjustments made it has helped explain my life. My one regret is not knowing earlier, as it could have made such a lot of difference to my life. But we are all dealt a hand in life, we play it as best we can and sometimes we meet someone who may not be a good player but has got the better cards.
Look on this site and find a psychologist/psychiatrist in your area or somewhere you can get to, and make enquiries as to how much they will charge for an assessment and diagnosis. i was told that unless there was a good chance of being diagnosd from how I got through the first part, the process would stop and therefore there would not be a charge for the second part.
The procedure will take you through your whole life, from before 2 years old to your age now, so ask your parents if they are still alive or your aunts, uncles, and older siblings to help you get the evidence you need. Such things as social interaction, your sensitivity to stimuli, your misunderstandings can all help. You will find more help on this site or by googling the signs of autism. just because you have one indicator, such as always sitting on the same seat on the bus, does not in itself make you autistic. You cannot be 'slightly' autistic, you are either autistic or you are not.
i hope this has been some use to you. Before you go down the private root, it might be possible to have another opinion from your doctor or another one. But my experience, despite my autistc tenacity, was that it was a battle i was not going to win. Going private was the only way.
