Published on 12, July, 2020
I have been collating various autism related web addresses and came across an autism section on the website for the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).
For some reason, there are two web addresses for the same information:http://www.rcgp.org.uk/clinical-and-research/clinical-resources/autistic-spectrum-disorder.aspxhttp://www.rcgp.org.uk/ASD
I was surprised by the amount of useful information available. The 'Autistic Spectrum Disorders Toolkit' web page (http://www.rcgp.org.uk/clinical-and-research/toolkits/asd-toolkit.aspx) is particularly informative; to highlight just two examples, the page includes a link to take you to the relevant text of ICD-10 (Version: 2016) and has a section for autism in females.
There is a guide for GP reception staff (http://www.rcgp.org.uk/clinical-and-research/toolkits/-/media/60663BF35A1F43ADBAC65E108B8518EC.ashx) that includes possible reasonable adjustments. There is also a 'Making the most of a visit to your GP' guide (http://www.rcgp.org.uk/clinical-and-research/~/~/media/Files/CIRC/Autism/RCGP-Making-the-most-of-a-visit-to-your-GP-Jan-15.ashx) which also includes possible reasonable adjustments.
It is a shame that the RCGP use the word 'Disorder' rather than 'Condition' but that does not take away from the information provided.
I did not find anything similar when I searched the General Dental Council (https://www.gdc-uk.org/) or British Dental Association (https://www.bda.org/). If I missed the information, hopefully someone else will post the links.
NAS has a web page (with other links) relating to dental care and autism:http://www.autism.org.uk/professionals/health-workers/dentists-info.aspx
Based on a very quick read, Scottish Autism has a similar web page:https://www.scottishautism.org/services-support/support-families/information-resources/visiting-dentist
This Nature article is on my reading list and it may contain some helpful information:http://www.nature.com/vital/journal/v9/n4/full/vital1570.html
Assuming I have not missed the information on the General Dental Council website, it is a poor show that they do not have something similar to the RCGP.
How about the NHS dentists?
Have they got something similar?
Dentist for me is even a bigger problem than the GP.
There is a need for the information to be widely known and, given the number of thread views, hopefully it has reached quite a wide audience on this forum.
Some excellent information here, Thank You!
That would be excellent, an autism friendly gp session, where you get the gp’s that have some understanding of autism as well. I’ll have a read of that, thank you.
You might also be interested in the "Barriers to Health Care for Autistic People" article (http://network.autism.org.uk/knowledge/insight-opinion/barriers-health-care-autistic-people); one of its paragraphs is:"There are 'autism friendly' theatre performances so why not autism friendly GP sessions, once a week with quiet waiting rooms, no mobile phones and longer appointment times to take into account slower processing times (Dern and Sappok 2016). Should the entertainment industry be ahead of health services in terms of meeting the needs of autistic people?"
Thank you caretwo for this info. And yeah, they might still be using the word ‘disorder’ but that’s how they and how some, genuinely perceive it, but that will change in time, as the medical model was replaced by the social model of disability so with more understating, they will stop the use of that word.
Glad the information is of benefit.
Thank you caretwo fantastic information and has opened my eyes to what exactly they will be looking for during formal diagnosis. I have spent many hours finding as much as I can about it, being that I research everything in an attempt to know all there is to know about any given subject.
many thanks.
Glad to be of help.
This sort of information should be much easier to find. I see no reason why everyone registered with a GP who has a diagnosis of autism cannot be given this information.
People wanting or considering getting a diagnosis should have easy access to the information. My GP surgery has lots of posters on its walls about various conditions but nothing about autism.
Thank you very much for this information!
I find this information to be very helpful.