Hello again everybody,
its been a while since I was last here. My move to Bristol is finally done and the doctors finally got my medical records through so I made my first proper appointment to discuss my situation.
Following all the advice here I went prepared. I took along the following:
- A print out of my original post (which can be found here)
- The "GP's guide to adults with Asperger Syndrome" (link)
- Print outs of my completed AQ, EQ and SQ test with my scores on (link)
- Details of my local diagnosis services that I had researched (BASS - Bristol Autistic Spectrum Services)
I am pleased to say it went very well. At the time I was so nervous I was really struggling to talk, so being able to give him a page quickly describing some of the things I face day to day really helped me. He seemed to have some knowledge of ASDs but I am assuming mainly in children. He asked me several questions including: Why now am I looking for a diagnosis at 27? Does it effect me on a daily basis? What I am looking to achieve from getting a diagnosis? Would I be concerned about the "label" that I would have attached to me?
After maybe 10-15 minutes of chatting he said he would be happy to refer me and he would start researching suitable places for adult diagnosis. This is where the advice on the NAS site really helped. Here I got out the details of the BASS, he had never heard of it and asked if he could keep it for future patients. He said he will get the referral put together and I should receive a letter from BASS within 4 weeks. If I don’t, then give him a ring and he will look into it.
He also asked me to come back and see him after I have been to BASS to talk about how it went and how I feel about it.
I was cencerned going in there after reading about all the bad experiences people have had at this stage. I was, in the end, a very positive experience! Although it did take a quick pint afterwards to help me relax again!
Sp3ktral
