Autism in Britain and Germany

Hi :) I was actually in Germany when I first realised that I might be autistic. It was actually my dietitian from the UK though who first realised that I might be autistic though (I was still seeing her virtually). I then raised the possibility that I might be autistic with the professionals I was seeing at the time in Germany and the mental health ones agreed that it was quite likely to be the case, however the waiting list for diagnosis was very long. My GP knew nothing about autism and almost got mad at me when I raised it. What was great though was that there was a free advice service for autistic people or people that think they might me autistic in my area. I was able to have a meeting with them and spent almost 2 hours there - they ended up doing a preliminary assessment as well as giving me some tips on how to best cope and they even wrote a detailed report for the psychiatrist to recommend that I should be referred for diagnosis (weirdly the mental health team could not do that but I needed to find a psychiatrist... who didn't seem to think it really mattered if I was diagnosed or not... again I feel like she was not very aware of what it means to be autistic and how important it can be to be diagnosed even as an adult). I think there were also groups run for autistic people in my area by a specialised part of the university hospital but that was not accessible without an official diagnosis. I actually never made it through the German waiting list but I did get diagnosed in the UK recently. And I realised that there is no support available here post-diagnosis, which seems disappointing. I am not sure if that is better in Germany. What was great in Germany was this free advice service for autistic people - they were extremely supportive and also send me resources and would have continued to offer support had I stayed in Germany. I feel like it really depends on the person you are seeing though-  some individuals just seem much better informed about autism than others... whereas others just haven no clue... like the GP in Germany... who got mad that someone had suggested that I might be autistic and just completely dismissed it... He was a very good GP in many other ways so I think this was down to a lack of training.... 

Hi :) I was actually in Germany when I first realised that I might be autistic. It was actually my dietitian from the UK though who first realised that I might be autistic though (I was still seeing her virtually). I then raised the possibility that I might be autistic with the professionals I was seeing at the time in Germany and the mental health ones agreed that it was quite likely to be the case, however the waiting list for diagnosis was very long. My GP knew nothing about autism and almost got mad at me when I raised it. What was great though was that there was a free advice service for autistic people or people that think they might me autistic in my area. I was able to have a meeting with them and spent almost 2 hours there - they ended up doing a preliminary assessment as well as giving me some tips on how to best cope and they even wrote a detailed report for the psychiatrist to recommend that I should be referred for diagnosis (weirdly the mental health team could not do that but I needed to find a psychiatrist... who didn't seem to think it really mattered if I was diagnosed or not... again I feel like she was not very aware of what it means to be autistic and how important it can be to be diagnosed even as an adult). I think there were also groups run for autistic people in my area by a specialised part of the university hospital but that was not accessible without an official diagnosis. I actually never made it through the German waiting list but I did get diagnosed in the UK recently. And I realised that there is no support available here post-diagnosis, which seems disappointing. I am not sure if that is better in Germany. What was great in Germany was this free advice service for autistic people - they were extremely supportive and also send me resources and would have continued to offer support had I stayed in Germany. I feel like it really depends on the person you are seeing though-  some individuals just seem much better informed about autism than others... whereas others just haven no clue... like the GP in Germany... who got mad that someone had suggested that I might be autistic and just completely dismissed it... He was a very good GP in many other ways so I think this was down to a lack of training.... 

Hello Anna, thank you for your 
detailed answer.
For me, there were three things in 
particular that prompted me to get 
to the bottom of the matter. First 
when I met my best friend who is 
also on the spectrum, then a 
documentary on television and 
finally the fact that an autistic 
person asked me to what extent I 
was on the spectrum. I was also 
downright shocked at how little 
psychologists and psychiatrists 
know about autism. For example, one
 professional said that while she 
didn't know about autism, she didn't
 think I did. I'm just too present. 
Her referral to an ADHD clinic also 
led to a misdiagnosis. I was 
overloaded, the psychiatrist didn't 
ask any specific questions, so the
 decisive criteria didn't even come 
up.My second attempt was finally succes
sful.
I would be interested to know which 
counseling center informed you about
 autism. Were you on "Autism Germany"?
When I received my diagnosis 15 year
s ago, this was still possible with 
a waiting period of about 6 months. 
All you would need to know is that 
you might have autism and where to 
find a professional. There is now a 
huge need for diagnoses, but no 
contact points have been added. So 
you either don't get on the waiting 
list at all or you have to accept 
waiting times of more than three 
years. For example, a friend of
 mine would have to drive about 500
 km to have you diagnosed.
Incidentally, a friend of mine was 
asked a long time ago what a 
diagnosis would do for him, since he
 was now an adult.
There is also no psychological 
support after the diagnosis. If only
 because of the fact that the 
specialists are not familiar with it.
 One can only hope that one knows
 someone within the community who 
might have a tip. It's definitely 
no better here than in the UK.
However, my family doctor is open 
to the topic of autism.
The self-help groups in Berlin 
that I know are accessible to 
autistic people with and without 
a diagnosis. Only the number of 
participants is partially limited.
Would you like to tell where exactly 
you are in Germany?