Adult Diagnosis Leicester General

I've been to see the GP Today and she is writing a letter to ask for my referal to come through quicker so I'll chase that up. She is also going to speak to their mental health coordinator to see if she can see me and then write a letter to send to Uni to let them know there are real difficulties they are looking into. So happy with that. 

I agree, CF, from what you've said you really do have quite a few prominent traits, and I think a well-researched doctor will pay attention and take this seriously.

Recombinantsocks - thanks for your reply, it's good to hear a variety of people have tried the test and it doesn't just give everyone the higher scores. For the record, I scored 34 on it, and that makes sense to me. Very NT-minded in some areas, and very non-NT in others!

If only it was as easy to get this opinion medically! I oprivate your advice and opinion it makes me feel like im not just fantasising this - which is how the previous guy I saw made me Think. It is fustrating that I've been through all these services and been missed by everyone.

I have just got an appointment with the doctor today as rhe prof clinic has a minimum of 6months wait so they advised me to see the GP (who is incredibly supportive) to get bumped up the list. She has me bypassed through general mental health services straight to the professor so hopefull she may be able to help. 

Ill keep posted as thinggs develop.

Firstly to address Morgana's question: The AQ test seems to be a good indicator of whether you have the underlying brain wiring differences that lead to us having problems. I wanted to understand what the different scores might mean so I asked a number of colleagues at work to do the test. This showed a number of them were on the spectrum (scores in the 20s) which was no surprise as I work in IT. One colleague scored 34 and he said that he had always known that he was different but had managed himself well and considerately during adult life and was having a good career and no real issues. I'm also well aware that other people on this forum can have severe difficulties whilst scoring similar or lower scores. We are all different and I think our environment can be crucial in determining how well we cope. I score 43 and have had repeated issues through adulthood but have been relatively successful - I have had more than my share of job moves but have stayed in work albeit never quite reaching my full potential. It seems to me that the AQ score is a good starting point for starting to decide whether autism is in the mix.

CornerFlag: I would be extremely surprised if you don't get a diagnosis. Your story is absolutely typical of those I have read on the forum and from reading round the subject for the last year. If you print out your last post and take that in with you then I think the Prof should be well impressed. Having a piece of paper with you can make the job of explaining your problems much easier - I took a list of issues with me when I first asked the GP about this and the GP took it from me and then took me seriously.

This was the questionnaire the the consultant asked me to fill in. I answered the same and got a score of 45 but I don't know what that means (the first consultant who I saw would not tell me the result).

The people who took me in when I left care who I refer to ask my foster parent but I call them Mum and Dad noticed things they didn't think was right. Their other children have severe autism and adhd so they are knowledgeable about it and had suggested to me. I wouldn't listen to it at first but after they explained it and linked together all the difficulties I have and showed me this website it showed me that I wasnt 'normal'.

In terms of reason; [some of these I had never noticed until pointed out]

-Emotions: I have tremendous difficulty with understanding and expressing my own emotion. Even simply as happy and sad - the most complex it gets is 'not good'. I also don't understand other peoples emotions and unless there are laughing or crying then I have no clue what they're feeling and the way to react to that. I say things to people which they find offensive but I have no idea why.

-Routine: If I meant to be doing something and it doesn't happen I have a complete meltdown [ espcially if it more than one thing happens in one day]. Throwing things,  as my mum described, complete red mist. Foods cant touch, have to be on certain plates. The recent bank holiday has ruined me

-Sensory: I have sensory processing disorder. Bothered by loud sounds, certain clothes [will only wear shorts], certain foods, need weight etc

-Literal: I never understand the joke or I am the last, I don't understand pharese of speech - they mean nothing to me [I think they have nothing to do with the conversation anjd make no sense]

Facial expression: I find eye contact unbearable, I don't read facial expression well but I think that comes from bad emotional understanding.

No sense of danger: [this is my mums main issue] I don't have the ability to forward think, how what im going to say is going to upset people, if i run out into the road a car might hit me, liking certain things and not trying anything knew because i I stick to what I know there is never going to be any surprise.

Friends: I don't really have friends like other people do. Other people go out with friends and they text them and speak to them even when they don't want something like a lift but no one does that to me. When I'm at home no one speaks to me. I don't really know how to keep friends. Often I offend people and they tell me their not my friend. I find people very confusing and this cause great pain to me as I feel like everyone else got a rulebook to life, making friends and how to deal with people and I didn't get one.

Really sorry to jump in on this thread, but recombinantsocks, can I ask - do you find that test is accurate? There are a lot of tests for many different things online and I'm aware some will jump to conclusions without really good justification. (For the record, I scored as strong likelihood of Aspergers in this test).

I hope your appointment goes well, Cornerflag, Dr Brugha sounds very knowledgeable. 

I was diagnosed by a consultant psychiatrist, I filled in a questionnaire for myself and my wife filled in a different one and he then interviewed me with my wife. I had a few recollections from childhood and some stories from my adult life. He had no hesitation as he detected some behavioural things in conversation with us that lead him to his judgement.

There are lots of people whose parents aren't available (mine had both passed away), some won't co-operate or will even mislead the doctors, some are in your position. It wouldn't make any sense if we weren't able to get a diagnosis - a consultant who specialises in autism should be able to tell the difference.

What sort of problems make you think you have autism? Have you tried the free online test at aspergerstest.net/.../ ?

It would be odd if you weren't anxious about this as it is a big thing. :-)

That's interesting. Could you tell more a bit more about the diagnosist process without it. Where were you diagnosed?

im really worried about the whole thing that theyll just brush Me off like the last one did.

I just Googled for Terry Brugha. He is a professor with a special interest in autism in adults

www2.le.ac.uk/.../tsb

I should think you will be in good hands

A childhood history isn't essential. I was diagnosed without and this subject comes up on the forum fairly frequently and a number of other posters have managed without. It might actually be relevant that your parents had to let you go to a fostering - this might suggest that they were also struggling due to undiagnosed autism. This is speculation though but Prof Brugha may have a view on that.