adult diagnoise

Oh yes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xz3CIiIess

Aspidistra?! Better than an aspirin, I suppose.

Certifiably eccentric then!

Join the club : - )

I would interpret eccentric to mean different to normal (whatever that is) but not in need of help or intervention whilst clinically diagnosed autism is different but in need of clinical assistance. 

Hi Mlle Lermontova - didn't know "eccentric" was a recognised mental health condition. You should ask them to define the official symptoms. Good luck with the rest of the process.

I've had my first appointment at "Living Well Hub" (yuck!), where an Australian woman said she was just checking that I didn't have anything else. She seemed happy that it was ASD and has referred me to the clinic at Maudsley - another 2+ months to wait apparently.

During the appointment, she said that the UK was about 10 years behind Australia in terms of diagnosis and support for ASD. She previously worked in a London borough where they didn't have anyone involved in ASD diagnosis, so Lambeth is obviously a step up for her.

Hi steff118,

I think there isn't a simple answer, unfortunately. It depends on your area, and how well-informed your GP is.

I would ask your GP first what they know about adult diagnosis services in the area. I would also do some research (online or through local hospital?) to try to find out who actually does the diagnosis in your area - either privately or NHS.

My local GP in London told me initially that it was only available privately. When I told them about an NHS service in the next borough, they found there was two ways to be referred there. One direct from the GP (to get the funding), or another via the local Mental Health services. I've chosen the second option, as I think I'll get a better quality of referral (ie. less chance of being bounced back). Either way, it takes a while and I have asked *lots* of questions about the referral process to make sure it happens.

Hope that helps.

Hi Steff118

Firstly, welcome to the forum.

A private diagnosis may be better accepted if you go through your GP for a referral to a reputable private mental health consultant. The GP would then expect a diagnosis letter back from the private consultant and your NHS medical notes will then include the diagnosis. Your GP would then be able to provide confirmation of the diagnosis to people that need to know.

I went through this route and the diagnosis has not been questioned by my employer or the local NHS mental health team that have provided me with some post-diagnosis assistance. This also enabled me to pursue Access To Work assistance.

It wasn't cheap though but it can be a good solution in some situations.

Hi steff118,

In terms of diagnosis, you can either go through the NHS or privately. If you are going through the NHS, you need to be referred to a diagnostician by your GP. It might be helpful to look at our pages on adult diagnosis. In terms of private diagnosis, the price can vary from £100-£1000 or more. The issue with private diagnosis is that in some cases Local Authorities have not accepted a private diagnosis. I hope this helps you but if not, you may want to contact our helpline which you can also email for further advice.

Sofie Mod