Adult female looking for an ASD diagnosis

Hi DragonCat, (loving the username btw) .

Thanks for the supportive message, everyone in the NAS community has been so lovely. I'm attempting to carry on as things are, however I have always found it extremely difficult to live day to day and at the moment am having at least one meltdown a day. It's so hard trying to find the right support and to not give up on myself, especially when I don't even fully understand why I struggle like I do.

Thanks again. 

J

Can I ask where abouts you teach? I currently teach in quite a tough school in West London (thankfully out of there soon) and I find that schools (especially this one) aren't perceptive or understanding with teachers that have mental health conditions. Due to a number of reason (recent bereavement/stress of the job) I have taken some time off this year that lead to my timetable being changed drastically whilst I was away. Is there anything that can really be done in this sort of environment to prevent this as I went from teaching the subject that I loved, alongside my main subject to having that subject taken away.

Welcome. My advice to you would be to have faith in yourself and your own feelings. You have connected the dots and found out the truth about yourself, as so many of us here have done, and much earlier in life than many of us, which is to your advantage. By all means, seek a diagnosis, but don't put your life on hold waiting for one.

I got diagnosed a week ago. I'm 46 and have been successfully teaching for over 20 years. So yes, you can be a good teacher and be autistic. I too have lots of learned behaviours and I'm sure a lot of people who know me would never think I would be autistic. Most teachers would say teaching is an act anyway, but for me underneath that is also the act of "appearing normal". then underneath that is the real me.

Hi there,

Both articles were incredibly useful to me so thank you.

I actually asked my counsellor today (who I was sent to see when rediagnosed with an Anxiety Disorder/depression) what she thought in regards to the potential of me having Autism. She stated that through the nine hours we had spent talking, she wouldn't think so because if I was I wouldn't have been able to engage with her the way I do and that I wouldn't be as good a teacher as I am if I was.

I can understand where she is coming from with a traditional set of autism symptoms, however I know that I score highly when taking diagnostic tests and that it becomes more apparent when I am at home and don't need to be 'normal'. I feel like I've learnt how to behave in the way that's expected (maintaining eye contact, discussing feelings, being caring towards students...) and that it didn't necessarily come naturally to me. I'm good at connecting with a person one to one or in small groups but anything else is difficult.

Is this typical of autistic females and realisticly, what chance do I have of getting a diagnosis in the UK?

Thanks,

Louise

Hi Louise, 

Thanks for your reply. It's nice to hear from people in the same situation. I've had the same problem, I think sometimes doctors only see what they are already looking for (eg. BPD/OCD) instead of looking at the situation as a whole. I have never agreed with any diagnosis and was always left feeling alone and that there must be something fundamentally wrong with me. As a child I actually thought I had been placed on the earth by aliens  because I felt so different and isolated. My meltdowns have always been diagnosed as panic attacks, and before I realised what my aggressive hand flapping and other stimming behaviours were I was told by mental health professionals that I needed to take responsibility for my actions as I was completely 'of sound mind' and had 'capacity' and was therefore responsable for my actions. 

Good luck in your search for a diagnosis and for support, I wish you all the best. 

J 

Hi there,

I am also new to this forum and I'm undergoing the same experience as you. Throughout my life I have been diagnosed with a multitude of mental health conditions and it was only due to my partner (who has worked closely with autistic people) that I became aware that my separate conditions are actually most likely undiagnosed autism. Especially when you include other 'symptoms' that haven't been considered during diagnosis in the past such as hypersensitivity to touch, loud sounds and pain, tendency to become obsessively involved in the things I enjoy, etc.

Hopefully we can both find the help we're looking for.

Louise