Hello, I'm Hugh

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That is very good news indeed. The letter was an excellent idea. When I finally had the courage to say something to my GP I had lots of other health issues. I just dropped it into the conversation "oh and by the way I've been wondering if I might be autistic" so they didn't even properly consider it. I tried mentioning it to my boss too and she said "you can't possibly be autistic, you're articulate". 

So pleased you are on the pathway now. Although it has been very tiring, and I don't know the outcome of my assessment yet, I am very glad indeed that I finally took this step. Advice and support from members of this online community has been incredibly helpful  in coping with the added pressure of being assessed. 

Welcome, Hugh.

Glad to hear you got your referral without any hassle; getting referred by a GP is the biggest hurdle for a lot of people, so hopefully the rest will be plain sailing for you.

Thanks for the welcome and good wishes, everyone.

Thanks! He'd read my letter, which was great, because I probably would have chickened out of mentioning it otherwise. He gave me a referral straight away, so I'm seeing a community psychiatric nurse for the next step within the next few months.

I found this piece on autistic burnout really helpful:

https://ollibean.com/autistic-burnout/

Hope you got on ok at the GP. 

Good plan to flag up the issue of autistic burnout in writing. It's a shame that this is not more prominent in GP's minds... we need a 'Think Autism when adults present with depression and anxiety' campaign! 

I've just got the joke!!!! (20 hrs later)

 Will do, I'm thinking of dropping a letter in for him in the morning so he has a head start... he thinks I'm coming in for a depression meds review, but I want to tell him it's caused by autistic burnout.

hello and welcome!

Hello Hugh, I'm a new clear disaster :-)

Hi hugh, welcome and well done for taking the first step and for being self aware...

Good luck with the next step.

Have you taken any online diagnostic tests?

These might give you a "score"...

I only received the formal diagnosis this year (January) but very pleased that I went through the process!

Best wishes,

Anna

The bit about getting worn out interacting with people in real life sounds really familiar! I referred myself directly for autism assessment as I had other urgent health problems needing intervention by my GP.

Other people on this forum have recommended taking information with you to your GP demonstrating why you believe you are autistic. As you have self-diagnosed I'm sure you will have no problem with this. There are advantages and disadvantages to getting diagnosed, as with everything in life, but the consensus seems to be that it is a good thing.