Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, I'm Kodey. I am a 23yr old from South England.
I have signed up here as I am fairly certain I am autistic and I am looking for some support with it. I have done a lot of reading on autism and other things that may present similarly so I am fairly certain that I am autistic. At the moment though, I don't see enough advantages to a diagnosis to weigh out the disadvantages I see with it.
I have been struggling a lot recently with work due to stress and anxiety. No-one there knows the issues I am facing and so I mask all day.
Hi Kodey,
I was diagnosed a week ago aged 34. I've known since 21. I felt it was pointless to get a diagnosis. I was also too scared to see the GP.
However, since finally receiving confirmation it has been such a huge relief emotionally. Even in this short time I've started masking less as now if someone has an issue with me I can say "I'm autistic" rather than "I have some autistic traits" which always sounded so clunky.
As mentioned, you are legally entitled to reasonable adjustments at work, which might help to reduce your anxiety.
Also coming on here and talking to people who feel the same is really helpful, especially if you don't spend time with other autistic people in real life.
What are the disadvantages of a diagnosis for you?
Forgot to ask in the other reply, what was the diagnosis process like for you? How did you find it?
I went private to avoid a lot of the stress of assessment. 2 psychologists came to my house. My mum came to fill in some of my early habits. It took 4hrs in total. Quite draining but I didn't feel massively uncomfortable. Told me there and then.
Thanks for that. I have to renew a UK licence next year. (I've just renewed a local licence.) I heard DVLA were talking about this six months back. It struck me immediately that the diagnosis was probably only having a positive effect on my driving. Here I am in a country with one of the worst car accidents records in the World, and although driving is never restful here, I'm doing rather well with it. My basic strategy is to continue basing my driving here on UK standards, although some flexibility also does help in adapting to local driving foibles. And although I had a private diagnosis in the UK, that information could not be transmitted to a UK GP because I don't have one; I've been too long as an expat to get any immediate assistance from the NHS. So what would be the point of reporting a diagnosis to the DVLA when it is obviously not having a negative impact, and when I can't refer them to my NHS practice anyway. Also, I have already told myself that when I no longer feel comfortable driving in the UK (and elsewhere), I WILL give up my licence and hop on public transport I reckon i have a few decades of driving to go yet, though.
Oh, thats really reassuring to know. Everything I had seen said you had to tell them. I don't think my driving is affected at all. I've been driving for 6 years since I turned 17, passed first time and have never had any issues so I really was worried about why they needed to know.
Thanks for the information
Julie Lennard, Chief Executive of the DVLA, wrote to us (NAS) yesterday to apologise again for the confusion and to confirm that autistic drivers only need to inform the DVLA of their diagnosis if they believe their autism could affect their driving.
https://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/media-centre/news/2019-03-04-dvla.aspx