Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm a 47 year old female and I've struggled pretty much all my life because of traits that I believe are associated with ASD. I have been to my GP twice and they have referred me for assessment for ASD but the referral was rejected and returned to the GP both times. I was never given a reason. (I wasn't even told I was rejected either - I had to chase that information!)
I saw the mental health nurse at the GP surgery once and I did the AQ questionnaire and scored high. The nurse said I've probably got Asperger's. That's the closest I have got to a diagnosis.
I noticed on here other people are getting referred for official diagnosis successfully, albeit you're having to wait years. I don't understand why I've been unsuccessful. Does anyone have an pointers for me please? Many thanks...
Thank you so much for understanding me and for your kind words. You made me cry! xx
I can absolutely see where you're coming from and that is a very understandable reason as to why you'd want a formal diagnosis.
I really do hope things work out for you and you can build a better relationship with your sister!
You seem like a lovely person, sometimes neurotypical people just cannot understand us. We can't get along with everyone, and I can't say I particularly like/get along with even my own family members, however one would hope that if you are able to explain your behaviour with a diagnosis then she may feel differently!
Good luck :)
Thank you so much for your really helpful answer. You understood my situation exactly, that on two occasions GP's referred me and each time the referral was rejected by the assessment centre.
My mum would have been able to provide a great account of my childhood problems, given the opportunity. She remembers traits in me from as early as when I was a baby, e.g. not wanting to be held.
I will persue the letter that should explain why I was rejected. I think that's a good place to start. I'm with a different GP practice now, hopefully they'll be easier to deal with! Many thanks.
Hi, thanks so much for your answer.
No, I didn't receive the letter with questions.
Thank you for your encouraging comment about self-diagnosis being valid. However, I feel that only my mum and my partner (who know me best) take my traits into consideration and give me a bit of slack. Other people, e.g. work colleagues and even my sister, who I am sadly estranged from, just find me odd, immature and generally quite difficult to deal with at times.
I've mentioned to my sister in the past that I think I may be on the spectrum and she agreed because of the things she remembers I did as a child, eg. remembering dates of birth, phone numbers, makes of cars just by the shape of their headlights in the dark, car number plates and my synethesia, etc,etc. But as I said, we're estranged and I believe it's because she not only finds me insufferable but she's resentful of me because my parents have supported me through decades of depression and meltdowns. It's so painful that she doesn't want a relationship with me. Maybe if I had an official diagnosis she might take me more seriously and cut me some slack.
Ok so the situation as I understand it, and correct me if I’m wrong, you asked your GP for a referral and he gave you the aq10. You scored high on the aq10 so the gp properly referee you for autism assessment. You heard nothing about this for ages then when you enquirers with your gp he said the assessment centre refused your referral but he didn’t explain why.
there are 2 main reasons an assessment centre might refuse a referral. One their waiting list is huge and they simply refuse to add more patients to the list. In the NHS you can’t usually do this but most services are paid for by the local council not the NHS so the rules are slightly different.
The other reason they might refuse someone is if there was no relative or friend of the family who could give an account of what the patient was like as a child. Diagnosis is more complicated when this is the case and it could involve you being referred outside of the CCG.
either way your gp will have received a letter explaining (probably in a single sentence) the refusal. That now forms parts of your medical records and you have a right to know.
you should start by asking your gp directly but if that doesn’t work you can use a subject access request. A legal request they have to honour to show you all the records they have on you. You’ll have to fill out a form and show ID at reception to prove you are you. It takes a few weeks and comes on a CD Rom usually but this is an option.
once you know why you were refused you can plan your next steps.
How far did you get with the assessment process?
When my GP referred me, I got a letter with questions to answer about my life and a few symptoms and then I had to send that off to the specialist.
Did you receive that letter?
Also I'm pretty sure Aspergers is the same as Autism, but I try not to use that label as it has negative connotations.
I would keep trying if you really want a diagnosis, but self diagnosis is valid!
If you have a spare thousand pounds or so, you can bypass the GP and get a private assessment/diagnosis.
Finding a clinical psychologist who specialises in autism diagnosis is key