Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all, I’m new here and was hoping for advice please. I had an autism assessment 2 years ago and was told that I had many symptoms of ASD but that I didn’t have autism. I was heartbroken as I have felt different all my life and really thought that autism could be the explanation for it all.
I looked back on my assessment and felt I didn’t explain my issues well enough and maybe masked etc. I am terrible at eye contact for example and the fact I knew they would be assessing things such as eye contact made me focus on it even more than normal so who knows what I portrayed. Also the assessor wanted to know about my childhood and I wasn’t able to answer the questions because I didn’t want to ask my parents or tell them about the assessment. Since hearing about the flurry of adult females in the media being diagnosed later in life I have requested a GP appointment to get a referral for a second opinion. Has anyone else done this before?
I swing from being absolutely certain I’m autistic to feeling a bit narcissistic and silly even suggesting it. My son and my Dad show signs which is another reason for me pursuing a diagnosis at the age of 36. It’s brought up so many emotions and I’m feeling so exposed and raw dredging through all the challenges I have faced to prepare for another assessment. I would be so gutted if they tell me I’m not autistic for a second time.
I don’t seem to have many relevant symptoms when I was a child and most of my issues relate to secondary school onwards. Do you know if you have to have symptoms from birth to be diagnosed as autistic?
Sorry to brain dump. Thank you for your help.
From the DSM 5 - Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities or may be masked by learned strategies in later life).
That seems quite clear, although unfortunately it also seems open to the interpretation of the assessor. I'm self diagnosed only at present, and as this is already helping me a great deal, I think it may be a good idea to leave it at that. Rather than having to rely on someone else's interpretation of the criteria and what I am able to tell them. The process seems far from perfect.
I am also a person that did not knowingly have any issues with what may have been Autism whilst at junior school. Life was simple at school. I was in a tiny friendly village with small classes amongst accepting kids. I was also well supported in a loving family. These are all factors that can reduce Autism characteristics. Autism wasn't a known thing back then, I may have been considered only very shy, or someone who had difficulty talking to adults.
The thing is though I know I am Autistic from all of the research I have been doing. I don't need anyone else's validation. It would be nice to have it, but the process is so flawed, especially with the assessors interpretation of the above clause.
If an assessor tells me that I am not Autistic, then frankly I won't accept it. It makes too much sense, and fits too well to be potentially discounted by someone who doesn't understand the realities of how the bolded statement above has actually played out in people's lives.
Thanks so much for your comments. My primary school life sounds exactly like yours so whilst I experienced challenges they were manageable at that age. Really helpful to hear this perspective thank you.