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.
I went for a screening apt at my local autism assessment centre about 2 years ago and was so anxious they would not offer me an autism assessment, they just said I had a problem with anxiety. I was told I was entitled to a second opinion but they could not see me there so my GP referred me to the Lorna Wing Centre. He had to apply for out of county funding, and this was agreed early in 2020, just before we went into lockdown. I have just chased them up and found out that I am at the top of the waiting list! If you have a supportive GP ask them to refer you for a 2nd opinion. I volunteer helping autistic adults and I have so much in common with them, a diagnosis would just confirm what I already know!