Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi
I am a recently diagnosed 66 year old man who is struggling with coming to terms with the revelation that my whole life has been controlled by a condition I had never learned anything about.
Now that I am working to integrate this new concept I am finding a lot of resistance from my wife and family who are unsettled by how relationships might change.
I hope that this community might provide some answers to so many questions, fears and trepidation.
Ron
Hi, Iain,
I was woundering, did you have to go through your doctors for a diagnosis assessement or can someone refer them selfs to be diagnosed.
If you have enough money (around £600 - £2,000 depending on provider) you can refer yourself for a private autism assessment. Otherwise, either through the NHS directly, or 'The Right to Choose' (where the NHS pays for a private diagnosis for you) a GP referral is necessary.
Martin,
My autism traits defently date back to childhood same as the ADHD traits. Sometimes I honestly feel like I have struggled with every day life/activities all of my life. And when I'm really struggling with thing my communication is awful, I sometimes won't communicate at all. Letting it all stay in my head.
You proberly are thinking all my god, what is she on about. THANK YOU..
Happy to help.
I would take some autism tests: AQ10 and AQ50 (sometimes called just 'AQ') are the most commonly used by clinicians in this country, but the RAADS-R is the most definitive. They can be found here: https://embrace-autism.com/autism-tests/ to give yourself as much ammunition as possible in order to convince your GP to refer you. Have a look online for the autism diagnosis manuals, they will give you an idea what traits you need to show in order to get a diagnosis. You will also need to show that your traits have a day to day 'deleterious' effect on you, and that autism traits date back to childhood. Good luck!
Hi, Martin,
Thank you so much for replying to my message.
Oh wow, that expensive isn't it. I will be 52 this August, in October 2022 I was diagnosed with ADHD and I am on meds for this. I will have to contact my doctor for a referral.
Thank you again Martin.
Alison