Published on 12, July, 2020
I have posted here before. I am 35 male.
I spoke to my doctor and they said I should do an assessment for autism and they put me forward to a clinic. I did the autism assessment form with my mum. I filled in everything and totally packed out the extras page.
The clinic I was sent to has terrible reviews on how they say you're not autistic if you're chatty etc. they denied someone instantly for pulling out their chair for their wife.
Anyway I didn't hear off them so I rang the doctors and another doctor said my application was denied because I didn't give enough information. It honestly baffles me because I packed that page out. The doctor then said after talking to me I am too sociable to have autism, which annoyed me.
My uncle has autism and has never worked due to it and has a carer but is the most sociable person. At the time I was like ok but over time I feel more wound up.
It really disappointed me. I'm tired of being told that I don't need to be diagnosed or there's no cure for autism. I don't want to be cured but when I looked into it so so much made sense for me. Now I feel like I am a liar with anxiety that's my own fault due to not having perfect diet etc.
Getting diagnosed would have been like my brain had finally been pieced together and I could have guided through life knowing this.
I am considering paying over £2000 for a private assessment but if I do that to be told I just have anxiety I will be real stressed. I work full time but saving the money would be hard.
Has anyone else had experience like this or has advice?
Really sorry to hear you were treated so shoddily. It seems like there are still some scarily outmoded notions about what an autistic person mustn't ever be seen to do to be the real deal. I hope you're doing OK, and don't give up on pursuing a formal 'diagnosis'. The private assessments are unavoidably costly, but well worth finding a way to save up for if, like me (I paid in 2022 after being told there was otherwise a 4 year wait), you need the external validation of a professional coming to a skilled conclusion and outlining it to you. Even in your feared situation (that there's not a clear cut 'you are autistic Level X'), you'll very likely still be told of significant traits and other conditions that you have that will help you get the clearest perspective on your life you've ever had. But it could well be that you do get told you're autistic, and as you deserve to know it's worth finding a way to make that happen. Best of luck...
So true.
Honestly that sentence about getting the clearest perspective is making me tear up because that's how much it means to me.
I used to think I have the worst anxiety out of everyone I've ever met. I know that isn't true now and as everyone's anxiety is so personal I bet we all think ours is the worst. Thinking I have ASD makes me think oh yeah it isn't the severity of the anxiety it's just how my brain works in this scenario which makes it ok.
I honestly can't believe how dinosaur some professionals views are. It's scary to know you're miles ahead of some doctors in terms of understanding certain mental health areas. I have no medical academic background but just not being ignorant and treating people one by one regarding ASD puts you ahead of a big % of professionals. Why they got to make it so hard??
Sometimes I think it's because they think you're going to claim disability benefits and it's as if you're cheating the system. It's not the case and I work full time. I actually work as a debt adviser for a charity. We also help with benefits. Fun fact ... Up to 75% of PIP disability benefit applications only get accepted on the appeal of a first rejection. They don't want people claiming PIP it costs too much money so they initially deny a huge %. Depressing but true.