Hi

Congratulations on your diagnosis and welcome to the community!

There are a lot of other late-diagnosed people here, so it's a great place to share your thoughts, connect with others, and/or just to pick up tips and learn by reading others' posts.

The NAS has a great set of articles focused on "after diagnosis", including one covering how you might feel during the subsequent days / weeks / months. You might find them of interest and/or helpful:

NAS - How you might feel after a diagnosis

NAS - Other advice covering post-diagnosis including:

• Talking about and disclosing your autism diagnosis
• Emotional support for family members after a diagnosis
• Formal support following an autism diagnosis
• What can I do if formal support is not offered or is not enough

Therapy (or counselling) is often recommended after a diagnosis, as a follow up action for your GP to arrange. In anticipation of that, you might find it helpful to borrow or buy this book, which includes discussion of various types of therapy and counselling, together with advice on choosing the right therapist or counsellor - all from an autistic person's viewpoint. Several of us here have found it very helpful, including me:

The Autistic Survival Guide to Therapy

Hello Bunny. OMG! Thank you SM!!

Thank you for the articles, so kind of you, they will be a lot of help. It kind of feels like I’m left in the dark now to be honest as I got my diagnosis and it was like bye then… I have been sent a referral for a therapist so hopefully that won’t be too long waiting. I waited almost six years for my diagnosis, I’m hoping it won’t be as long for the therapy.

I'll check my library for the book, if not I'll buy it for myself. I already have read two books on autism/neurodivergency and both are really helpful to me.

Thanks again x.

You're most welcome! 

The waiting times for the NHS's talking therapies can be quite short (with over 90% of referrals accessing therapy within six weeks, according to recent data), so hopefully you'll here from them soon. 

If you don't get the help that you need from your GP in due course, the article titled "Formal support following an autism diagnosis" (via the link in my previous reply) includes a template letter that you can send to them to request a support plan per the national guidelines.

You're most welcome! 

The waiting times for the NHS's talking therapies can be quite short (with over 90% of referrals accessing therapy within six weeks, according to recent data), so hopefully you'll here from them soon. 

If you don't get the help that you need from your GP in due course, the article titled "Formal support following an autism diagnosis" (via the link in my previous reply) includes a template letter that you can send to them to request a support plan per the national guidelines.

Me too. Medical appointments just frazzle me and everything becomes a lot more difficult. The buildings are usually busy, noisy and running very hot - it's just one big recipe for a meltdown for me. Processing info on top of that is almost impossible.

I like your idea of having a notebook for health-related things. I'll start doing this now, must be an absolute lifesaver for you. I know it definitely would be for me. My problem will be remembering to take it with me. Though I'm only 28 my memory is shocking!

Writing questions down beforehand is a good plan. I used to do it by writing on my palms but because I got so worked up and sweated, the ink ran and became unreadable before I actually made it in to the appointment with the doctor I've never been up top for thinking on these things! I think writing in a notebook will work out better than writing om my palm did.

I'm very glad to be of help!

Partytrooper said:

my GP probably did tell me I just struggle to take in loads of info at once.

I'm the same in any kind of medical appointment - and my mind often also goes completely blank, even when they're only asking me very simple questions.

In case it's of any help by way of a tip, I now have a separate (paper) notebook for all things health-related.

Whether it's a phone, video, or face-to-face appointment, I use it to prepare my questions in advance, and then also to write down all of the important things that they tell me.

I've learned not to be shy about telling them this (especially in phone appointments, where they can't see what I'm up to), so that they can allow extra time and speak more slowly, which allows me to keep up. Everyone's always been very kind and accommodating about it.

Ahh sweet thanks for telling me I wasn't sure on the waiting times for this, my GP probably did tell me I just struggle to take in loads of info at once. I ought to hear pretty soon though as it is almost six weeks or very nearly.

Thanks for your help. Seriously it's so nice of you and it's been such a help for me today.