Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi
I just had a private assessment in London which said whilst I scored highly on the ADOS, my mother completed the ADI-R and it came back below the cut off so they said my problems were more due to anxiety and depression not aspergers. I hated the assessment as the psychiatrist didnt seem interested in what I had to say and consequently I didnt get to explain much about the things i find difficult. More time was spent with my mother (who is 72) and my husband. I find it hard to accept an assessment which heavily relies on retrospective information from someone who failed to see a lot of my issues as a child anyway and would always tell me to "forget about it" if an issue arose.
I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem? Has anyone had a second assessment? I am wondering what the value of this would be as I wouldnt want my mother involved.
I would be very grateful for your thoughts
maaya
I haven't even got that far yet. I've struggled for about 5 years with the NHS to try and get me assessed. I've spent 20-odd years struggling with anxiety, social interraction, issues, depression, and OCD, and all the time I'm just being treated for each item individually. At one point they were blaming my home life, and I was, like, what? Really? Asperger's is what causes the anxiety and depression. I don't know why they never look at the root cause of it all, just always trying to sort the symptoms. I waited on another waiting list for 8 months to see a psychologist for it, just to receive a message from my occupational therapist saying they didn't feel they needed to see me. So, when back to the doctor, again!, wanting another appointment, and I got a letter saying I have been given an apointment with a dietician. Absolutely no idea why...back I go again next week!
I was advised by my local One Stop Shop to check out SWAN:
www.facebook.com/
www.autismnetworkscotland.org.uk/.../
It's purely for helping out females on the spectrum and they are helping debunk the myths on females on the autism spectrum (I'm just assuming you are a female by the way...) You can maybe get in touch with them and see what they can do to help. They shared a story from the daily mail today where a woman, Caroline Hearst, finally got diagnosed at the age of 55. It had been missed for that long.
Personally, I just spend my time at my local One Stop Shop because they understand me better than any NHS or paid 'professional' can do.