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intro & question

martinez

Hello, I'm a young adult with a question I'm wondering.

How did people on here approach the subject of Autism with Dr's etc?

My question is related to my current circumstances - not wishing to go too deep into it.

I'm going from an health assessment I had back in July 2022 & a phone interview I had with Rethink, that was for a report into treatment of young adult with mental health, both asked if I had tests for disorders such as autism.

I am now wondering how to approach the topic with medical professionals - surely if I rock up & ask for tests for  a certain disorder, wouldn't this be viewed as suss.

How is it approached?

Parents

  • Good morning from America, martinez!

    I fully agree with B, Nicola, and Iago that there shouldn’t be an issue with you approach a GP and directly asking for a referral to get assessed for Autism. I can add, though, that the way I approached it was asking if I could get my ADD (now ADHD) that I was diagnosed with as a child confirmed along with being tested for Autism. So, if you think it could also be to some extent ADHD (which is a very common comorbidity with Autism), then you could say to the doctor “Hey, can we see if what I’m experiencing is ADHD or Autism? Or maybe both?”

    Note: I’m from the States, so I think they can test for both simultaneously in the UK, but I’m not sure about that. I don’t know what NHS offers versus private practices.

  • in reply to profdanger

    Hi, One of my thoughts is I've read its rare for an adult in thier 20's to develop it 

  • in reply to martinez

    Hi Martinez. You can try this site's guidance on what autism is.  This page also gives three basic screening tests for autism to help you.

    Assessors look for signs in childhood before they consider signs as an adult. This is because autism is classed as a developmental condition that affects our thinking all our lives. One thing that made me realise I'd been autistic in childhood was looking at the screening tests and raking through things in my childhood that I hadn't thought of for decades (I'm in my 70s). Reading about autism put these things in a completely different light and my assessor pulled out more that I hadn't even thought about, because I'd thought they were just normal.

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  • in reply to martinez

    Hi Martinez. You can try this site's guidance on what autism is.  This page also gives three basic screening tests for autism to help you.

    Assessors look for signs in childhood before they consider signs as an adult. This is because autism is classed as a developmental condition that affects our thinking all our lives. One thing that made me realise I'd been autistic in childhood was looking at the screening tests and raking through things in my childhood that I hadn't thought of for decades (I'm in my 70s). Reading about autism put these things in a completely different light and my assessor pulled out more that I hadn't even thought about, because I'd thought they were just normal.

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