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I Don't know

Hollie

Hi, I'm hollie, I'm 36 , and I think I'm on the spectrum. 

All my life , I have never fit in. People always said I was "weird" and awkward. My mam tried getting help for me in my childhood and she basically was eye rolled at and dismissed. I remember wheni was 10, some psychologist would visit our house and was trying to figure out why I was, the way i am. And he couldn't help us. And I have struggled ever since. I have always been socially awkward,  and make inappropriate comments. Ect. I attempted suicide when I was 19, and had my son when I was 20. I struggled so much in his first few years as he was quite a handful. Which turned out being due to his asd aspergers diagnosis. And as he needed my full attention , I struggled to find myself and anyhelp I needed. (Which I would do again as his needs always come first) I met my wife in 2012 and she has picked up on so many similarities in us. And we've tried to manage my struggles. But now I have reached a point where I can't cope . I'm always in my head, I feel like I'm going abit insane because I need to start my own diagnosis journey. My wife tells me everyday when I do something that could be down to autism. 

We really think it is more on the ADHD/ Aspergers side of autism. 

I really need some guidance on what to do, how to do it, what to ask for with my GP. 

Can anyone point me in the right direction? 

Thanks for reading Blush

Parents

  • Hi Hollie and welcome. The first step would be to go to your GP and explain why you think you may be autistic (basically what you've posted here). It's a long process - took me four years from first visiting the GP to getting a diagnosis (though Covid may have affected that). My experience was that the GP didn't do anything other than refer me to the local mental health NHS Trust. After a few months, they did a screening exercise (basically just an interview in person for a couple of hours), they felt there was enough to refer me for a specialist assessment. That involved a couple of interviews, and that led to my diagnosis.

    Obviously whether to seek diagnosis or not is a very personal decision. Personally, I'm really glad that I did, it has been a weight off my shoulders, and if anything I just wish I had done it earlier. 

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  • Hi Hollie and welcome. The first step would be to go to your GP and explain why you think you may be autistic (basically what you've posted here). It's a long process - took me four years from first visiting the GP to getting a diagnosis (though Covid may have affected that). My experience was that the GP didn't do anything other than refer me to the local mental health NHS Trust. After a few months, they did a screening exercise (basically just an interview in person for a couple of hours), they felt there was enough to refer me for a specialist assessment. That involved a couple of interviews, and that led to my diagnosis.

    Obviously whether to seek diagnosis or not is a very personal decision. Personally, I'm really glad that I did, it has been a weight off my shoulders, and if anything I just wish I had done it earlier. 

Children