Published on 12, July, 2020
I’m autistic, and I’ve been dealing with depression and social anxiety for over a decade, now. My family has been battling the NHS to get the little support I have now. I am wondering how other autistic people are finding the NHS.
My first issue is that there are no autistic professionals accessible to me, which means I’m having to try and educate every professional I encounter on autism. I’ve been struggling to properly understand what autism is, myself, so I haven’t been doing great. I’m thankful to have an Adult Autism Intensive Support Team that operates in my area, because they have now taken up the role of educating NHS professionals on autism, but that means I’m now having to hope these other human beings internalise what is said to them, view me as equal, and treat my problems as equally as serious as a non-autistic person’s problems, which has happened rarely so far, it feels.
My second issue is the interactions with the professionals who do not care that I am autistic. Having a psychiatric doctor laugh when I told him I was autistic, asking me if it was something I had read on the internet. Having an occupational therapist try asking me to separate myself from my autism. Medication being the solution, for the time being, while I waste years of my life terrified of the world around me. I wonder what else there is that I’ve forgotten to mention. I should document the things that make me feel miserable.
If I were a caged animal, I’d have somebody in my corner. Somebody would scream “This is neglect!” Unfortunately, I’m an autistic human, so I don’t really have that. I have a team of NHS employees in my corner, who aren’t willing to bite the hand that feeds them, verbally, of course. Who would be willing to criticise the one that pays them, that gives them what they need to make it to the next day? I’m trapped, because they’re trapped. I’m losing hope. I have no faith in the NHS, or in British society to force our political leaders, those whose jobs it is to serve the people of our nation, to come to the aid of any autistic person.
In short: I have no faith in the NHS’ ability to help autistic people. How about you?
In short:
I have no faith that the NHS could possibly have access to the requisite funding TO ENABLE the NHS to "properly" help autistic people with the plethora of diverse and complex needs that are known to exist.
A subtle, but important distinction.......I think we must be careful not to universally besmirch the NHS which is on it's knees. The clinicians, surgeons, nurses, porters, pharmacists, doctors.......all feel pretty overwhelmed and are in some form of shutdown or burnout at the moment (from what I understand from people I know, and what I read in the press)......so we should be careful NOT to make them feel more hopeless and inadequate than their current resources make them.
I'll pack up my soap box now, and retire quietly to the shadows.
[Disambiguation - Jermaine, I'm not having-a-go at you above....you raise important matters....I'm simply giving my opinion on those matters.]
I am in complete agreement with you. I’d prefer you bring your soapbox out more. I’d love to join you, but I’ve had to turn to substances I’d rather not name to numb my mind, and it has numbed my political anger, too. Typing this out has made this realisation hit a little harder, now.
Please, do not feel the need to apologise. It’s not the NHS’ fault it’s not getting the necessary resources to help everyone. You don’t blame a child for being underfed. You blame the parent.