I guess you would need to go back to your GP and ask for a re-referral. And if they say no, go private. If you are young, they will probably want your parents input.
I was recently diagnosed in my 40s and often wonder how things would have been had I been diagnosed as a child. Sometimes I think I would have had more support at school, some positive role models/mentors, and a good career. Other times I think maybe it would just have been one more thing I would have been bullied about, and (as you say) a stigma.
Whatever you decide to do, you are under no obligation to tell anyone you are or were ever diagnosed as, autistic. I have not "come out" to many people. Certainly not at work - I overheard my manager make a disparaging general comment about Aspergers last week, and kept quiet. Then felt bad that I did not speak out :-(
I guess you would need to go back to your GP and ask for a re-referral. And if they say no, go private. If you are young, they will probably want your parents input.
I was recently diagnosed in my 40s and often wonder how things would have been had I been diagnosed as a child. Sometimes I think I would have had more support at school, some positive role models/mentors, and a good career. Other times I think maybe it would just have been one more thing I would have been bullied about, and (as you say) a stigma.
Whatever you decide to do, you are under no obligation to tell anyone you are or were ever diagnosed as, autistic. I have not "come out" to many people. Certainly not at work - I overheard my manager make a disparaging general comment about Aspergers last week, and kept quiet. Then felt bad that I did not speak out :-(
