Adult autism- how to get diagnosis?

Hi Happispirit,

Lots of relevant stuff raised by other posters. Longman is quite right to question whether a diagnosis is necessary. For some people who have no pressing need then it can satisfy curiosity but for others it is more necessary. I got diagnosed at 58 as I was going through a "bit of a crisis" with work and life and everything. I needed it to stop my employer pursuing a certain line of action and I also suspected that Aspergers was the root of a bunch of problems. In your husbands case, he is on medication for depression and things sound as though they are getting too chaotic for everyone. In his situation I think I might well pursue a diagnosis before it becomes more of a crisis.

Electra identifies the lack of support as an autistic adult. This is a bit of a lottery and it depends more or less on how chaotic someones life has become before you are given specialist second line support. Many autistic people will manage with primary care i.e. GP, some CBT therapy if necessary. It requires a sympathetic and experienced GP for this to work and you need to persuade the GP that he should something more than dole out some anti depressants. There are specialist adult autism support units in some areas (e.g. Bristol) but most areas sweep it into adult mental health care which just doesn't get the funding that it needs to provide a sensible level of support. SOme adults can manage well without support and intervention.

Many people on the forum have found that drugs don't really help. Some people here have found CBT useful. Some people haven't found anything that works for them. If the drugs don't work for him then you can use this as an argument in support of diagnosis as he needs something and the drugs aren't helping.

He is entitled to a second opinion - this has to be demanded/requested and this request needs to be done with enough formality to make the GP react.

The Catch-22 of autism is that we have difficulty communicating ourr problems during consulations with doctors. How do you communicate the problem if you have difficulty communicating? There are two approaches to this. Firstly, write down a brief explanation of what the problem is and hand that to the GP and then talk it through with them. When trying to get a diagnosis I think this needs to have two sections: a) what signs make you think it is autism and b) what real problems do you think this causes. Secondly, there are advocacy services where you get someone else to go along and make the case with the individual. There are formal advocacy services available (search on the site for more details) or you can get a friend or relative to go along and assist him. 

I would recommend two books that have helped me. "Living Well On The Spectrum" by Valerie Gaus is a self help type book that I used to begin with. It confirmed my suspicions, pre-diagnosis, and it promotes a positive attitude that can really help. The second is Tony Attwoods COmplete guide to Aspergers. This is a much longer read and is a long term resource that is invaluable for people trying to understand the syndrome.

@Parkin82: I don't know if some of this helps you? There are other threads about the problem of telling someone your suspicions. 

Hi Happispirit,

Lots of relevant stuff raised by other posters. Longman is quite right to question whether a diagnosis is necessary. For some people who have no pressing need then it can satisfy curiosity but for others it is more necessary. I got diagnosed at 58 as I was going through a "bit of a crisis" with work and life and everything. I needed it to stop my employer pursuing a certain line of action and I also suspected that Aspergers was the root of a bunch of problems. In your husbands case, he is on medication for depression and things sound as though they are getting too chaotic for everyone. In his situation I think I might well pursue a diagnosis before it becomes more of a crisis.

Electra identifies the lack of support as an autistic adult. This is a bit of a lottery and it depends more or less on how chaotic someones life has become before you are given specialist second line support. Many autistic people will manage with primary care i.e. GP, some CBT therapy if necessary. It requires a sympathetic and experienced GP for this to work and you need to persuade the GP that he should something more than dole out some anti depressants. There are specialist adult autism support units in some areas (e.g. Bristol) but most areas sweep it into adult mental health care which just doesn't get the funding that it needs to provide a sensible level of support. SOme adults can manage well without support and intervention.

Many people on the forum have found that drugs don't really help. Some people here have found CBT useful. Some people haven't found anything that works for them. If the drugs don't work for him then you can use this as an argument in support of diagnosis as he needs something and the drugs aren't helping.

He is entitled to a second opinion - this has to be demanded/requested and this request needs to be done with enough formality to make the GP react.

The Catch-22 of autism is that we have difficulty communicating ourr problems during consulations with doctors. How do you communicate the problem if you have difficulty communicating? There are two approaches to this. Firstly, write down a brief explanation of what the problem is and hand that to the GP and then talk it through with them. When trying to get a diagnosis I think this needs to have two sections: a) what signs make you think it is autism and b) what real problems do you think this causes. Secondly, there are advocacy services where you get someone else to go along and make the case with the individual. There are formal advocacy services available (search on the site for more details) or you can get a friend or relative to go along and assist him. 

I would recommend two books that have helped me. "Living Well On The Spectrum" by Valerie Gaus is a self help type book that I used to begin with. It confirmed my suspicions, pre-diagnosis, and it promotes a positive attitude that can really help. The second is Tony Attwoods COmplete guide to Aspergers. This is a much longer read and is a long term resource that is invaluable for people trying to understand the syndrome.

@Parkin82: I don't know if some of this helps you? There are other threads about the problem of telling someone your suspicions.