Female 67 years old. Should I get assessment?

You don't have to if you don't want to. A lot of people don't because of the stress of the diagnosis and how long it can take... But if you're worried about age: it's never too late! The diagnosis brings with it a lot of reassurance and an amazing self knowing feeling, that's how it was for me. It's entirely up to you what you do, it's your life, your journey of self discovery and whatever you decide I hope everything works out for you :)

I was confused b the same question of whether it is worth getting diagnosed. I did. It's ultimately up to you. The positive aspect is getting to learn more about yourself, you will start to understand why you are the way you are, and for you to give yourself space instead of being hard on yourself for doing what you do. So, this is the big plus side plus you'll stop wondering and be sure of it. The downside for me was, after the diagnosis, I felt like nothing changed. I kept and still am asking myself so what now? It felt like after the diagnosis I was on my own. The price is a lot for the diagnosis but I would recommend it because I still found a good place to take it that charged a bit less than the rest but it was still expensive. Goodluck with your decision. It took me a year to decide after my therapist suggested it a couple of times.

Thank you for this. It really helps me to read it. As I said above I am 60 and diagnosed in March after years of struggle anxiety and hiding. I am still coming to terms with it. It’s hard. I also wonder how I could possibly have lived all of these years and not known. I have lived a life of shame and fear thinking myself to be weird. 

Stimmed!

I am a 60 year old woman, diagnosed in March this year. I have also skimmed all of my life ( rocking and hand flapping mainly) in private. I have had years of struggle and fear and believing myself to be weird and unloveable. The diagnosis has helped to make sense of things but I am still struggling to come to terms with it and to know how to live differently and in a more honest way because of it, but I don’t regret it.

Hi if you want to go for the assessment. I am going through at 65. Explains so many things. It has also been good communicating with people at in face meetings, zoom meetings and forums. 

How lovely that your GP was so sympathetic and onboard with your self diagnosis and is putting you forward for an official diagnosis :) I'm sure it will be worth the wait.

I'm also in my 60s and I have to say I was stunned when my daughter suggested I might be autistic. Quite a few years ago I took an online test but with the benefit of hindsight I realised I was answering the questions as a masked person, still trying to fit in. I do find quite a lot of the questions ambiguous but answering them as I'm very slowly unmasking I get a very different result. 

Seeing people of my age group coming to the realisation that they're autistic and getting a diagnosis is incredibly helpful to me because I keep questioning how on earth could anyone reach my age before finding out this vital information about themselves!  I feel less alone knowing I'm not the only one going through this so thank you for posting 

Thank you for the useful comments

I went ahead and talked to my GP. After a short discussion she stated categorically that I am autistic, and empathised with the stress I must have been under all my life due to masking. She also, apologetically, offered me an assessment if I am prepared to wait 4 years.

I keep finding myself reviewing my life in the light of this diagnosis. So much makes sense now. I do wonder who the real me might be. I have spent so much time masking that I do not know how not to.

aye there shouldnt be a cure, because its your personality, it likely also shouldnt be called a disorder but rather just a different personality type really when you think on it.

if there was a cure for a personality disorder... it would change your personality... and if they can do that, then they will deem everyone to be ill and enforce this cure that changes everyone to the personality the government wants. a very obedient compliant worker drone personality that is easy to rule.

Hi, I'm male and was diagnosed at 67 after a lifetime of being misunderstood, misdiagnosed and misinformed.

I always knew I had something more than just 'anxiety' and having recently discovered that stimming had a name (I'd been doing it all my life, mostly in private as the kids used to tease me for doing it in school).  I  then read that folk on the spectrum also stimmed, and things started to fall into place. I read a few books on autism and kept finding myself in the pages so went for an assessment.

Result: ASD High Functioning.

That was four years ago and it was the best thing I ever did. Parts of my past are still falling into place, I now understand Ben so much better than I ever did before .

There may be no cure and no treatment, but knowledge has brought me to a much quieter and happier place.

If you go ahead with a formal assessment (and that decision is yours alone) then I hope you find it as useful as I have.

Ben

Hi,

I read your post and it sounds like you definitely have a fair few autistic characteristics. For example, findings socialising & eye contact challenging, sensory dislikes with food, meltdowns, intense interests are all very indicative of autism.

I understand you’re sceptical of online tests, with good reason, but the AQ is a validated autism screening questionnaire. Your score on the AQ-50 also is well over the 32 cut-off score. However, I’d also recommend the CAT-Q - a useful measure, particularly for women, and it’s used in clinical diagnosis in some practices. 

It’s very selfless of you to want children to be able to access resources, but everyone is equally deserving of a diagnosis. However, to me - an autistic woman - you sound very much autistic, and diagnosis may not be accessible to everyone. I hope that I can help you feel validated. 

if you do want/and can access a diagnosis, I recommend seeking it out - regardless of age or needs level. If not, you’re still welcome and part of the community.

I hope this was helpful and good luck!

Thank you for the link.

Well, if all waffle was that informative, I am all for it.

Just as you say, I think getting a formal diagnosis will help me accept myself. Already, having just scored highly on an online AQ50 test, and so having some justification for considering myself on the spectrum, I can understand some aspects of myself and life better.

It constantly surprises me how ill-informed some medical staff are about relatively common conditions (the worst being menopause) so unfortunately the comments you received in hospital I find unsurprising. I hope you are fully recovered. 

I live on my own and have no living relatives in the UK. In later life, if I ever need care, at home or residential, I think having a formal diagnosis will mean that that care hopefully can be better tailored to my needs, so long wait for assessment or not, I think I will go for a diagnosis. 

Go for it if you can. IME it will help take the pressure off you, always expecting yourself to be a certain way and why you can't do certain things. Another reason I decided to get an assessment was to precisely try and avoid the scenario of being sectioned and given treatment that is wrong for me. Healthcare providers and social care institutions that help in later life need to know so they can treat you correctly make reasonable adjustments to your care by law if needed.

I was Ok with self-diagnosis for a while, but have now decided to go for it despite being 50 and not in work anyway due to physical disability. Mostly in case it might help with interactions with the health service. I am going private, but it doesn't have to be 4 figures. This place has been recommended by others on this forum, so I am hopeful it will be a good experience and much more affordable (3 figures and in the lower half of that). And it's fast, I got an appointment for a video pre-assessment 3 weeks from the day I made contact! She apparently tells you the result at the appointment, then if you want an official assessment that is a different appointment a few weeks later, but should not differ from her appraisal.

https://www.shropshireautonomy.co.uk/autonomyplus/pre-diagnostic

Hi, I finally had my diagnosis at 58 following a very long wait for an NHS assessment. Because there was nobody alive able to discuss my behaviour as a young child I received the diagnosis of atypical autism. Now a child who only communicated with a mother would be immediately flagged up in school, not in the 1960s.

I am now 65, for me my diagnosis has been mostly positive. When in hospital recently I could insist my curtains stayed closed, some medical staff even showed additional interest as most had not somebody my age on the spectrum. Unfortunately most didn't have a clue, not good enough in a hospital setting. I was told I 'looked normal' also,  'isn't that something children get', I could go on....

I can now say sincerely to people that I cannot do something or I find it difficult because of my ASD. Previously it just wasn't the same saying I thought I had autism, it felt like a lie.

My diagnosis has helped me accept myself, also undo some of the self loathing I experienced over the years for my social anxiety and 'odd' behaviours.

I have had mixed responses from others when I disclose my diagnosis, most adults don't have a clue about allowances someone with autism may need making and so can be uncomfortable around you. Several people have asked why someone my age would want a diagnosis. For me, it is a beginning of the life I should have lived. I still feel like a confused adolescent socially but at least I feel I have the start of discovering the 'real' me, behind all the masking or avoidance.

As I head towards later life I also hope that the adjustments to make me feel more socially comfortable have more chance of being made, this would have been unlikely without a diagnosis without a diagnosis.

Covid has played havoc with my mental health, having to isolate and not mix for me was like Christmas and birthday rolled into one. Now 3 years on I have no idea how to get out of my austistic ' prison,,'.

Apologies for waffling, I assume it is an autistic trait to not be able to voice the important facts and in order!

the issue with that is the nhs takes ages and often never gets round to it.

but if your ok with like a 3 year long wait then yeah go ahead. although if you miss their phone call you will never hear from them again apparently.

Very useful points.

Yes, it was AQ50. I scored 44 - fairly high?

AQ10 scored at 8.

If I can pick the most suitable GP in my practice, I might take it further.

Thank you. It is useful to know many are self-diagnosed. So much "fits" if I consider myself autistic rather awkward, abrupt, difficult, obsessive and unsocial, all labels that have been used about me since childhood and which have such negative connotations. 

My mental health is often so severe that I already get PIP (difficulty leaving house etc). Yes, PIP is not designed for any mental health problem, let alone autism

The decision ultimately is yours and yours alone, but you have as much right as anyone else if you want it!

You mention you've been hospitalised.  The NHS should see it as money well spent for you to be assessed, it might mean you get the right support as opposed to them spending cash on the wrong support in future and help keep you well and well away from hospital.  The needs of kids are important, but so are ours.  We've gone decades without being recognised and that has caused whatever issues we may have.  We are important too.  (I was 56 btw and without my diagnosis, I doubt I'd still be here).

As for the online tests, if they were the AQ50, then it would be a good indicator of likely autism.  It's not a diagnosis in and of itself, but the AQ50 is well respected as being the pointer toward an assessment being clinically advisable.  A GP would have you complete the shorten version of that; the AQ10.