Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, I’m going to try and keep this short.
I recently had an assessment with Psychiatry UK where I was basically told I don’t struggle enough to have a diagnosis even though I do have autistic traits.
I have felt different my whole life and just cannot accept this as an answer. I am a woman in my early 20’s and I am aware of the fact that often women go undiagnosed because of outdated concepts as well as masking.
Has anyone else been in my situation before? And if so, how did you eventually get your diagnosis?
Thank you in advance, I’m feeling lost.
Urgh... sounds like a partial assessment. It's a shame. There really should be an ASD Level 0. I think that the required amount of support needed can change through someone's life. You may be "fine" now according to the assessment, but it doesn't mean that will always be the case. To be clear, I don't think that they have said you are not autistic. But I'm not a doctor.
I had to complete a questionnaire that went through birth until now. I also had to have a relative fill a similar questionnaire out about me. I then had an online teams call as my assessment. I just feel as though what I do struggle with wasn’t really spoken about. The psychiatrist said that because I have friends and can understand other people’s feelings and didn’t struggle academically that he wouldn’t diagnose me.
Reading what you have said very carefully. I don't think that they are saying that you are not autistic, but they are not willing to do the proper tests based on what they think 'struggle' means. Is that correct? Or did you actually have the full blown assessment with the picture books, puzzles and talking to your relatives?
NAS94802 said:I have felt different my whole life and just cannot accept this as an answer
It helps to bare in mind that the label of autism given out by these assessments is about whether you are affected by your neurodiverse traits enough to meet the threshold of being disabled.
Neurodiversity is a spectrum which means you have a number of different traits, each at a level of impact on your life. If you have enough at a high enough level then you qualify as disabled.
You are quite probably still neurodivers but not badly enough effected to meet the threshold value that has been somewhat arbitarily chosen.
In essence, you are autistic but not enough to need help.
You are still capable of suffering from your traits so I would advise to consider yourself as autistic and look up the traits you exhibit and learn how to manage them and improve your quality of life.
Look at the posts here, contribute, ask questions and learn - that is what this site is for, and also for some social chit chat sometimes
We will still consider you as one of us if that means anything.