Hello I am new here

Hi and welcome to the community!

Many of us here are "late realised" and/or "late diagnosed", so you're in good company! :)

If you haven't yet seen them, you might also like to read through the various resources in the NAS's recently revamped diagnosis hub:

NAS - diagnosis hub

They cover all stages of the process, with each section containing several articles relating to that stage:

• Before diagnosis
• Assessment and diagnosis 
• After diagnosis 

For example, these articles (from "Before diagnosis") would perhaps make for a particularly timely read:

NAS - Signs that a child or adult may be autistic

NAS - How to request an autism assessment

For those who live in England, it also includes information about requesting an assessment via Right to Choose (which enables access to private providers who might have shorter waiting lists than the NHS, but with your referral and assessment still fully funded by the NHS).

Examples of Right to Choose providers are listed here, for example:

ADHD and ASD assessment – Right To Choose

The NAS articles include links to some screening questionnaires that you might like to complete, to get a better idea of whether your suspicions are correct. You might prefer to use the website below for this, rather than the versions linked in the NAS article.

This site provides some very useful commentary for each questionnaire, and also enables them to be completed online (with scores calculated for you), saved as PDFs and - if the results support your suspicions and you decide to seek a formal diagnosis - printed off to take with you to the GP.

The AQ-10 or AQ-50 seem to be the most frequently used / required by GPs in support of NHS referrals. RAADS-R might also be helpful:

Embrace Autism - screening tests

Hi and welcome to the community!

Many of us here are "late realised" and/or "late diagnosed", so you're in good company! :)

If you haven't yet seen them, you might also like to read through the various resources in the NAS's recently revamped diagnosis hub:

NAS - diagnosis hub

They cover all stages of the process, with each section containing several articles relating to that stage:

• Before diagnosis
• Assessment and diagnosis 
• After diagnosis 

For example, these articles (from "Before diagnosis") would perhaps make for a particularly timely read:

NAS - Signs that a child or adult may be autistic

NAS - How to request an autism assessment

For those who live in England, it also includes information about requesting an assessment via Right to Choose (which enables access to private providers who might have shorter waiting lists than the NHS, but with your referral and assessment still fully funded by the NHS).

Examples of Right to Choose providers are listed here, for example:

ADHD and ASD assessment – Right To Choose

The NAS articles include links to some screening questionnaires that you might like to complete, to get a better idea of whether your suspicions are correct. You might prefer to use the website below for this, rather than the versions linked in the NAS article.

This site provides some very useful commentary for each questionnaire, and also enables them to be completed online (with scores calculated for you), saved as PDFs and - if the results support your suspicions and you decide to seek a formal diagnosis - printed off to take with you to the GP.

The AQ-10 or AQ-50 seem to be the most frequently used / required by GPs in support of NHS referrals. RAADS-R might also be helpful:

Embrace Autism - screening tests

Thank you for the replies