UK aspies: NHS Experiences.

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Crikey. And these people are meant to be professional care-givers?

Ambivalence, that's exactly the kind of scenario I am imagining.

Sorry to hear about your experiences, Dave. I've been there myself, with depression. I didn't know I had AS then. 8 months is a long time to wait for help when you're going out of your mind.

What is the point of getting diagnosed? I say this because I have no intention of claiming benefit.
I personally do not want to play NT games or do NT stuff. I don't want counseling, I don't want medication. I can function.


If I ever decide to give up painting houses apply for a professional job, Aspi-label will certainly go against me. If I did get the job I wanted I'd have to work twice as hard as an NT to prove I'm worth keeping + put up with all usual that goes with it in interaction. Have hinted to someone I was applying to for Phd , I might be " Aspie", He was all friendly + interested and brain picking up to that point, think I might have scared him off .Will see what happens next.

The other serious matter is, if they do decide we are a genetic problem then not only do we face
problems but our descendants do. Insurance companies might use it as loophole for expensive insurance, our might get excluded from certain careers , they might even have forced treatment, or worse still face some kind of eugenics regime. Who knows where this leads?

So what is the value of the label? I can't see it.

i got a diagnosis because the "not knowing whether i have it" was driving me mad. i couldn't stop researching on the topic of autism and asperger. without it, i felt i wasn't able to be as self aware as i'd like to be. at least now, knowing truly the source of my strengths and difficulties, i can plan my life more effectively. also, it was very comforting and refreshing to be able to talk about myself and everything significant that i've been from childhood to adulthood (during the 5 hour assessment) with a professional who knows what i am going on about. i felt for the first time that i was understood by another person.

Yes I can see that side of it. But I guess I've got trust issues with the medical and related professions. Thing is I don't want to apply for a role I know I can do, be given a feigned smile, which I can now recognize, and be offered a part time job + disabiltiy allowance as a car park attendant when I've applied for a Phd. ( which is the kind of stuff that happens in my life- Profs are all very nice to you when out brain picking , "so how do we do this", etc, but when it comes to wanting you, or giving something you really want, it never, ever seems to materialize. So with label it might be even worse?

my assessment was with a consultant developmental psychiatrist (a senior medical doctor as a private hospital) and not an academic or a psychologist with a phd. i was fortunate to have a very pleasant experience and i trust him 100%. i now see him once / twice a month and all received lots of help, support, treatment from him to help me manage my asperger, adhd and dyspraxia. all i am saying is there are genuine professionals out there who are sympathetic, empathetic and wanting to help and to understand us.

Moog- I really do appreciate your subtle positiveness. ( Genuine)

I have just been chewed up and passed out of the bottom of ESA/DWP- ( finally got my money by threatening them with exposure via scary passive aggression and implied use of social equivalent of (imaginary) death ray) , so, I am a little untrusting of big organizations and their intent right now.

I do tend to default to extreme evolutionary explanations regarding complex human behavior a little too readily, I agree , but then I have seen what people do , when they believe they are doing something else.

Nice to chill with your words.

I paid for private too btw, the 6-800 price range was correct for mine. The issue was i was in a bad place and due to the weather my NHS appointment was canceled and rebooked for 2 months later. I couldn't wait that long.

Regarding waiting times, sure these 1-3 month gaps are tedious, but most countries don't have a free option, or getting an insurance company to pay/refer you is way tougher than getting the NHS to. Don't want to get into a fight with half the americans against their healthcare bill but i personally think a waiting list is a small price to pay for being able to get everyone the help they need, even if it's not perfect.

As for the "why diagnose" questions. Everyone likes to dismiss doctors as clueless but they are the professionals, not us. You can spend months reading up on AS and still be wrong becuase you didn't read up every single other possible alternative. I had to push the initial psycologist i saw to refer me, but at my diagnostic assessment i was diagnosed with comorbids which now make a lot of sense but i'd never looked up so i would never have self diagnosed them. That's why no matter how much you think you know better, you probably don't.
And for me, the diagnosis is worth whatever value i place in the person who gave it. They're not all clueless or uncaring.