Think I'll just have to stay self diagnosed

Post Reply New Topic

In my limited experience of being diagnosed, and reading comments here on WP, a few things seem to be the order of the day.

1) It is a long wait
2) I get the impression that for adults a referral from a GP is NOT essential. The service that I was diagnosed by (Action for ASD) allows adults to self refer.
3) The assessment process seems to vary from place to place AND person to person. Some indicate a battery of tests, others like me a pre-assessment screening, which is the online multiple choice test, and then a couple of hours chat with an assessor was all I got.

At first I was a bit disappointed that they didn't do the battery of tests that others claim to have, BUT I have come to the conclusion (my own opinion, which may be wrong) that they will only fund the cost of the battery of tests if they are really needed. In other words only people on the border line [at my assessmemt place] would have had the full tests. Any one clearly with AS wouldn't need to have them because the assessor is happy to diagnose without them.

There are plenty hits on Google if you enter "Adult Autism Southend-on-Sea". Who you have seen I don't know, but take a look on Google and see what you can find.

Yup and -

Yup.
I suppose it depends on the situation - your age, location / country, the situation you're in and the severity of autism and so on. It also constantly amazes me how much things change when you're coming at a situation that demands all kinds of things from you, and you say "well, I don't have those things, what's the alternative?"
And suddenly there's all kinds of alternatives. Same may be true in this instance.
Would you prefer to be diagnosed, or remain self-diagnosed?

Firemonkey,

My husband's doctor mailed the questionnaire paper work to his mother and sibs. None of them HAD to go to the actual review.

It could certainly appear to be overwhelming. Even my diagnostic encouraging is often too tedious, but, is meant to be an overview of the amount and kinds of work individuals could do for themselves in pursuing a diagnosis. I am often surprised that others succeed in their diagnoses with far fewer records, test scores and such. They usually just rely on a list of the behaviors and characteristics they see in themselves. In the end, preparing for a diagnostic assessment should be only as involved as the individual who creates it wishes it to be. By provoking a better discussion with a clinician, the result is improved. Good luck.

Ideally I would like it to be officially recognised that there is more than mental illness going on. Although I believe I have ASD traits I am much less sure about meeting the full criteria. My worry is that a negative result would strengthen the "It's all to do with the mental illness" thinking which, to put it bluntly, is a load of BS .