How to tell my doctor that I want to be assessed for autism?

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In January I was referred to a mental health team by a member of staff at my school and one of the reasons for the referral was to be screened for autism/asperger's. However the mental health team never mentioned it to me and they closed my file after I saw them twice. I got their report a few weeks ago and it did not mention an autism assessment, not even in the 'reasons for referral' section (despite it being a reason for referral...:S). The member of staff at my school who referred me left in April so I can't ask her about what happened and I am no longer in touch with the mental health team because as I say, they closed my file. My counsellor also wants me to be assessed and told me to go and tell my GP.

I am probably going to see my GP on Monday and would like to explain this situation to them and ask for them to organise for me to be assessed. However, I don't want to seem like an attention seeking hyperchondriac teenager or whatever and I'm worried they might not take me seriously. I am going to see if I can get a copy of my referral to the mental health from school on Monday and if I can I will take that with me. I am not sure what else I need to say to the GP though. Should I tell them about traits of asperger's that specifically apply to me or should I just ask to be assessed and that's all? I have not self-diagnosed myself and I never will, but I would really like to be assessed and have a definitive answer either way.

I have problems with anxiety recently too and even thinking about going to see my doctor is majorly freaking me out so any advice/support/insight that might make the process somewhat easier would be really appreciated. Thanks

I think th best thing to do would be to print off a good list of symptoms from the Internet and tick off the ones that apply to you and write a note of how each symptom has affected your life.

This is what I did when I referred myself for an ADHD assessment, which I was diagnosed with but then also got told I had aspergers, so prepare yourself for other possible daignoses from the assessment lol

I also found a specialist in my area and gave her details to my gp so he could refer me straight away which sped things up a bit. Most specialists can now be found on the Internet so I'd advise a bit of research before you go

I agree with Kookygirl's advice.

The National Autistic Society has a relevant page here.

Thanks for the replies. Is there a particular list of symptoms online that you would advise me to look at?

Read through the link that Orr provided. It tells you how to approach your GP and the areas you need to cover to explain why you need the assessment. Think about it before hand and write down your reasons so that you don't forget when you're there. Don't be embarassed about referring to you notes while talking to your GP. I do it all time. I have a checklist so I can tick things off.

The link below is a good on line test that might be helpful


glennrowe.net/BaronCohen/AutismSpectrumQuotient/AutismSpectrumQuotient.aspx

When I wrote to my doctor I had the following paragraphs

Intro (Spoke about why I want an official diagnosis and why I know I'm an aspie)

Sensory (Mentioned all sensory issues)

Thought Process (Included in here seeing things differently, good memory, live in my own mind a lot more and not dependent on others, consuming thoughts etc)

Society/Culture Clash (Spoke about problems having a normal job, not conditioned to society etc)

Social (Spoke about others being draining and needing downtime, face blindness, things like that)

Hobbies and Interests (Spoke about obsessive interests and losing sight of time and priorities, the need to have hobbies and interests to clear the anxious restlessness, routines, collecting data etc)

OCD/Anxiety/Other (Mentioned a few other traits that seemed to fit into this category more)


It came to four and a quarter pages in the end and was probably worth speaking to me for months and even then everything was much clearer so I would recommend writing everything down so the doctor can read it before you see them and they can just ask a few questions based on that rather than you having to explain everything in one session.

Thank you everyone! This is really helpful, thanks.