Autism

[deathrey]

And this morning he put on shorts and t-shirt for his dad without much fuss ??‍♂️

[ReturnOfTheMack]

On 9/23/2023 at 5:35 PM, ReturnOfTheMack said:

Well, after posting this last year I looked into it more and more after the words of encouragement from the lovely folks on here (and thanks to those who reached out, meant a lot). Various unofficial tests and whatnot, anything I could find. Everything comes back saying ASD is likely (well, words to that effect).

Yesterday I decided I'm going to start the process of getting diagnosed one way or another. Maybe I'm autistic, maybe I'm not but knowing may really help me understand myself.

 

2 people, besides my wife, know about this. 1 said 'yeah, sounds right', the other 'I knew it'.

So this has been a nightmare. I got a referral from my GP and was told it could be several years. The initial paperwork came in and I managed to lose it in the chaos of moving house. I got too embarrassed to ask for it again, so consigned myself to not knowing.

However, having been very lucky and come into some money (without anyone passing on) me and the wife (I almost called her Mrs Mack, but being a fan of It's Always Sunny...) decided to go down the private route. Just paid for it, so here we go.

[DavidB6937]

Always shit that anyone has to even consider going private just to get considered in a reasonable time frame but I hope it's better for you.

[Hannibal Scorch]

I got told similar. My original diagnosis wasn’t accepted by my doctor as it wasn't done to the NICE standards, but he was willing to put me on the list for an assessment through the NHS after seeing the report. He had rejected the request 6 years earlier.  I got a letter to say 3 1/2 to 4 years!

So I looked into Right to Choose and was able to get an Autism and ADHD assessment. 3 months for the Autism one and 6 months for ADHD, which I have at the end of the month. The Autism assessment was similar to what I had done privately, but it was done over 2 assessments about 6 weeks apart with 2 doctors. 

I agree it’s terrible the waiting lists are so long, but shows how underfunded this has been for so long. Well done on getting it arranged though

Edited July 13, 2024 by Hannibal Scorch

[ReturnOfTheMack]

So my diagnosis came in today. Yep, I'm autistic.

Going to be an interesting time as I get my head round it and process this properly. I was convinced, even up to the report coming in, that it would say I wasn't. My heads a whirl right now.

[Hannibal Scorch]

3 hours ago, ReturnOfTheMack said:

So my diagnosis came in today. Yep, I'm autistic.

Going to be an interesting time as I get my head round it and process this properly. I was convinced, even up to the report coming in, that it would say I wasn't. My heads a whirl right now.

This is the bit they don't prepare you for. How do you feel?

[ReturnOfTheMack]

Honestly not sure. I'm all over the shop right now.

[Hannibal Scorch]

2 minutes ago, ReturnOfTheMack said:

Honestly not sure. I'm all over the shop right now.

Well by all means feel free to PM if you need. Not saying I’ll be much help, but I’ll try

[lars85]

I don't want to hijack this from others who are clearly more in need than me. But for a while now I've been pretty certain I'm on the spectrum. My mum works with autistic children and my nephew is diagnosed autistic, he goes to a special school for it. So my sister and mum both have a pretty good idea of the signs and they've both said I show some of the symptoms. 

I know the whole point of it being a spectrum is that it's different for everyone. And if I am on it, it's the 'milder' end, (apologies if that's the wrong term). My question is, is it worth all the hassle that some of you have been through trying to get a diagnosis? It doesn't really have a negative affect on my day to day life. And I'm not looking for any sort of help. If anything it would be more about satisfying my own curiousity. 

So yeah, what I'm really asking is, should I go through the potential upheaval of everything involved in getting assessed and diagnosed if it wouldn't really make much difference to the way I live my life?

I hope this doesn't come across as insensitive to anyone, that's not my intention. Just looking for some opinions.

 

 

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

27 minutes ago, lars85 said:

It doesn't really have a negative affect on my day to day life. And I'm not looking for any sort of help.

 

On 7/13/2024 at 6:54 PM, Hannibal Scorch said:

I got a letter to say 3 1/2 to 4 years!

I don't mean to sound like a prick but isyour curiosity worth adding to the waiting list of people who really could need that diagnosis. I would suggest it's not but it's down to you obviously. 

 

 

[lars85]

11 minutes ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said:

 

I don't mean to sound like a prick but isyour curiosity worth adding to the waiting list of people who really could need that diagnosis. I would suggest it's not but it's down to you obviously. 

 

 

This is absolutely what I'm looking for. There's obviously people who are far more in need than me. Like I said, it's not really having an affect on my life, so I don't know what a diagnosis would really do for me. And I don't think you sound like a prick.

[Hannibal Scorch]

2 hours ago, lars85 said:

I don't want to hijack this from others who are clearly more in need than me. But for a while now I've been pretty certain I'm on the spectrum. My mum works with autistic children and my nephew is diagnosed autistic, he goes to a special school for it. So my sister and mum both have a pretty good idea of the signs and they've both said I show some of the symptoms. 

I know the whole point of it being a spectrum is that it's different for everyone. And if I am on it, it's the 'milder' end, (apologies if that's the wrong term). My question is, is it worth all the hassle that some of you have been through trying to get a diagnosis? It doesn't really have a negative affect on my day to day life. And I'm not looking for any sort of help. If anything it would be more about satisfying my own curiousity. 

So yeah, what I'm really asking is, should I go through the potential upheaval of everything involved in getting assessed and diagnosed if it wouldn't really make much difference to the way I live my life?

I hope this doesn't come across as insensitive to anyone, that's not my intention. Just looking for some opinions.

 

 

It’s a weird one. The one advantage from me getting an ADHD diagnosis is I am now prescribed medication to help with that (although I’m only a week in so it’s helped a bit already but it’s early days). Obviously there is nothing you can do with Autism. And if you were struggling I’d say a diagnosis could help if you needed work place adjustments, as that would be of use. But if it’s more because you’re curious it’s probably not worth it. Especially as the actual diagnosis process I found emotionally draining and difficult.

[Jazzy G]

I'm waiting for an ADHD assessment as well, and some people around me have suggested that I may be Dyspraxic as well. It'd certainly explain quite a bit. 

Counselling course started again this week. Level 3 Counselling. One of the ladies on the course attends one of the Autistic groups I go to. It took me a while to realise, but it's also reassuring that I'm not the only one working towards the same goal. 

 

[SuperBacon]

Thought this was well worth sharing in two threads!

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/dec/08/playing-games-turns-me-into-a-person-who-makes-sense

 

[Chris B]

Just found out my nephew is going through assessment at the moment, and they've told my sister it's very likely he'll be diagnosed with autism as well as ADHD. Knew about the second, but while the first is a surprise, it does make a lot of sense. 

He has some negative influences we'll be trying to counter - but is there anyone well-known with autism that an 11-year-old might look up to? Best I've got so far is Satoshi Tajiri (the creator of Pokemon).