Around 18 months ago I started the coming out and the getting diagnosed legs of my autism journey, right here on this very forum and I would like to thank you all for your help and being part of it.
It has been a pretty good year and a half. I came out to my close family about being autistic and was accepted and I received a formal diagnosis.
My local NHS health board stopped accepting referrals for autism due to lack of resources and told me my only option would be to seek a private assessment.
So after a few weeks of research, I found a company that suited my needs, great reviews, properly vetted, followed all the correct standards, pre-assessments all done through a web portal, all assessments conducted via Skype. Perfect.
The waiting list was only 2 weeks. Not much time to prepare, but I already had pages of notes all ready to go (well, more like a a 6000+ word essay.)
After registering as a patient, I spent an entire day answering many different screenings and assessments, from multiple choice to writing info dumps about my reasons for seeking an assessment. Questions about childhood, questions about anxiety, depression and sleep. I was also asked to prepare some seemingly random objects from around the house.
Weirdly enough, I had very little anxiety about my assessment. My only concern was Skype audio quality. The report even read that "no signs of anxiety were observed." Guess I always was good with this kind of medical thing.
The assessment itself was the one with the flying frogs that I had heard so much about. It lasted around an hour and a half, with tasks and a LOT of personal questions which I managed to answer easily.
I scored high on the masking assessment, so the clinician asked me to try my best to present my most authentic self.
He remarked many times that my answers were "very interesting"
He liked my "magic happy switch" analogy and asked if I had copyrighted it. Told me that was my way of describing masking.
All in all, it was a very comfortable assessment.
2 days later I had my feedback session where the clinician verbally confirmed my diagnosis. He told me that all written autism reports had to go through a quality control process to make sure they are up to the correct standard before they are sent to the patient and their GP and that would take up to 10 days.
9 days later, I received the report. 18 pages! (well 16, since 2 were a summary designed to be given to an employer or school.) It detailed many of my strengths as well as my issues.
But I also learned a few things about myself that I didn't fully consider before.
I do experience shutdowns. I didn't consider that before, but the way I described certain feelings sounded like shutdowns to the clinician.
Related to shutdowns, I do go non-verbal in some situations and I learned about identifying some specifics. The report recommended a tablet as a means of communicating. We also talked about wearing a lanyard and carrying information cards and I'm still thinking about the wording. Maybe more than one, for different situations.
There is a lot more to take in than I thought. I assumed I would be writing this post about 2 minutes after I got diagnosed and that it would be a lot shorter. "Just got diagnosed, it went great, thanks for everything love you all!" Not quite. I mean I did get diagnosed, it did go great, I would like to that you all for everything and I do love you all. But I have still been provided with a lot more to think about and process. The journey continues.
The process is still ongoing. I am still waiting to receive confirmation that I have been removed from the NHS waiting list and my diagnosis has been added to my medical records. I might have to chase that up. I also received an invitation to a post diagnosis webinar. I booked it for the 17th of September. It is via Zoom with up to 15 other people who have also recently been diagnosed. Should be interesting.
So, that is my official diagnosis update. Of course I want to thank you all for the support over the past 18 months. You all gave me so much help with all kinds of support, validation, encouragement and inspiration. I don’t think I would have found the process of coming out and getting diagnosed quite as easy without this community.
I'll be around on here as long as possible, to keep giving back to the community as best as I can. Lived experiences, solidarity for new members who are lost and need help they can't find in their offline life or elsewhere. Or just sharing random things that others may find interesting. A re-introduction might be in order.
Much love, respect, solidarity and all that good stuff to you all as always.
It has been a pretty good year and a half. I came out to my close family about being autistic and was accepted and I received a formal diagnosis.
My local NHS health board stopped accepting referrals for autism due to lack of resources and told me my only option would be to seek a private assessment.
So after a few weeks of research, I found a company that suited my needs, great reviews, properly vetted, followed all the correct standards, pre-assessments all done through a web portal, all assessments conducted via Skype. Perfect.
The waiting list was only 2 weeks. Not much time to prepare, but I already had pages of notes all ready to go (well, more like a a 6000+ word essay.)
After registering as a patient, I spent an entire day answering many different screenings and assessments, from multiple choice to writing info dumps about my reasons for seeking an assessment. Questions about childhood, questions about anxiety, depression and sleep. I was also asked to prepare some seemingly random objects from around the house.
Weirdly enough, I had very little anxiety about my assessment. My only concern was Skype audio quality. The report even read that "no signs of anxiety were observed." Guess I always was good with this kind of medical thing.
The assessment itself was the one with the flying frogs that I had heard so much about. It lasted around an hour and a half, with tasks and a LOT of personal questions which I managed to answer easily.
I scored high on the masking assessment, so the clinician asked me to try my best to present my most authentic self.
He remarked many times that my answers were "very interesting"
He liked my "magic happy switch" analogy and asked if I had copyrighted it. Told me that was my way of describing masking.
All in all, it was a very comfortable assessment.
2 days later I had my feedback session where the clinician verbally confirmed my diagnosis. He told me that all written autism reports had to go through a quality control process to make sure they are up to the correct standard before they are sent to the patient and their GP and that would take up to 10 days.
9 days later, I received the report. 18 pages! (well 16, since 2 were a summary designed to be given to an employer or school.) It detailed many of my strengths as well as my issues.
But I also learned a few things about myself that I didn't fully consider before.
I do experience shutdowns. I didn't consider that before, but the way I described certain feelings sounded like shutdowns to the clinician.
Related to shutdowns, I do go non-verbal in some situations and I learned about identifying some specifics. The report recommended a tablet as a means of communicating. We also talked about wearing a lanyard and carrying information cards and I'm still thinking about the wording. Maybe more than one, for different situations.
There is a lot more to take in than I thought. I assumed I would be writing this post about 2 minutes after I got diagnosed and that it would be a lot shorter. "Just got diagnosed, it went great, thanks for everything love you all!" Not quite. I mean I did get diagnosed, it did go great, I would like to that you all for everything and I do love you all. But I have still been provided with a lot more to think about and process. The journey continues.
The process is still ongoing. I am still waiting to receive confirmation that I have been removed from the NHS waiting list and my diagnosis has been added to my medical records. I might have to chase that up. I also received an invitation to a post diagnosis webinar. I booked it for the 17th of September. It is via Zoom with up to 15 other people who have also recently been diagnosed. Should be interesting.
So, that is my official diagnosis update. Of course I want to thank you all for the support over the past 18 months. You all gave me so much help with all kinds of support, validation, encouragement and inspiration. I don’t think I would have found the process of coming out and getting diagnosed quite as easy without this community.
I'll be around on here as long as possible, to keep giving back to the community as best as I can. Lived experiences, solidarity for new members who are lost and need help they can't find in their offline life or elsewhere. Or just sharing random things that others may find interesting. A re-introduction might be in order.
Much love, respect, solidarity and all that good stuff to you all as always.
after nearly nine years can't grasp it's autism, just thought why am i hated
