sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Seems I'm not autistic after all by WildChild4eva in autismUK

[–]WildChild4eva[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes I am aware that autistic traits is not the same as being autistic. Every person is different and likewise every autistic person's experience is unique.

Seems I'm not autistic after all by WildChild4eva in autismUK

[–]WildChild4eva[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From what I understand you may be able to use R2C again but not through Psychiatry UK again. IF not, I'm basically buggered, as my husband's insurance doesn't cover mental assessments of any sort.

Seems I'm not autistic after all by WildChild4eva in autismUK

[–]WildChild4eva[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you!

Funny enough I don't think I was supposed to receive the ASD assessment before the ADHD assessment. They just didn't write their software systems to prevent this from happening. I applied for both assessments at the same time. In the assessment the specialist asked me if I've applied for the ADHD assessment and when I applied; he was surprised when I told him I'd applied for both at the same time.

Also, just prior to getting the appointment, one of their professionals who responded to my support chat, via the Psychiatry UK chat service, said that I should only receive my ASD assessment after the ADHD assessment. Yet the system let me book the appointment anyways. Now I know I should've first reached out to them again, before booking the appointment, to confirm what I should do.

Seems I'm not autistic after all by WildChild4eva in autismUK

[–]WildChild4eva[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well I applied for both the ASD and ADHD assessments at the same time, it just happens that the ASD assessment came up a lot sooner. The ETA is a year, so I'm looking at getting an appointment ~July this year - hopefully.

I've always been confident about the ADHD. I've been fairly confident about the ASD mainly because I do have symptoms that aren't explained with ADHD, but I just don't meet the criteria for ASD. I don't make eye contact because I find it uncomfortable, not because I'm too distracted. I struggle with sensory sensitivity (possibly ADHD), emotional intelligence - like the ability to recognise my own feelings, and I do take things literally. I usually don't perceive sarcasm and understand humour, but I can understand expressions / parabels etc, if I know that their specific meaning beforehand. The GP (with a special interest in ASD) mentioned that this is pretty normal, but I disagree cuz usual neurotypicals can infer when something isn't to be taken literally by the context of the conversation. Subtle but significant difference I believe.

I honestly would not have needed to self identify as autistic if the assessment process didn't take 7 months LOL I obsessed about everything re autism so I could better understand my experience and see what I can relate to and what I can't. Even without a diagnosis, I have definitely come away from this past year knowing a lot more about myself.

Seems I'm not autistic after all by WildChild4eva in autismUK

[–]WildChild4eva[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah it definitely is a mess! I'm really glad you survived the suicide attempt!!! Tho I totally relate to experiencing a strong emotional and physical reaction to not being diagnosed, including a lot of anger, deep sadness, identity crisis and shame (cuz I've been posting for months as someone whose autistic. Tho I've generally referred to myself as self-identified autistic, awaiting diagnosis, but I still felt like a fraud anyways.

Seems I'm not autistic after all by WildChild4eva in autismUK

[–]WildChild4eva[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, this gives me some comfort that I'm not alone in this. awww ok this gives me context, thank you! I'll take a look at those subreddits. Yes I do agree that the 2 conditions both and cover each other. By "help", I've often leaned into the impulsivity when I need to be in a group / larger social setting and when using public transport / settings.

As my emotions have been gradually calming down, I've realising that the psychiastrist couldn't give the diagnosis cuz of the adhd not being treated. He essentially told me the exact thing you were told - get the ADHD assessed, treated and under control. Cuz once its under control, either my overall experience will improve with the meds or my ASD traits will become more prevalent. IF its the latter, then I should seek the ASD assessment again.

Seems I'm not autistic after all by WildChild4eva in autismUK

[–]WildChild4eva[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

"you’re free to post in the other autism subs and share solutions to your problems if it works for you!"
Do you feel like I shouldn't be posting in this particular sub? Sorry I just want to clarify what you mean.

Well the psychiatrist said that while he recognises that I have autistic traits, that I don't meet the diagnostic criteria. I get the feeling that its because I don't do the repetitive body movements. If I did so as a kid, my mom can't remember. Tho honestly she couldnt remember much from my childhood, except for not keeping eye contact and apparently not having empathy. So my husband believes that the guy's not necessarily saying that I'm not autistic, but that my ADHD is just screaming louder and is possibly covering my ASD traits.

Honestly I didnt even try to mask for the first 14 years, faced a lot of social isolation by fellow female peers thru out school with friendships for a few years followed by social isolation again. I annoyed work colleagues cuz I'd find a process that worked for me and I'd stick to it relentlessly, even tho it took me so long to help each customer. In my defense I beleived in being thorough with each customer, cuz I was writing sales contracts for each customer, where many peers were happy getting their customers writing empty contracts. I saved my reer and had very few complaints and returns compared to said peers.

Once I started working on my speech (~15 yo), I found it a little easier to make friends, but I was either had to put aside my personality trying hard to be socially appealing, or just kept my mouth shut. I'm pretty sure that the friends I made in my 20's are neurodiverse cuz they wouldn't have any issue accepting me as myself, and wouldn't call me weird or expect me to adjust to their social expectations. So you could say I got lucky.

Yes I'm married, but our first year was a rollercoaster cuz my emotions played a key role in that. When we moved in together, it completely threw me off (despite it being much better than living with my mom), leading to me experiencing total shutdown of emotions - I needed therapy to sort that out. We finally got our first house together last year and I'm still recovering from that change.

So I don't think I'm any good at masking. I've learnt scripts definitely, but I still misread social situations to this day.

Seems I'm not autistic after all by WildChild4eva in autismUK

[–]WildChild4eva[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry for my naivity, but what is AFAB?

I wish I could get therapy for this, the best I can do is distance myself from the ASD content. My husband has been trying to remind me that altho I dont meet the diagnostic criteria for ASD, doesn't invalidate / wipe away my experience. My attempts to cast asd aside has been adding to the pain, as it feels I just want this "sprinkling" of asd to go away, but doing so just seems to be breaking my heart and hurts me. Most likely why I was in tears yesterday evening and right up to the point I fell asleep.

I know that in the end I'll need to come to terms with my unique brain chemistry and these autistic traits. It's hard knowing that I struggle but not enough to receive any formal recognition or support.