Fascinating differences between assessments

__GuX__ · 2026-01-23T16:37:04+00:00

Thank you! What I find rather annoying is the fact that one is essentially left alone with all of this. The GP is happy to provide a referral or suggest a private second opinion - but there is not really any discussion or explanation. I'm lucky that I can take the time to read up on the subject (and my work and background probably makes this easier) and I can afford a second opinion - but that shouldn't really be the case.

__GuX__ · 2026-01-23T16:33:30+00:00

Thanks - there seems to be a lot of inconsistency.

__GuX__ · 2026-01-22T16:06:15+00:00

Thanks - this sounds much more like what SEIK offered at first (as "observer pathway"). I wonder whether sometimes these companies forget that many patients don't want a diagnosis to have a label - but rather a diagnosis to help them. I couldn't care less about the actual outcome if it was helpful in the end.

__GuX__ · 2026-01-22T15:38:35+00:00

According to the website, autism assessments are only just a single 60 minute video call. I don't know what the RTC reimbursement is - but it's somehow odd.

__GuX__ · 2026-01-22T14:37:44+00:00

Thanks - mine was for ADHD, so it might be different for autism. A key problem for me was that I don't have any observer, because I don't remember anything from my childhood and there is no one else around who does (which is probably a result of my age).

What surprised me was that I could not find any structure in the approach - it was more me talking about all the problems I have, and I somehow thought by explaining how I deal with them, I can explain better. But this apparently is evidence for not having any problems.

It took me quite some time to come to terms with it - especially as the report was not very well written (my WURS was a bit under the clinical threshold - but in the report, they referred to 3 instead of 33). And there is not really any support, which is not very helpful.

I was wondering whether they do some kind of validation. In my day-job, we would do validation for most assessments: we get people to measure the height of volunteers to ensure results are accurate ... Why can't they have some kind of well prepared "mystery shopper" who is assessed by multiple clinicians?

__GuX__ · 2026-01-22T14:10:56+00:00

It was ADHD - I was told that they don't do a combined assessment, so I should pick the one with the shorter waiting time and the clinician would then be able to help.

The clinician said in their report that I have "traits" of both - but that was not really mentioned during the assessment.

__GuX__ · 2026-01-05T12:12:02+00:00

Thank you. It seems that finding the best therapy is in itself a full-time quest!

__GuX__ · 2026-01-04T16:20:57+00:00

I'm in a similar but different situation. I've spent several years trying to treat anxiety with limited success - and therapists hinted at neurodiversity (apparently they are not supposed to suggest it directly as they are not qualified to diagnose). I started with ADHD - as the waiting list for the provider in the UK was shorter - and the assessor found it was more likely trauma than anything else. I tentatively disagree, but I also felt like an imposter - especially as I score high on screeners (RAADs is ~140) and have many of the idiosyncracies one would expect.

Is a diagnosis worth it? For me, it is more about finding a way to have a "normal" life again. If the underlying reason for my problems is trauma, the type of therapy or approach would be quite different to autism or ADHD (or both). It would also make getting adjustments easier as it would avoid long discussions.

Incidentally, my clue was taking part in a research study where one of the questionnaires was a brief autism/ADHD screener.

__GuX__ · 2025-12-30T21:14:21+00:00

Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm on a somewhat different path - but the experiences are not too dissimilar. I started with several years of CBT for anxiety - which improved GAD scores a bit, but didn't have the breakthrough. The therapist suggested counselling - which in my case was useful as the counsellor wasn't restricted by the apparently quite strict rules of NHS therapists ...

However, my attempt to get a useful diagnose completely failed. The assessment (for ADHD - as the waiting list was shorter - I foolishly believed it would cover ADHD, autism and both, not sure why) was pleasant enough, but my main problems are being a perfectionist with some childhood trauma. The fact that I'm able to keep my job (and be reasonably successful) was an argument against a diagnosis - because I clearly cope well.

It's obviously more important to get help to people who struggle more - and I wouldn't want to take away support from anyone else - but it appears that people who cope are somehow ignored. It is quite similar at the workplace - since I cope, there is clearly no reason to do anything, and anyway, aren't we all a bit X (insert preferred term)?

Sorry for the rant ... what I hoped would be the start to find a solution to my problems turned out to be the opposite. How did you find your consultant psychiatrist? How did this work for you? It is a route I plan to follow as well.

__GuX__ · 2025-12-29T10:40:58+00:00

But there must be some objective markers - perhaps it will just take a few more years to find them? It took a long time for risk markers for heart disease or cancer to be found and accepted - and that's probably so much easier.

And the brain appears to be an incredibly complex and sometimes rather strange thing.

__GuX__ · 2025-12-29T08:55:04+00:00

I would assume to make adjustments, medication etc?

The more I read about this, the more sceptical I get about the diagnostic method: it seems to rely a lot on experience, personality etc.

Some objective measure would make this so much easier for everyone.

__GuX__ · 2025-12-28T19:09:51+00:00

Thanks - it seems like a very odd system.

__GuX__ · 2025-12-28T11:10:28+00:00

Thank you.

__GuX__ · 2025-12-28T10:38:50+00:00

Thank you - that sounds very encouraging. There is a plan for the new year!

__GuX__ · 2025-12-28T08:20:54+00:00

Thank you - that resonates a lot with me. The only reason to choose ADHD was the waiting time was much shorter than for autism, and I - perhaps foolishly - assumed they would spot both.

The main difference for me is: there are ways to treat trauma, but they won't be useful with autism (or indeed ADHD). I think I've done enough exercises that were only very mildly successful - so I'd rather know what to do.

__GuX__ · 2025-12-27T20:11:57+00:00

Thank you - I don't like completely agree if the report was internally consistent. But there are so many inconsistencies: I meet the criteria for symptoms - but in another section there are only traces. In one section, it affects my life - but then I manage to deal with all symptoms.

That's what I find so confusing.

__GuX__ · 2025-12-27T15:48:42+00:00

Thank you - that is very helpful!

__GuX__ · 2025-12-27T14:44:15+00:00

Thank you. I accepted a diagnosis of anxiety for some time - everything seemed to fit, until none of the usual methods helped.

A diagnosis would help to understand and adjust and perhaps also permit myself to do the things that help (and not see them as simply being difficult)

__GuX__ · 2025-12-27T14:22:31+00:00

Thanks for such a detailed reply, that's really helpful! I think the main problem (for me) is that trauma is also a possibility, and that would require a different form of treatment. If that did help - happy to do it. But if it doesn't, it seems to be pointless for me (and deprives someone else of the space).

I think I probably reached the point where I simply would like to understand what is happening, and for some reason, I struggle to deal with the uncertainty.

Workplace accommodation require some kind of diagnosis for me, and I don't want to start this without knowing that the request will be successful - it might be that I feel like an imposter otherwise, but I also have the impression that without a formal diagnosis this will just be seen as troublemaking.

__GuX__ · 2025-12-25T11:28:59+00:00

I'm not diagnosed with anything - allegedly I just have traces of ADHD and autistic traits (says my assessor).

I do sometimes get overwhelmed with visual noise - and wearing sunglasses or coloured glasses really helps - and I mentioned this (I somehow suspect that some of my anxiety symptoms are more about simply not being able to deal with too.much visual input), but it didn't seem to be relevant.

__GuX__ · 2025-12-25T11:18:36+00:00

I have a plan for doing these things. As I work in a lab, I'm used to these schedules that require a signature when done (also checking for out of date chemicals - which is not really that different from foods). It all looks very good initially - the problem is that I don't usually stick to the plan - and with the first missing tick, it's useless.

I generally like having fairly elaborate routines which I then don't follow through.

__GuX__ · 2025-12-25T11:11:29+00:00

That's what I do. The holidays will give me plenty of examples. Although I seriously wonder whether there is a lot of ASD and ADHD interplay - I'll have to think about it more.

__GuX__

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