Hi there, my name is Dale and I am 26.
I have recently started the process of being diagnosed with AS. After many, many years of feeling very "different" from people and somehow knowing that I do not quite relate to the world, and after many years of involvement with Mental Health services that never really went anywhere, they turned around two months ago and said to me "Have you heard of Asperger Syndrome?"
Until that day I never knew what it was. I had heard the term before but I had no understanding of it whatsoever.
Now, they have put me on a long waiting list. I have to fill out questionnaires, I need to write statements, they want school reports, etc. They have turned around and said that they think that I have AS and they left me to learn all about it by myself, which has been very difficult. Luckily someone put me in contact with someone who has AS who has been very very supportive and for the first time in my life I actually feel as though I am talking to someone who understands me and can understand how I look at the world.
Unfortunately, although they have said that they are confident that I will receive a positive diagnosis, all of this stuff that I need to provide, and being told that I need to wait 8 months before the process will be completed, is proviing very difficult. My housemate has written a statement explaining what he sees as my difficulties, and he will be accompanying me to the appointment (which apparently will be in late spring/ early summer), I have been asked to provide a statement explaining a lot of my childhood and why my family are not reliable witnesses, and they are asking for school reports and other things. This is all very difficult for me. I am used to analysing the things around me, and this is causing me to try and analyse myself and my own behaviours which is becoming rather uncomfortable, and also rather difficult as it feels as though I am having to look at myself through the eyes of another person.
I would just like to ask anyone here, who has been through the process of being diagnosed as an adult, if they found it difficult as well, how they dealt with it, and also to ask if this level of information, and feeling as though I am somehow having to do their work for them, is normal?
It is starting to become incredibly hard for me. And I feel that surely they must know how hard it must be, as they are a specialist unit for people with ASD. If they know how hard it can be, why put people through this?
I am rather confused.
Could someone please give me some advice or their own experiences?
Thank you,
Dale
