catlady

Karen thank you so much for your supportive reply. I am going on holiday so I shall leave it now until my return. Then I shall follow your advice with regards to PALS. I think this is such an important issue because I am unlikely to be the only person in my area who is not getting the help they need because of lack of understanding among the mental health professionals.

I completely agree! I expect it is a great relief a) to have done it and that your boss was so accepting and interested.

Well I received my copy of the report. The only surprises were the factual inaccuracies contained within it. Some of these showed that they hadn't listened to what I said, others were conclusions they had made without actually asking me the questions to elicit the information they needed. I rang to ask what I should do about it as I was unhappy with the report and I was told to highlight the bits I disagreed with and send it back to the people who had done the assessment. It took me sometime to find out the name of a different person who would deal with it as I felt I wished to complain about the process, as the person I spoke to just tried to fob me off. I haven't done anything yet as I am waiting to be calm enough to write a coherent and rational response. I also need to see my GP to ask for another referral to someone who is more likely to have an understanding of ASDs. I knew it wouldn't be easy and I hate complaining.

I rang the NAS today. They were very nice and very helpful and have given me the name of someone who is qualified to make a diagnosis. I shall go back to my GP and asked to be referred to her. My GP is usually excellent and so I hope he will be helpful in this. If not, they gave me the name of a private practitioner to whom I can self-refer. Unfortunately it will cost about £1000 if I have to go down that route. Thank you to everyone for your helpful and supportive replies. I have had a couple of not so good days since my assessment but you all helped a lot!! Catlady

Thank you!

[i see what you are saying, but I didn't see a doctor. I saw a social worker and a nurse, neither of whom are qualified to make a diagnosis. If they had asked questions that were relevant I might have felt differently, but they didn't. And to say I can't possibly have AS on the basis of jobs I have done is just a nonsense. If I see someone qualified to make the diagnosis and they concur that it is not AS I would have to rethink. It's not that I want to have AS, I just want to get the right help having spent nearly 55 years getting the wrong help or none at all.

I went for my initial assessement with the mental health team today. I wasn't sure who I was supposed to see; I was 'assessed' by a nurse and a social worker. We spent an hour talking, but it seemed we had to follow their agenda. They then talk to the 'team' who decide what my needs are. At the end of the assessment the nurse told me that I couldn't possibly have AS (not that she had actually listened to anything I said and kept steering me away from explaining why I think this is the diagnosis) because of the jobs I have done. I told her it was nonsense and that she had to accept that AS is not exactly the same for everyone and in particular it is different for women. I feel quite angry now and also rather powerless. She asked what I would do if they failed to give me the diagnosis I wanted. I told her I would ask for a second opinion from someone who understood AS particularly in relation to women. I guess I need to start looking for that person now, because I am convinced they are going to put my case to the 'team' in completely the wrong light and I don't know how I fight it.

Thank you. I have an appointment on the 3rd August but I don't actually know who with. I intend to go armed with a book I have recently read (Aspergirls Empowering Females with Asperger Syndrome) which sets out some of the differences encountered by females with AS and which describes me to a T. I know it doesn't really matter whether I have a formal diagnosis or not, but somehow I feel it will just make me feel better.

I have, at the age of 54, just started on the road towards a formal diagnosis. I have been referred for assessment by my GP but I have no idea how long the process will take. I have only recently come to the realisation that many of my difficulties over the years have been due to AS. At the moment I am finding it all a bit confusing. On the one hand I feel enormous relief that finally I know what it is that makes me different (or difficult, or both!). But on the other hand I am struggling to accept it. I believe that my mother also has AS. Interestingly none of the few people I have confided in have expressed any surprise at all. One even said, 'but I have always know that about you'. She hadn't felt I was ready to hear it though and I guess she is right. I am glad that you feel so good about the diagnosis and it gives me hope that I will feel the same if or when I also get confirmation of what I already know!