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Depression, Mental Health and Crisis Support 06/04/2017
Depression, Mental Health and Crisis Support Depression and other mental health difficulties are common amongst people on the autistic spectrum and their carers. People who are affected by general mental health difficulties are encouraged to receive and share information, support and advice with other forum members, though it is important to point out that this exchange of information is generally based on personal experience and opinions, and is not a substitute for professional medical help. There is a list of sources of mental health support here: <a href="http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=18801" target="_blank">Mental Health Resources link</a> People may experience a more serious crisis with their mental health and need urgent medical assistance and advice. However well intentioned, this is not an area of support that the forum can or should be attempting to offer and we would urge members who are feeling at risk of self-harm or suicide to contact either their own GP/health centre, or if out of hours contact NHS Direct on 0845 4647 or to call emergency services 999. We want to reassure members that they have our full support in offering and seeking advice and information on general mental health issues. Members asking for information in order to help a person in their care are seeking to empower both themselves and those they represent, and we would naturally welcome any such dialogue on the forum. However, any posts which are deemed to contain inference of personal intent to self-harm and/or suicide will be removed from the forum and that person will be contacted via the pm system with advice on where to seek appropriate help. In addition to the post being removed, if a forum member is deemed to indicate an immediate risk to themselves, and are unable to be contacted via the pm system, the moderating team will take steps to ensure that person's safety. This may involve breaking previous confidentiality agreements and/or contacting the emergency services on that person's behalf. Sometimes posts referring to self-harm do not indicate an immediate risk, but they may contain material which others find inappropriate or distressing. This type of post will also be removed from the public forum at the moderator's/administrator's discretion, considering the forum user base as a whole. If any member receives a PM indicating an immediate risk and is not in a position (or does not want) to intervene, they should forward the PM to the moderating team, who will deal with the disclosure in accordance with the above guidelines. We trust all members will appreciate the reasoning behind these guidelines, and our intention to urge any member struggling with suicidal feelings to seek and receive approproiate support from trained and experienced professional resources. The forum guidelines have been updated to reflect the above. Regards, The mod/admin team
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gmboy
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This has been done for other topics. It sounds like a good idea. One such facility for creating this online is as a miniwiki (as in miniature wikipedia site). I probably wouldn't have time to contribute to it, but I support the idea. A possible drawback of something that could be edited by lots of people is that if there is a difference if opinion on wording or the whole definition that could cause difficulties. On the other hand, you needn't set it up in Wikipedia style. It could be a website and if people want to add to it then they could submit something for review before it's added to the site.
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That's great to hear. Getting As in maths - sounds like he's found a real strength there. I hope the job benefits him and that the lack of pay is not a sign of exploitation. Keep on dancing!
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I have my ASD assessment in 9 days. Please help. Please.
gmboy replied to Tom1992's topic in General Discussion
I'm not clear what help you are looking for. The brief points you have typed are, to my awareness, consistent with ASD, but presumably you know that and that's why you included them in your message, rather than other aspects of you. If you *always* think people are upset with you (presumably including times when people are not upset with you?) then perhaps you are not reading people as well as you think. It's hard to know from a brief online interaction, but then that's what your assessment is for in 8 days' time. If it's ASD that is "going on" then your imminent assessment is surely a good place for it to be identified. I'm not familiar with Clinical Partners. Good luck getting through the next 8 days (and beyond). I guess that the uncertain nature of the waiting will make it a difficult time for you, however it will soon be over - only 8 days out of your whole life, so do whatever you need to to reduce the anxiety and keep going. If there are any practicalities that you are unsure of then I guess the clinic would be able to answer these. And if you have practical or other questions then if you pose them then hopefully someone will respond with their thoughts or own experiences. -
Psychiatrists (who are qualified medical doctors) and Clinical Psychologists. That's what I understand. Some services carry out assessments as part of a 'multi-disciplinary team' which could involve people of different professions e.g. Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist, other types of Psychologist. A multi-disciplinary approach is recommended in NICE guidelines, although I understand that in my area most adults are diagnosed via the community mental health team after 1 or 2 appointments. With the multi-disciplinary approach there would usually be a discussion among the team of professionals to share their professional opinions and try to reach agreement on whether to diagnose and whether any further referrals or support will be offered. I'm not familiar with children's services, but I think that they would also ask for input from the school. It just depends on which service you go to as to how it's organised and who actually provides the diagnosis. If there's an autism charity in your local area I would anticipate them knowing the local arrangements for assessment and diagnosis, relevant to your situation.
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If he sticks by his decision not to come that would be a way of testing things out - how he gets on with day to day life on his own and how you get on having time away from him. I hope you enjoy your holiday, whatever he decides.
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Hi Paula, it sounds like all the years of getting on with things as well as you can have now caught up with you, causing you stress, pain and tears. In my council area only people assessed as being in urgent or critical need of support actually get anything. It sounds like you reached the urgent/critical stage, so even if your local council is restricting support like mine is hopefully you will get things put in place. It's good that you've been able to post here to express how things are, and that you've been in contact with the council for support. In addition to your council, is there a carers organisation in your area which could support you? All the best with getting a better situation for all your family.
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Hi Andy, Welcome to the forum. I'm glad that you are feeling so positive about your family member saying she thinks you have ASD. I see from your profile that you have lots of interests. From those you have listed the two I enjoy most are walking and documentaries. I also like learning about new things and that is part of the reason I decided to go back to studying. Gmboy
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Thanks for the link. The 'Checklist of Common Workplace Challenges' in the download is useful.
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"Cat café" offers free sessions for autistics
gmboy replied to Aeolienne's topic in Other Interventions
I used to have a cat, which was great for me. I have been twice to the cat cafe nearest to me. I was sad for the cats the first time I went, especially seeing one other visitor who was pestering the cats even when they were walking away from her, reading them more as objects than as unique beings. So I have mixed feelings about cat cafes. As a former cat owner it is a different relationship with a cat cafe cat than with your own cat. I think I enjoy the idea of the cat cafe me than the experience, but if other people enjoy it that's ok. And it's good that this business owner is offering free sessions to people who could benefit more than most customers by visiting. -
There is no Parts for Sale Forum that I have seen here. Autism doesn't consist of any any "parts for sale". Another intrusion. And a hack too, perhaps, since my direct challenge to you yesterday in the adults only section has disappeared.
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There was an interesting blog today on a section of the British Psychological Society's website https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/02/24/theres-such-a-thing-as-autism-camouflaging-and-it-might-explain-why-some-people-are-diagnosed-so-late/about camouflaging of autistic traits and how this is related to late diagnosis of autism. Ok, so it's not an original idea, but it is recent research and it looks into some possible variable factors such as make/female gender, which I found interesting. You can also get the whole research article for free at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1362361316671012?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3dpubmed . This page has the abstract and references, and there is a link to download the whole article as a pdf if you want to.
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I found out today about a free conference called Naidex. Although at first glance it appears mainly to do with physical disabilities, there are 2 talks by the person who started up Stickman Communications, which I have seen a few autistic people saying they fund helpful. This is the website for the conference http://www.naidex.co.ukand it is Birmingham on 28-30th March. I don't know enough about it to have an opinion about the conference. Nevertheless, there is the link if anyone wants to look into it more.
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Parliament Early Day Motion against sudden benefits rule change
gmboy posted a topic in General Discussion
Some of you will be aware of the recent news that the UK government have "clarified" (or rather changed) the rules about the mobility component of PIP, so that new applicants cannot get it for mental health reasons, only physical health reasons. An Early Day Motion was started by an MP, Tim Farron. At total of 58 MPs have signed it so far. You can see the list of signatories at http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/early-day-motions/edm-detail1/?edmnumber=985&session=2016-17 If your MPs name isn't listed as a signatory you could contact them and ask them to sign. If you do this it can be more persuasive if you can give a short explanation of how the change affects you (or people you know), or how it could affect you in the future. -
I failed university after very little autistic support is there anything I can do?
gmboy replied to Helpwithuni's topic in Education
First of all, sorry to hear that university has been such a struggle for you. University accommodation is notoriously noisy. Any kind of response from the university would most likely be from using their complaints process. I think it unlikely that you would receive and reimbursement of fees. You should receive some kind of response if you were to make an official complaint, but that would not definitely include an apology. I am not sure how long ago you left the university. If you have stopped attending, yet are still officially registered, you could get some guidance around complaining from the student support department of the students' union (but it may have a different name, as each students' union varies). Another option would be to contact Citizens' Advice or an advocacy service to help you if you want to complain. You would be wise to consider whether it is worth complaining. If you are still finding life difficult now you could find that complaining takes up what little energy you have and may not result in a response that you are satisfied with. Stopping university this time sounds like a wide decision for the sake of your health. Apart from anything, the disability service sounds disorganised. I wonder if the staff member who left suddenly couldn't cope with the place because it was not running efficiently. If you ever decide to study again, it could be that distance learning is better for you, or just that another university organises their teaching in a way that suits you better. Living at home, or finding your own place rather than sharing with students (especially first years) would give you more control over your home environment and meals. Some universities have funding to help mature students. All the best. -
There is a page on the motability website that may answer your questions. http://www.motability.co.uk/about-the-scheme/info-for-carers/