Hello from a Newbie...

[Jinglebug]

Hi

 

I've been surfing the net for inspiration and discovered this forum, and thought i would introduce myself. I'm 34, female and just been told i have Aspergers, i had an assessment 2 days ago. It was a total shock to me as i had never considered it before, which is rather strange as my 13 yo daughter was diagnosed 5 years ago with High Functioning Austism and i think my 5 yo son has it too (we have an assessment next week).

 

I went for a diagnosis on impulse, paid privately for it, as i was talking to professionals who work in the area and they suggested i had an assessment so 2 days later i went for the assessment and then was told the news. So i'm now going between denial, shock and relief; and definately over anaylising everything!

 

So here's to the future, and i hope you don't mind me joining you as i discover more about ASD.

 

Thx Jinglebug

[Kathryn]

Hi Jinglebug, welcome to the forum

 

K x

[charlotte]

welcome where are you from

[baddad]

Hi jingle bug - welcome to the forum.

 

I hope you don't mind me asking, but that's a pretty amazing route you took to diagnosis - sounds almost like a 'pop in clinic'!

Can I ask how long the consultation took and who was involved etc (most clinics like to involve other family members - parents etc who can give childhood development background and that sort of thing).

I hope I'm not sounding 'confrontational' because it's not intended, but I do find the scenario you've outlined very worrying -particularly the bit about professionals working in the area suggesting you should have an assessment and you following that advice on impulse despite never having considered the possibility before. I am very concerned (as are others, if you look through the forum) myself about the growing incidence of diagnosis and the ways in which it seems to be so casually made these days - especially in the private sector. Of course I'm not 'challenging' the diagnosis in any way - I couldn't possibly I don't know you or anything about you other than the brief details you've posted - but the way diagnosis was approached does sound very unusual. Were the professionals working in the area who suggested you seek assessment also Private consultants? Did they have any connection with the clinic who made the formal diagnosis? Were they involved in your daughter's diagnosis (or in her subsequent professional input)?

 

I really hope you will appreciate I'm not 'having a go' or anything like that - I am just genuinely concerned about (and i'll be totally honest, disturbed by) the scenario you've outlined. Autism is a disability, and if you've never even considered being disabled before it seems really wrong for professionals to be offering unsolicited opinions in this way. Trying to put it into context, if a professional had approached you and raised the 'suggestion' that you consult a specialist to see if you were psychotic, would you consider it professional behaviour, or even ethical? Is your son's assessment next week with the same clinic/professional, and is it a private consultation again?

 

Apologies again in advance, and I really do hope you'll take my concerns as what they are rather than personally, because whether reassuring or otherwise I really would like to know more about the process involved here.

 

L&P

 

BD

[RainbowsButterflies]

Hi Jinglebug and welcome

[Aspermum_of_4]

Hi Jinglebug - I'm a 32 yo mum who is also recently diagnosed. Know exactly where you're at - thought I was well over the denial and into the relief bit but I've taken a few backtracks! How are you feeling now?

 

Helen

[lsw146]

Hi Jinglebug, sharing your mixed emotions we had been waiting for some sort of diagnosis for our DDs difficulties for over a decade. She is now 16 and was diagnosed officially last week. I thought I would be able to stop thinking about her assessments and where they would lead once they made there minds up and gave her a diagnosis but the shock that they actually have, after all this time and stress and lack of support, has been quite overwhelming.

On a positive not my DD is so far really happy with her diagnosis as she feels more relaxed with who she is and how she thinks now it has been 'validated.'

Take Care and welcome

[lsw146]

Sorry for the mis-spellings! There / their and any others I missed!

[Jinglebug]

I hope you don't mind me asking, but that's a pretty amazing route you took to diagnosis - sounds almost like a 'pop in clinic'!

Can I ask how long the consultation took and who was involved etc (most clinics like to involve other family members - parents etc who can give childhood development background and that sort of thing).

I hope I'm not sounding 'confrontational' because it's not intended, but I do find the scenario you've outlined very worrying -particularly the bit about professionals working in the area suggesting you should have an assessment and you following that advice on impulse despite never having considered the possibility before. I am very concerned (as are others, if you look through the forum) myself about the growing incidence of diagnosis and the ways in which it seems to be so casually made these days - especially in the private sector. Of course I'm not 'challenging' the diagnosis in any way - I couldn't possibly I don't know you or anything about you other than the brief details you've posted - but the way diagnosis was approached does sound very unusual. Were the professionals working in the area who suggested you seek assessment also Private consultants? Did they have any connection with the clinic who made the formal diagnosis? Were they involved in your daughter's diagnosis (or in her subsequent professional input)?

 

I really hope you will appreciate I'm not 'having a go' or anything like that - I am just genuinely concerned about (and i'll be totally honest, disturbed by) the scenario you've outlined. Autism is a disability, and if you've never even considered being disabled before it seems really wrong for professionals to be offering unsolicited opinions in this way. Trying to put it into context, if a professional had approached you and raised the 'suggestion' that you consult a specialist to see if you were psychotic, would you consider it professional behaviour, or even ethical? Is your son's assessment next week with the same clinic/professional, and is it a private consultation again?

 

 

Thanks for this post. I've been thinking alot about the 'ethical nature' of the assessment over the past couple of days; especially as its over something so serious. Knowing the struggles my daughter has, i really do not want to trivialise this disability. My eldest was seen by the NHS so got a proper Clinical Diagnosis, and my son is also going via the NHS so IF his assessment comes up with anything then it will also be a Clinical Diagnosis. I know that this is the only real diagnosis that you can get. So its not by the same place that did mine.

 

As for me, well i actually got a job working for the private clinic a few months ago, however, this has been bringing up a lot of personal issues for me which came to a head last week. I think my superviser used this as a suitable time to raise thier concerns about my behaviour which lead to the suggestion of an assessment. The assessment lasted for 3 hours and did include imput from a member of my family. But as its not a clinical assessment, its also not a 'proper diagnosis' so to speak.

 

To be honest, i really don't want to make of it; but i will be analysising everything carefully to make sure that it is the right assessment and conclusion for me. I do think that there is a ethical dilema with private non clinical assessments; but i have seen the difference that the knowledge can make to somebodies life too, so i think it is a hard one to call.

Edited March 6, 2011 by Jinglebug

[Rach14]

hello jingles *waves*

[baddad]

Hi again jinglebug -

 

Just wanted to say thankyou for your response to my post and especially for not seeing it as some sort of 'attack'. I totally agree that diagnosis for any individual can make a big difference to their lives, but I also think (and as you've responded so fairly (I know that's not the right word but can't think of the right one!) to my original post I'm sure you'll not take this personally either ) that for some people a diagnosis of AS can be a justification for absolving themselves from any/all responsibility for their lives. It is this aspect of casual diagnosis that worries me so much, and this aspect of diagnostics that seems to be making autism such a growth industry in the past decade or so. I think self knowledge is a hugely powerful thing, and that the positives of diagnosis - if used as the building blocks for overcoming barriers - far outweigh the negatives of overlooked diagnosis. Too often though (and this is something that seems particularly relevant to autism over all other disabilities) there is a 'can't do' mentality that is applied that hinders rather than promotes personal development. I don't think it's exclusive to the world of private consultation either - more and more people are reliant on autism to provide them with a living these days, and while that's not necessarily always going to result in deliberate manipulation the reality of human psychology is that even on a subconscious level people will rarely cut their own noses off to spite their faces.

I really hope you find some answers by your process of analysis, and I'm really reassured that you don't see 'dx' as any sort of answer of itself. If you find, on consideration, that the dx does 'fit', and that the knowledge empowers you I'm genuinely pleased for you. If on the other hand you find it doesn't 'fit' and that knowledge empowers you I'm equally pleased.

 

L&P 9and thanks again)

 

BD