Help, diagnosis and where do I stand?

[freenarative]

Hi there. Please forgive me if this is in the wrong place as this is my first post and I am learning.

 

A friend of mine who knows me very well has 3 children, one of whom has autism. Nothing problematic there. She has known me for nearly two decades and she has said several times " you are showing signs that you have aspergers" (can you guess what her kid has on the ASD?)

Anyway, I digress. I did some looking into aspergers and the more I read the more I saw myself in the "signs". I locked onto psychology and studied it for months and months. I will admit that I showed signs of other conditions but nothing major (everyone has signs of something lol) so I ignored them but the more I looked at aspergers the more I saw myself in the signs and symptoms.

 

Here's the kicker: I finally caved in to her requests and I asked my doctor to refer me for for a psychological/psychiatric test and autism test and he said "no" because "our borough doesn't have the funds for that"

 

1) So.... should I be satisfied in the self diagnosis of aspergers

2) Should I push my doctor and if so... how?

3) Does getting an "official" diagnosis change anything or am I just wasting my time?

 

Please forgive my writing skills. if anything is unclear please ask and I'll try to clarify.

[RedGobbo]

Hi there, I haven't been diagnosed myself, I'm having CBT and they plan to refer me.

 

Anyway I guess really the question is would you feel any differently if someone gave you a diagnosis one way or the other? It is after all someone else's opinion that they make after they've asked you a bunch of questions for 3 hours or so. Some people seem upset to not get diagnosed with AS.

 

It's not like you even get a badge or anything

 

Though I found CBT immensely useful.

[freenarative]

TBH, It wouldn't bother me. It would just be helpful to have something to tell other people when I do some of the things.that I do. What I mean is when people say "you're a li'll weird" or when they say "that's not normal" I could say "no, you're right, I have (insert condition here) but This is normal for me and I think if you take the time to get to know me that you'll like what you see."

It's hard to do that if you're just self-diagnosed.

 

Ohh, badges,,, why don't we get one? there should be a shop where you can get pretty ASD related things. BUY ALL THE SPARKLES!!!!!!

[RedGobbo]

Oddly, I totally get what you're saying. But I guess on the flipside of that there's "look, there's that weirdo - what's wrong with him? Oh he has (condition). Really? What a weirdo". But hey, I'm not trying to convince you one way or the other, I can't even decide for myself.

 

I mean I have some of the traits like I'm socially inept & have a "high appreciation for order" but while yes I am pretty literal, I can still "read between the lines". Everything's a bit of a struggle, as I said I'm having CBT for anxiety but even that's going well.

 

I don't know?

 

And lol, I can't see the badge idea taking off... unfortunately...

[Tanya52]

Hi Freenarative,

 

Nice meeting you here

You might find what you’re looking for on the NAS pages for adults

http://www.autism.org.uk/

You GP perhaps needs some pursuing, or even some evidence. I planned my visit with disclosure very carefully and systematically according to the NAS’s advice. It’s true that this assessment is costly but your health had no price tag and it’s your right to seek a piece of professional advice.

Kind regards

 

 

[freenarative]

Hi there tanya52. Thank you for the link. I was a li'll ahead of ya there though. I used the advice on there and did as it suggests.now it's just a waiting game. Again though, thank you for the link.

I would prefer a referral from my doc as I have paid NI contributions all my life so I would like to get something back but if that fails I think I'll go private. I really want to clarify what's going on in my head. Hey, if i do go private the I suppose at least I'll be able to pick a decent examiner

(edit to clarify details)

(edit to rectify typo)

Edited October 30, 2013 by freenarative

[Tanya52]

Hi

I appreciate that you’d like clarity. I’d like it too. I also need a safety net such as a prof advice for my employer, AS counselling and AS training for social interactions. All of this is available with the NHS Sheffield’s AS assessment Unit , or so my UNISON’ s rep told me, that her hubby had all of it as a package deal after his referral.