I've just been told that the bloke assessing me doesn't think I have autism & actually it's all down to social anxiety. I'm struggling to believe that - for me it's clear that I'm anxious about socialising because everyone else seems to "get" how to do it but I don't have a clue. I feel like he saw that I have social anxiety & left it at that without really taking into account all the other difficulties I have with life in general. The assessment appointments were excruciating. Whenever anyone asks me a direct question it's like my brain seizes up & I haven't got a clue about how I'd behave in any given situation, let alone how to articulate why! I've spent my entire life trying to figure out how to be "normal" & faking it to the point where I don't really know how to take off the mask. Treating me like a performing monkey as a way to assess me isn't going to work, especially given that I'm trained to work with little children so have learnt how to do a lot of the stuff they made me do - things like telling stories, I can do that because I've been trained to, not because it's an innate ability, IYSWIM.
I'm so frustrated that he didn't seem to understand "me", & I'm angry with myself that I couldn't communicate my difficulties. He's recommended a CBT type talking therapy thing which I might try but apparently before they meet you they ask you a whole load of "on a scale of 1-5..." questions over the phone. I literally didn't hear a word he said about anything after that. I don't do phones. My brain freezes. I don't know what to do next - I've read loads of accounts from women with autism & it's the only thing that has ever made me feel like I could understand why I don't seem to be able to do things that come naturally to other people. It's the first time I felt like I could understand myself, like there was a reason I am the way I am. Now this bloke, that met me twice & asked me a bunch of questions I didn't really understand or know how to answer, has taken that away from me & I feel like perhaps I am just crazy after all.
Please or to access all these features
Please
or
to access all these features
Please see our webguide of suggested organisations for parents to support children with learning difficulties.
Mumsnetters with disabilities
ASD assessment, no diagnosis, what next?!
12 replies
AGnu · 06/09/2017 17:13
OP posts:
Please create an account
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.