A week today I will be going for ASD assessment - stressing about it

[willitbe]

Hi

A week today I will be going for an ASD assessment. I am really worried that they will not diagnose me due to my mother putting on the form that my childhood was "fine". To her I had no problems as a child. I was a very good child.

I am worried that they will take this as meaning that my issues were not there in childhood, but they most definitely were. She has also written that I has a head injury age 10, and I don't want the assessors assuming that my issues have anything to do with this either, my issues were there for as long as I can remember.

My husband is coming with me to the assessment, and he is very supportive, he feels that I show all the signs of autism that our oldest son does who is diagnosed with ASD, ADHD and severe dyslexia. My husband definitely believes I have autism (am on the autistic spectrum).

Please does anyone have any words of reassurance that I will not regret going to this assessment?

[RangeRider]

You won't regret it. The assessors are better at picking it up than your mother!! You'll have your husband there to give his experiences of what you're like and the fact that your eldest son is also on the spectrum is a pretty good indicator. Some mothers are very good at sticking their heads in the sand and pretending that everything is 'normal' because they can't cope with the idea of being different - the assessors will have lots of experience of this too! I deliberately left my mum out of the loop for assessment because I knew she'd be the same as yours (and she hates labels). You'll be fine, seriously. It's an opportunity to talk at length about a subject that you know really well - you! They'll ask questions that will get you started chatting & then there'll be no stopping you And trust me, at the end they'll know.
Will have fingers crossed for you!

[willitbe]

RangeRider - thank you so much for the encouragement, it was just what I needed to hear today. Only more 5 days to wait now.

[RangeRider]

It'll be over before you know it (and as soon as you get out you'll think of 100s of things you wish you'd mentioned!)
You could always make notes about why you think you're autistic & take them in with you (I did).

[MumUnderTheMoon]

My mum thought I was a perfectly fine and happy child didn't stop my diagnosis also because of dyspraxia I took a lot of knocks to the head with one resulting in a pretty full on concussion that didn't stop my diagnosis either. Don't over think it. Many people exhibit autistic features but if yours affect your life in a significant way then you should warrant a diagnosis. My assessment took almost a year though I had multiple meetings with a clinical psychologist my add assessment was similar so you may need to be seen more than once.

[willitbe]

mumunderthemoon, thank you for the warning, I really hope that it doesn't take more than one visit, but I guess it could.

Rangerider - yes I have been gathering notes for a while, and going to take them with me.

[BlackeyedGruesome]

how are you doing.

if you are nervous, will you appear more autistic?

[RangeRider]

Good luck for tomorrow!!!!!

[redexpat]

By any chance are you an only child or the eldest? We didnt realise that ds was so different from other children because we didnt have any to compare with.

[willitbe]

Thank you all for your support.

I now have an official diagnosis of ASD. It was not a great surprise, I had thought I would feel relieved to get the diagnosis, but actually it just feels ok, no surprise, no upset.

Rangerider - thank you for your encouragement.

Redexpat - Nope I am a second child of five, my mum's report was not actually needed in the end, my sisters was enough for the psychologist to know that it was not a recent thing.
My mum is now trying to get her head around the fact that she did not realise! Yesterday she noticed when I took time out from a family gathering, before she was always watching everyone else, so I think it was just that I was so good at masking it, she didn't see it. When I was born my older sibling had just started school, and when I was young she was quickly pregnant with my next sibling. Then when I was going through the next normal age of these things being seen in girls (eg transition to secondary school/teen years) she was pregnant again... so I think I was just the easy child to her. What she didn't see was the struggle for me to be that way, and how difficult it still is.

[redexpat]

Well its good to get closure. Im pleased youre ok with it all.

[RangeRider]

Congrats, I am pleased for you. I know it doesn't change the struggle that you (we) still go through, but it's good to know why & to have it official just in case you need to explain to anyone. It's validating I guess. Anyway, it's good news