Just diagnosed with ADHD and Autism

[CrystalMud]

Diagnosed with 'AuDHD' at 38 - AMA!

Oh hope you do lol.
Although mine is filed away.
Daughter started new job just after her diagnosis so proudly showed her certificate after she got the job.
Made no difference.
Eldest Grandson is at Uni/ works part time.. he won't show his to work..but I'm sure they know ( his is Aspergers).
I never knew my daughters had it as children.. wasn't much information pre Internet.. in their teens was put down to MH.. same with me.
Plus females mask more.
We have an Autisim assessment unit here ( an old maternity hospital) .. we all went for six weeks and did various tasks .. l was asked various questions about my daughters from being babies.. filled in forms.
My eldest sister who is 10 years older than me.. helped fill in some of my form.
Have you found it a relief getting a diagnosis?
I have .. it all clicks together now.
.

My 76 year old dad is autistic. His parents didn’t even have a land line!

@Moier yeah I am glad I have the diagnoses. I also think generally just going through the assessment process was quite helpful for me as I gained some self awareness. I think I did not have a lot of self awareness before as my struggles didn't make any sense to me so I just fried to ignore them/judged myself harshly for not being able to do things I thought I 'should' find easy.

Was weird as part of the ADOS they asked me various questions about my feelings, and I really could not answer the questions. I didn't realise how much I struggled with things like that until I went through an assessment which pinpointed them all. It was a very odd but interesting experience!

OP thanks for this thread. It's very interesting

May I ask what is your job and how doesn your audhd and your diagnosis impact on this?

I'm asking for selfish reasons as I'm a similar age to you and fairly certain I have ASD. I was always branded a "gifted" child and have something like OCD. All of a sudden I'm finding my symptoms affecting my work and I'm aware of my social deficits. I feel like I'm learning how to behave with other people the way children do. I wonder whether getting a diagnosis would help me, in understanding myself as much as anything.

If you have ADHD, how do you get over the hump and the whole doing thing to even get the forms filled in to go for assessment?

I was a very gifted child, very good uni etc. And compeltely stuffed up. Im looking for a new job now and currently looking at sub 30k jobs wondering how it went so wrong. I'd like to earn more and just cannot see a path to do so.

Could you tell me how to find it pls

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/neurodiverse_mumsnetters

This contrast you speak of, is it what's called a 'spiky profile'?

So my assessment is this morning for adhd 😬

@FatsiaJaponicaInTheGarden All the best with it, mine's next week.

I can't afford a private consultation and can't wait years for NHS. So how can getting a diagnosis and certificate help you at work? Do you need one or can you just say you have a diagnosis? I'm 62. Can I just say I've been diagnosed? Do work need to see a certificate?

What do you mean by reciprocity? What were your symptoms/behaviours?

You don’t need a diagnosis to request reasonable adjustments, but you may need to provide evidence of the challenges you face.

How long did it take you to get seen for ADHD? I need to ask for a referral, my focus levels are zero, my mind is like a squirrel running from tree to tree looking for nuts.

If you go direct through NHS it varies in each area but you can ask. It's about 3 years here I think.

Or you can use Right To Choose. This is still NHS but means you choose your provider. Have a Google. I used Dr J and it takes 16-20weeks.

Right to choose is England only. The wait here in south wales is 4-5 years. I went private for diagnosis and am a year into the medication waiting list. Have titrated privately in the mean time.

Wow j didn't realise it was just England. It's taken me ages going round the houses to get forms/find out about right tk choose/speak to gp /get gp to refer butmine will be about 5months in total. I think next week I find out about titration.

How have you found the drugs? Have they made a difference?

Why do you think you have a bunch of different things rather than it all being part of your particular one thing?

Neurodivergence is something you have to have evidence of since childhood to get diagnosis - otherwise you get a diagnosis of CPSD, EUBPD etc. So no, ADHD and ASD aren’t manifestations of psychological trauma over your lifetime.

Autism and ADHD are genetic, and have some link to birth trauma like premature birth and steroid use (to mature the underdeveloped lungs). In my case it was both. Boomer parents obv undiagnosed like everyone of their generation but dad is a stamp-collecting, narrow interests, social recluse (prefers just a few people he knows, hates gatherings) and my mum is a Duracel bunny with no filter. Always on the move.

So obvious where my AuDHD is from - diagnosed at 48 after perimenopause and dropping hormones caused burnout, ramped up ADHD symptoms and made coping impossible. Suddenly the little focus I was previously able to keep on leash was gone. The sensory issues got worse (misophonia) etc. I wouldn’t have considered diagnosis (not on my radar at all) until a colleague spoke to me at work… and the ball got rolling.

First a chat with GP and preliminary screener. Referral to the NHS CMHP and more forms.. once hubby ‘filed’ away and I then retuned late, in true ADHD fashion. Lots of questions/forms. Was really interesting to see how my OH rated my behaviours compared to how well I thought I did. Then waited, and waited. Our NHS waitlist is prob about 4yrs now so I went private in the end. Major impostor syndrome. Thought I was making it up, nobody would diagnose me, and instead of just ADHD I was told I have that and most likely ASD too.

Wow @MrsPoppadopoulus I could have written that almost word for word. I'm 46 and just started meds for adhd (went right to choose). I think it's peri that has made mine more difficult than normal and I've just walked out of a job due to overwhelm (and their stupid practices tbh).

However it's easily traced back and there's been so much of my life that's just struggle. Again it was a colleague who suggested it and I'm reevaluating things I thought I could do.

Funnily enough I did an autism screening 15years ago when doing research for faceblindness... I think in retrospect I answered the questions "wrong" as they were right from my perspective..