Think I might be ASD

[gelatodipistacchio]

I'm a high functioning adult woman. However, I've always felt different and after doing some light research into ASD in women, I think it's possible that this is why I feel different.

Would there be any point in seeking a diagnosis?

I've had the same realisation and I'd like to get a diagnosis because it would make me feel validated and therefore less of a shit person but when I've looked into it, NHS diagnosis is based on male patterns of behaviour and not all women experience ASD the same way as men so can be misdiagnosed (also massive waiting lists). Or you can pay to go private with someone who works with women specific diagnosis but it's about £2000. Also I think you need to go to the interview(s) with someone who knew you as a child and I don't have anyone that I would be willing to ask.

@continuousmonotonousbeep thanks - that's really interesting. I suppose it is unsurprising that access to services would be very limited, especially if the condition isn't causing any demonstrable ongoing harm.

Have a look on the SEN boards, OP. There are lots of women there who have realised that they are probably neurodiverse and some of them have pursued diagnoses as adults. There are quite a few threads where people talk through the process of being diagnosed.

I don’t have a diagnosis but am almost certainly neurodiverse. I have been told (by an NHS psychologist) that diagnosis for an adult takes around two years on the NHS (area depending), but that there is no further help available if you are diagnosed with ASD. You can self-refer for things like CBT if you also have specific symptoms of, say, anxiety or depression but there is no specific help available for a neurodiverse adult - although if you have ADHD, medication may be an option.

A private diagnosis would be faster and would also keep it off your medical record if that was of concern to you (I think). But there’s an obvious cost implication.

I got diagnosed , am now 34 x

@FedNlanders thanks. Has your diagnosis had any practical effect on your life?

@MyCatHatesOtherCats I didn't fully realise there was a SEN board. Probably should have thought of that! I will check it out.

@MyCatHatesOtherCats separately, do you think there is any value to you in understanding that you may be neurodiverse? Like are there any helpful practical implications?

If you don't mind sharing, what made you think this and diagnose yourself as neurodiverse?

I got my diagnosis after 60. I was tired of people rolling their eyes when I said I'm autistic.

My diagnosis has the practical effect that medics have to take it into account and accommodate needs such as waiting away from other people and where there is natural light. It might have even more effect if I could access the social services assessment I'm entitled to but have never had.

Get your diagnosis, or don't. But find the autistic community/communities online, and your life will be explained to you. Seriously, everything becomes clear when you know who you are.

I was diagnosed with Asperger's (now HFA), with a possible co-morbidity of ADHD (inattentive type) about 10 years ago, at the age of 31.

I was lucky enough to have a GP who took me seriously and I was referred through adult services, although this probably wouldn't be the case now.

I am HF and hold down a relationship, senior career, friendships and so on, so in terms of 'what has brought me?', probably nothing more than a heightened sense of self-awareness, and some self-forgiveness. I don't, for example, really require any special accommodations at work.

Interestingly, my mother, who was initially very, VERY averse to the whole process, has gained enormously - probably more so than me - from my diagnosis, and has also achieved a level of self-forgiveness (my sibling is NT and I was brought up in late 80s/early 90s Scotland, where autism barely existed, and certainly not in girls).

The process is long and tenuous and can be quite emotionally painful, so I'd say go for it if you want to, but be prepared.

Where do you live OP? If you live in Wales, the Welsh Government recently introduced an integrated autism service here. You can self-refer without the need to see your GP first. It’s not very well advertised, so thought I’d mention it here in case it’s of use to you, or anyone else on this thread:

autismwales.org/en/integrated-autism-service/

Not in Wales! Good tip, though!

Following with interest OP, I feel very similar to you.

@gelatodipistacchio, sorry for not replying before - had a busy afternoon with DCs.

Why do I think I’m neurodiverse? A long list of reasons. I have had issues with my mental health for a long time, which have got worse since I had kids. My issues (anxiety being a key one but also depression) haven’t really responded to either “generic counselling” or CBT. That got me wondering as to whether something else was going on.

I don’t know at what point I started reading about women and girls with ASD often presenting differently from a stereotypical male image of the condition (or spectrum - as people say, if you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism) but it was like a lightbulb going on in my head. I am fairly convinced that I have ASD and probably also inattentive ADD, and maybe dyspraxia.

Why? Well, what became clear in the course of the counselling and therapy I’ve had is that my mind just doesn’t work like “most people’s”. The more I’ve read around neurodiversity, the more I’ve thought it fits. I think I would be classed as high-functioning. I thought I masked well but when I raised it with a perinatal psychiatrist, she agreed that this was likely to be the underlying issue straightaway and said I was showing very obvious signs - so maybe I don’t mask that well!

For me, it has been fundamental in being kinder to myself and realising that actually, there are things I can’t do or just find more difficult than most people.

There have been quite a few threads on here recently about adult autism and ADHD - I’ll try to link them. Honestly, it was really reassuring to know I’m not the only one!

@continuousmonotonousbeep

I've had the same realisation and I'd like to get a diagnosis because it would make me feel validated and therefore less of a shit person but when I've looked into it, NHS diagnosis is based on male patterns of behaviour and not all women experience ASD the same way as men so can be misdiagnosed (also massive waiting lists). Or you can pay to go private with someone who works with women specific diagnosis but it's about £2000. Also I think you need to go to the interview(s) with someone who knew you as a child and I don't have anyone that I would be willing to ask.

Have worked in NHS diagnosis for 20 years. Luckily this isn't the case any more. Of course any individual can be misdiagnosed but any service worth its salt is much, much better at recognising autism in women than even 10 years ago.

Incidentally it's the diagnostic manuals rather than the NHS that describe a more typical male pattern of autism.

I got my diagnosis in my 30s after my ds got his mainly due to the fact that the professionals who were assessing ds picking it up in me and recommending I get assessed. After several discussions with them I went ahead with the assessment part of it included looking at all my mh records from childhood to present and it said in black and white from childhood assessments that I had all the "symptoms" of asd but couldn't have it as was female must be a personality disorder instead!
When I think about all the time I wasted trying to fix me instead of accepting that I'm fine as I am I'm just different instead of broken like all the drs and councillors said I get very angry.
Unsurprisingly I found my diagnosis liberating and in a way it has helped ds and I bond I guess we just get each other, if you feel getting a diagnosis will benefit you even just emotionally then do it op

@MyCatHatesOtherCats thanks, and absolutely no need to apologise.

This is all very helpful. It's interesting that your perinatal psychiatrist immediately spotted the signs!

No one has told me that I seem ASD, but it does seem to fit. I found this little guide and identified with many aspects of it, though it is so general that it might resonate with non ASD people too?

@Cabinfever10 ooh, interesting. do you know what it is that these professionals picked up on?

Great news that this has helped you to feel better

Took this earlier today. I'm not sure whether tests like this are just crap

@gelatodipistacchio
I don't know exactly what they picked up on other than my tics but it 1st came up when they were discussing ds diagnosis and said that I'd understand being on the spectrum myself queue black look from me and the specialist going oh has noone given you a diagnosis before. Apparently I don't mask aswell as others and display obvious signs when agitated, I guess it's the reason that I didn't see it in ds (saw the adhd and other issues) and his school and pediatrician had to recommend that he was assessed 😳

Just wanted to say thanks @Crazzzycat for that link, I’ve been wanting to get a diagnosis for years but can’t afford private and have putting it off thinking of the hassle of trying to go through GP’s.

Good luck whatever you decide to do @gelatodipistacchio