High functioning asd and no interest in a diagnosis.

[coodawoodashooda]

Has this worked out for anyone? Does anyone wish that this is what they opted for?

I work at a university and I see a lot of students who really struggle because they do have ASD or are in other ways not neurotypical and can't get the support. By the time we have gone through the university systems for that support it's often impacted their grades or student experience to such an extent that mitigations don't really cover it. I'd say get the diagnoses and keep it in your back pocket if you don't want to reveal it .

Because i can't see how they could possibly measure it with the ongoing trauma being imposed by the abusive parent. And i know what a mess i was in because of it. I think that asd is a natural 'go to' solution for nit fitting in because more is not known of the many, many other things that influence our behaviour.

OP, in the nicest way possible, please go and do some reading. I'm not able to articulate well enough to help with this but if you look at the diagnostic criteria you will see they are quite a way from common traits that people use as possible' signs of autism.

For a diagnosis of autism you need to meet certain criteria. Those criteria will not be present in someone who is not autistic.

The trauma thing would be 'seen through' if that makes sense. They may present in a similar way but ultimately thats what an assessment is for. To work out whether someone is autistic or not. So someone showing similar behaviour to autism won't be misdiagnosed - it will come up at the assessment that they do not meet the criteria.

@FatCatThinCat

Diagnosis can be a negative for some people, unusual but it can happen. My DH is autistic but not formally diagnosed. He was assessed in the 70s before high functioning autism was recognised and was labelled as having an unidentified pervasisive developmental disoarder. The specialists who deal with autistic DS have never questioned DH being autistic, it's just accepted as it's so obvious. He won't get it formally diagnosed because it could potentially impact his career. He works in an international field and some countries still see autism as a mental health issue which negatively impacts security clearance.

Oh wow, this is interesting. Which counties are stopping autistic people going through security? And how do they even know?

fluffypastelslippers so sorry to hear about your experiences with men.

I had very similar in my teens and twenties - although nothing that was technically rape, a lot of dodgy, coercive relationships with often older men that make me shudder when I look back on them. This is why I think it’s especially important for autistic girls and young women to have a diagnosis and get access to support and information about what a healthy relationship should look like, because we don’t tend to “get” it intuitively.

Oh wow, this is interesting. Which counties are stopping autistic people going through security? And how do they even know?

I mean security clearance for people who work in high security sectors.

@Dragonpox

I work at a university and I see a lot of students who really struggle because they do have ASD or are in other ways not neurotypical and can't get the support. By the time we have gone through the university systems for that support it's often impacted their grades or student experience to such an extent that mitigations don't really cover it. I'd say get the diagnoses and keep it in your back pocket if you don't want to reveal it .

I think that's what im going to do.

@FatCatThinCat

Oh wow, this is interesting. Which counties are stopping autistic people going through security? And how do they even know?

I mean security clearance for people who work in high security sectors.

Ok. Same question. Which countries?

My friends DS was seen for an assessment through the NHS she said they said borderline for Aspergers. She also said he did receive some disability benefits. On reflection I think she chose to not tell me everything. That was her choice.

He attended a private school, he had zero friends and was bullied a lot. So he probably did have a diagnosis but I’m not sure how helpful it was ultimately but diagnosis as a child must be surely different to being diagnosed as an adult and going down that route completely voluntarily.

@TheUnbearable

My friends DS was seen for an assessment through the NHS she said they said borderline for Aspergers. She also said he did receive some disability benefits. On reflection I think she chose to not tell me everything. That was her choice.

He attended a private school, he had zero friends and was bullied a lot. So he probably did have a diagnosis but I’m not sure how helpful it was ultimately but diagnosis as a child must be surely different to being diagnosed as an adult and going down that route completely voluntarily.

The reason people are 'going down that route completely voluntarily' is because we were all failed as children. For the most part the knowledge wasn't there, but it was a failing all the same. None of us going for a 'completely voluntarily' assessment are doing it for a laugh, or for the clout. We are doing it because life has been so hard and we need to be able to make sense of it and improve out experiences going forward.

Your friend situation is interesting, you seem to have chosen the fact that he had no friends to mean a diagnosis may not have been worth it. It's absolutely the opposite.

I mean the fact that he still had no friends. Sorry. That was not clear.

A diagnosis isn't going to turn an autistic person into a neuro typical person.

Ok. Same question. Which countries?

I'm not entirely sure, it's been a long time since we discussed it. I think he said that Germany are still torn between seeing it as a difference in neurology and it being a mental health problem. France I think still treat it as a mental health issue. Japan do the same. Even here in Sweden my DD had to jump through extra hoops just to get her provisional licence as she has a diagnosis.

Alternatively you can get a formal diagnosis but choose not to disclose it to schools or employers.

@Fluffypastelslippers - I've had those train journeys by the doors, screaming inside!

@Notcontent

I actually think this is quite common.

Me too.

Our son is clearly ASD. He had classic features of Autism (stimming, etc) but is also very intelligent. There is absolutely no doubt. He’s been seen by an Ed Psych and a paediatrician. We went to our GP and we had a discussion about what we hoped to gain from a diagnosis. We looked at the NICE guidelines around treatments. We already knew we wouldn’t consent to him being drugged so he was more manageable, so there was very little that diagnosis offered him. We were told it would mainly be us as parents who were offered training in how to cope. Given our work experience we felt we could probably work that out ourselves. The GP and CAMHS cancelled the assessment and that was that.

It isn’t something that can be cured. There are no evidence based treatments that significantly improved the ASD child’s experience of the neurotypical world. There is no additional support where the child is high functioning so the label was purely that - a label. It served no other function at all so we didn’t bother pursuing it.

We have friends who did carry on and their experiences seem to have been fairly horrific, so we’re glad we didn’t go that route.

@LazySundayPlease

My son has high functioning ASD, he's 8, diagnosed at 5.

It has helped his school support him in lots of small ways as they understand why he struggles. He has never heard the term 'autism'. I guess we will have to tell him at some point but I think that can wait quite a while. We do, however, talk about 'challenges' and 'worries' he has and he knows (and is comforted by it being the case) that teachers are aware.

He is thriving and overcoming many of those struggles by finding ways to cope, with support from us and his school.

@LazySundayPlease I would encourage you to use this time to build a positive image of autistic people. You can dripfeed in the term, as a descriptor of other people and always in a positive way, without relating it to your son. When we told my son he was autistic he said "what, like Ben? Cool". He already had this idea that it's ok to be autistic.

Children are labelled no matter what. My dd used to be a weirdo/difficult/naughty/stupid/over emotional, etc. Now she is autistic. She is very clear on which "label" she prefers. She is 12.

Wow what have I just read? My DS is diagnosed with autism, (privately but by a recognised provider), he does not get any additional help from the state because we haven’t asked for anything, we pay for his schooling, OT, therapy and psychiatry privately because we can afford to. He is aware of his diagnosis and he is so much happier now he understands why he is different. Some people may say he is “High functioning” because he can speak, does well academically etc but I know that he struggles with basic concepts about life like wearing clothes, eating, and has no concept about how relationships work. He is great at masking and adept at manipulation especially of adults in authority. DH and I were in denial about his difficulties until he was about 7 and then we realised that we needed to take action. People have to do what they think is best but I am the first to admit they our initial approach to our son’s issues was very wrong.

@BakedTattie

They cannot do that. The NHS constitution says you cannot be discriminated against for pursuing private treatment. Also the NHS regularly refers to the private sector so it’s simply nonsense. They just attempt to gatekeep to cut down the cost and any old excuse will do.

Pursue, relentlessly- if that’s the route you wish to take.

www.specialneedsjungle.com/faq/can-local-clinical-commissioning-group-refuse-accept-private-diagnosis/

@FatCatThinCat

Diagnosis can be a negative for some people, unusual but it can happen. My DH is autistic but not formally diagnosed. He was assessed in the 70s before high functioning autism was recognised and was labelled as having an unidentified pervasisive developmental disoarder. The specialists who deal with autistic DS have never questioned DH being autistic, it's just accepted as it's so obvious. He won't get it formally diagnosed because it could potentially impact his career. He works in an international field and some countries still see autism as a mental health issue which negatively impacts security clearance.

That’s absolutely crackers in this day and age that other countries could prevent security clearances based on someone having ASD. I can only assume it’s not a western country.

That’s absolutely crackers in this day and age that other countries could prevent security clearances based on someone having ASD. I can only assume it’s not a western country.

Germany and France amongst others apparently.

Me too.

Our son is clearly ASD. He had classic features of Autism (stimming, etc) but is also very intelligent. There is absolutely no doubt. He’s been seen by an Ed Psych and a paediatrician. We went to our GP and we had a discussion about what we hoped to gain from a diagnosis. We looked at the NICE guidelines around treatments. We already knew we wouldn’t consent to him being drugged so he was more manageable, so there was very little that diagnosis offered him. We were told it would mainly be us as parents who were offered training in how to cope. Given our work experience we felt we could probably work that out ourselves. The GP and CAMHS cancelled the assessment and that was that.

It isn’t something that can be cured. There are no evidence based treatments that significantly improved the ASD child’s experience of the neurotypical world. There is no additional support where the child is high functioning so the label was purely that - a label. It served no other function at all so we didn’t bother pursuing it.

We have friends who did carry on and their experiences seem to have been fairly horrific, so we’re glad we didn’t go that route

In what way was your friends experience horrific?

@MakingM

Schools will shrug off students even with all the ehcp plans. The diagnosis won't bring any support or understanding from anyone. Young teens particularly might see a diagnosis as some sort of magic solution, but they just get dumped out the other end and then spiral into depression.

All of that may well be true of schools, however they can get support at university and in work with a diagnosis (by asking for reasonable adjustments as per The Equality Act 2010). They can complain of disability discrimination at work, rather than just being put down by colleagues as over-sensitive, anti-social, whatever.

Well, was there not a proposal for people to declare autism on their driving licence applications in this country until there was a pushback??

@Thisismynewname123

Children are labelled no matter what. My dd used to be a weirdo/difficult/naughty/stupid/over emotional, etc. Now she is autistic. She is very clear on which "label" she prefers. She is 12.

This. There was a dc in my DD’s class and she had ASD, but no one knew and sadly people just thought she was naughty etc… she wasn’t naughty, poor little girl was just overwhelmed.

Had people been aware of it then they would be more understanding and sympathies I assume.