ASD Referral

[WhatIfIWillNeverGetBetter]

I am currently 7 sessions into high intensity CBT for depression and am on 30mg of mirtazipine. When talking to the doctor about upping my meds as I didn't feel the 15mg was doing anything, she said that she feels a referral for ASD assessment would be helpful.

I've never felt like I fit in with others, it's like I'm walking down a path that runs nearly parallel to the one everyone else is on but not quite. I agreed to the referral but now I'm worried that they'll turn around and say that I've wasted their time and think that I'm trying to mark myself out as 'special' or 'different' because it's attention seeking. All I want is to stop feeling so worthless and to understand what's going on.

I work in health services. These days I find that in my area we are now using autism assessment tools as a way to explore whether or not somebody might be autistic. In the past I felt pressure to to only refer the clients I was very definite about, but it's different now. We are realising that there are more subtle autism presentations, particularly among women. Go for it!

Having has an autism diagnosis in my 50s, I have found it very liberating. I had to ask for the referral, although my GP enthusiastically agreed to do it. The fact that a doctor is suggesting it as a possibility makes me think that you are not wasting anyone's time. (I also thought that I might be a time waster before receiving my diagnosis)

There is a website called embrace autism which has a lot of questionnaires. I discovered it last year and after scoring highly I sought a diagnosis and it was confirmed. It’s been very validating. I doubt with the waiting lists the way they are that an assessment would be suggested unless they suspected autism, so you definitely wouldn’t be wasting anyone’s time if you weren’t diagnosed!