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Guardian article bieng diagnosed as an adult experiences

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ASPartOfMe
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19 Nov 2016, 5:08 am

Autism 'All my life suddenly made sense': how it feels to be diagnosed with autism late in life Jon Adams was 52 when he learned he had Asperger syndrome. As adult referrals rise, he and others explain the impact – good and bad – of a late diagnosis

Quote:
In 2014 Baron-Cohen’s team found that two-thirds of the patients in their clinic had either felt suicidal or planned to kill themselves, and that a third had attempted to do so. “To my mind, this is nothing to do with autism or Asperger syndrome,” he says. “These are secondary mental-health problems. You came into the world with autism, and the way the world reacted, or didn’t react, to you has led to a second problem, which is depression. And that’s preventable.”


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firemonkey
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19 Nov 2016, 5:43 am

I know I will never get a diagnosis of my NVLD/ASD(?) . I bought the issue up with my then care co-ordinator about 8 years ago and she did set me up with an extra appointment with the pdoc. Unfortunately it was a disaster. He asked a few totally irrelevant questions before dismissing the issue.
I am too scared to press the issue because it was pressing for more help and support that got me labelled as "awkward,demanding and troublesome" and a "very dependent narcissist".

Have heard the A word mentioned a few times but there have been no moves to act on it. Last time was last appointment with my nurse practitioner who mentioned it in relation to something I had said. It was quickly followed by " Not that there's much we can do" before she changed the line of conversation.



ASPartOfMe
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19 Nov 2016, 7:29 am

firemonkey wrote:
I know I will never get a diagnosis of my NVLD/ASD(?) . I bought the issue up with my then care co-ordinator about 8 years ago and she did set me up with an extra appointment with the pdoc. Unfortunately it was a disaster. He asked a few totally irrelevant questions before dismissing the issue.
I am too scared to press the issue because it was pressing for more help and support that got me labelled as "awkward,demanding and troublesome" and a "very dependent narcissist".

Have heard the A word mentioned a few times but there have been no moves to act on it. Last time was last appointment with my nurse practitioner who mentioned it in relation to something I had said. It was quickly followed by " Not that there's much we can do" before she changed the line of conversation.


This group of professionals deciding not to "label" us because there probably is little help are wrong. Informing clients they can not help or there is little help available is absolutely the right thing to do. But let the adult clients decide if they want to be labeled as autistic if they fit the diagnostic criteria.

I would keep trying for an assessment. While there is still a lot of misunderstanding of Adult Autism things are better then 8 years ago because of articles like these.


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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity

It is Autism Acceptance Month

“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman