"We don't diagnose over 14 years old". Seeking UK

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A few months ago I saught diagnosis for Aspergers syndrome, as I've been struggling with transitioning in to the world of work, and with making friends.
My doctor referred me to the local mental health services, and the person I saw said they would refer me on the the local Autism services, but that they thought it was unlikely they'd see me as they didn't think they diagnosed anyone over fourteen years of age as by surviving to fourteen you have shown you are able to cope with day to day life.
I haven't heard from anyone since then, so I assume they have decided not to see me.
I've emailed NAS asking for advice on how to proceed, but I was wondering if anyone had any tips or advice.
Also, is it true that you can't be diagnosed past fourteen years old?

That's a bunch of bull, of course you can be diagnosed past the age of 14. You just have to go somewhere else for a diagnoses.

I approached my GP last year, after my son's diagnosis and my consequent research convinced me that I had AS. She referred me to the local Mental Health unit, which interviewed me. Two months later, having heard nothing, I 'phoned them and was told that AS isn't one of their areas, and they'd asked my GP to refer me to the NAS. I waited another five months - low self-esteem, among other things - and then, today, having heard nothing from my GP, I called the NAS. They found a clinic in my county which diagnoses adults as well as one which only does children... So the short version is that there is such a thing in the UK.

'Phone the NAS and ask them.

They also suggested the AQ test, on which I scored 37: not a surprise, but still a disappointment - especially after all this time adapting.

What they probably meant--though I cannot be sure whether they are actually more clueless than you described--is that your local autism services only deal with children. I found my local mental health team to be clueless as well. Those you saw are either ignorant of AS--which was not an available diagnosis when many of today's adults were children--or are just being difficult. What I did was go directly to my GP. Your GP would be able to find out if there is anyone in the area qualified to diagnose adults. This will usually be a clinical psychologist.

If your GP says there is no one available in your area, ask to be referred out of area. It's possible your local NHS might have an out of area agreement with a clinic where you can get assessed. If they refuse, you can write an official complaint to your local Primary Care Trust, backing it up with references and descriptions of your difficulties.

I will wait to see what NAS says in response to my email, but I think I will probably book an appointment with my doctors to ask what they will do next.
It's difficult, because I'm not naturally a pushy person, and that seems to be what I need to get this diagnosis.

I was diagnosed at age 56.

On the one hand, I can see that they're badly equipped to diagnose an adult. They should have admitted that they don't know how instead of telling you that survival means you never needed help.

Here's how I got my diagnosis:

- I got a contact at my local health centre - the doc was no good, but the psychiatric nurse took me under her wing.
- With her help, my file got presented at one of their Assessment meetings, and they referred me to a mental hospital.

In North America, Asperger's is defined in the DSM-IV-TR (diagnostic manual for psychiatrists), and since it's there, it has to be diagnosed by a psychiatrist - hence the referral to a mental hospital.

This took a year.

I did a total of five hours interviews over several months at the mental hospital (out-patient) and then they wrote up their diagnosis. This took another year.

But I got what I needed. I hope you will too. Don't be discouraged - keep going!

It would be good if NAS could tell you where to go for an adult diagnosis in your area, then you can simply ask your GP to refer you to them.

I'm in Scotland and I first approached the Autism Resource Centre which deals with adult diagnosis. They told me that I had to get a referal from my GP, and gave me a leaflet which I then gave to my GP. It made it much easier when seeing my GP already to have the information about how and to whom I should be referred.

Having said that, it must be about a month since I saw my GP, who did agree to refer me, but I haven't heard anything since then.

Edited to add: I'm 41 years old, and the Autism Resource Centre told me that they have diagnosed adults of varying ages, many of them professional people and some of them are themselves psychiatrists. Don't be fobbed off by anyone who says that you can't be AS because you managed to survive past the age of 14.

Because at 14 years old autism just seems to disappear?
That's pretty much bull that if someone 'survives' to 14 that they can pretty much cope with their day to day life. I'm 23 and I barely have adequate self help skills.
And to answe your question you can be diagnosed passed 14 years. I think Daniel Tammet was diagnosed when he was 21 or 22. I was diagnosed at 22.

I don't know about the UK, but it seems stupid to me that they reason tha ti fyou survive to fourteen, you must do alright. Besides, at that age, it is pretty much still your parents who decide whether you get assessed, and even if you don't technically cope well, your parents might pretend that you do for various reasosn. Not saying yours did that, but mine did (because they desperately wanted me to stay in public education and a diagnosis might get me kicked back to special ed). I was really having serious behavioral problems and not having any friends, but since I academically did alright, my parents decided I didn't have problems. Besides, even if I had fared alright, transitiosn later in life could still cause problems. I was myself diagnosed at age 20/21 because the transition into independent livng and college was causing me serious problems. Likewise, in your case, the transition into work may cause you additional problems.

However, what does sound possibel to me, is that they only employ child psychiatrists/psychologists, who don't have experience with adults. Therefore, they may not know what is normal for someone your age, and therefore may be unable to diagnose you. Here in the Netherlands, until about five years ago, we only had one or two autism centers with expertise in adults, and some who actually specialized in children but would see an occasional adult.

And I've read that people with AS often fail to establish careers or start families. If there's a tendency not to assess people who've achieved those things, then the conclusion is artificial and wrong, isn't it?

I was diagnosed last November age 23. I went through my GP but make sure you're prepared when you go to see them as if you have to get refferred out of the area it costs the NHS more and they try to avoid it. Write down reasons why you think you have aspergers and use points from the triad of impairments to back you up. I got a list of diagnosticians who specilaise in aspergers from the NAS then I contacted them and found out how long I would have to wait to see each one. After that I just told my GP what I thought my problem was and who I wanted to see to get diagnosed. She wasn't keen on sending me at first but I had a lot to back me up as I'd been seeing useless people in the mental health sector for a while and getting no where (they were trying to treat me for not accepting having epilepsy which they thought was the reason I was struggling so much in life even though I repeatedly told them this was not the case). I was diagnosed in 3 months from seeing my GP. If you're not pushy you won't get anywhere as they see it as they can't treat you evevn if you do have it so why bother diagnosing. If only they understood how a diagnosis alone can make a huge difference to us.

Perhaps, or perhaps not: you have to draw a line somewhere between "Asperger's Syndrome" and "regular social akwardness". "Failure to establish a career or start a family" is a artificial line, but probably every criteria will be artificial.

But, in another way, we can raise doubts about the validity and possibility of diagnosing someone with AS before 14 years old - after all, before that age (or perhaps even before eighteen) it is almost impossible to see if he will have significant difficulty in job of family life.

Alycat: I'm so sorry to read about the troubles you are having sourcing a diagnosis. I'm in Scotland, and I got my diagnosis last year, and from what I've read about other's problems achieving the same thing, I think I have been quite lucky.

I mentioned my suspicions to my GP, who told me I would need to write out on paper the ways in which I felt I fit into the AS profile, which he would then forward on to a psychiatrist.

After 6 weeks I got a referral to our local Mental Health team, to see a lovely Clinical Psychologist, and I saw her 3 times.
Each visit involved us going through the DSM IV criteria, and cross-referencing what I had written earlier with that, as well as other experiences.

I was told she felt I had mild Aspergers on the final visit, and she explained to me she noticed I have below-average eye-contact, and that it was clear to her from my behaviour that I have hypersensitivities to sound, light and touch.

The assessment ended with her telling me that she would write a full report on the assessment and that I would be sent a copy of this, along with confirmation of my diagnosis.

It pains me that this does not seem to be the same assessment procedure used throughout the whole of the UK, and that you are being denied diagnosis on the basis of what frankly seems to me to be poor training of staff.

Having said that, since my own diagnosis I have found to some degree that there is more of a void for support/information/advocacy for adults with AS I've found most literature seems to relate to children.

The sad fact seems that because Has Asperger's work only focused on AS in children, it seems like the medical profession have followed suit and they seem to forget AS children also grow into adults!!

I really wish you well with seeking diagnosis.

I think I understand what you're saying. But if you have all the major symptoms of AS, and nearly all the hundreds of minor ones you find by reading around the condition and reading the threads here, but you've managed to work and to start a family... that doesn't mean you don't have AS, does it?

For over forty years, I was just a miserable person with lots of idiosyncrasies and no friends. Asperger's came up accidentally, through my son's diagnosis. I'm convinced that there are many people with AS out there who've never come close to a diagnosis, because they've coped.

They coped because they had to.

There was no other choice.

Or they've been lucky with the environments they've been in/life circumstances.

If you find your GP is not amenable, or you have any other difficulties obtaining an assessment, I recommend visiting your local Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), which you can locate here: http://www.pals.nhs.uk/. They provide excellent advice on any concerns you might have regarding the NHS.