follow up support after diagnosis: what helped you?

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I'm curious to hear about other peoples' experiences of follow-up after diagnosis.

Were you offered counselling of any particular kind? (CBT?) Further tests (e.g. ADHD), groups, occupational therapy?
Did you have to advocate to get this?
And most important, what was most useful to you?
If you didn't have professional follow ups, what did you do on your own?

I ask because I've just gotten ASD and have been offered a choice of two one-on-one sessions with a psychologist or a few sessions with a group (which would be about 4 other h-f women) and facilitated by a specialist.

I've been reading a huge amount and browsing this and other forums and feel that having been masking being non-neurotypical for my whole life, and now run into obstacles, I can't figure it all out and fake it so much anymore. I'm also interested in general in post-dx experience. (read Philip Wylie's book already.) I am in the UK where provision will be different in each region and some of the additional follow-up would have to be authorized by the GP.

Is this post in the wrong place, or is nobody interested?

I saw a Psychologist who works with people on the spectrum, he let know know that i wasn't alone with my issues and told me a lot of his patients- if not all. felt the exact same way i did, sometimes even said things word for word. He helped me find the camp i went to for autistic teens, helped my school understand my issues and my dad. He also helped give me tools with anxiety and social issues.

I'm starting to feel like the experience for people outside the US is a lot better than for those of us IN the US.

My psychologist made some suggestions like ABA (??) and that I should "try to make new friends." She referred me to an ABA specialist who told me they only treat children and that it was 20 hours a week. I don't have that kind of spare time.

All of what I've been able to find has been through my own research, unfortunately. I happened to learn about a social skills class when I was interviewing a therapist about a suicide survivor's group. I found a occupational therapist to help deal with my sensory overload issues, but she wants me to see an ear-nose-throat doctor (Otolaryngologist) to get my inner ears checked out--she thinks my balance and coordination issues may have a physical cause, although I've had them at least since I was 5. I've located some therapists that are supposed to specialize in ASD, but I've been too busy trying to find a new psychiatrist since I changed health insurance.

Tony Attwood says that cognitive based therapy can be effective for people with ASD, with some modification:
http://www.tonyattwood.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81:modifications-to-cognitive-behaviour-therapy-to-accommodate-the-cognitive-profile&Itemid=181

I thought this was a good intro: http://autism.about.com/od/adultsaspergersyndrom1/f/treatadultas.htm

After my diagnosis, I started CBT therapy, joined a social skills group for autistics at my university, and went to the disabled students center on campus to request testing accommodations to help with my slow processing speed and sensory processing problems.

A few months later, I started the application process for SSDI, but never completed it because I found a job in the interim (didn't tell them about my diagnosis initially, but they know now, not that it matters because they don't really know what it means).

Last August I contacted a vocational rehabilitation center, and they hooked me up with two job coaches who are helping me look for a better job, and who will be there to advocate for accommodations I'll need in the workplace, including on-site job coaching (which basically means one of them will follow me around at work and make sure I'm comfortable, know what I need to do, and help me interact socially with the other employees). They in turn set me up with a workforce center in the town over from mine, who are helping me find a paid internship in my area of interest and education (psychology).

About eight months ago, I also went to my GP for a script for anti-anxiety meds, as I have a lot of co-morbid anxiety alongside my autism. I've been on Zoloft (Sertraline) since that time, and feel a lot better than I used to.

I've also done research into, but not made any real steps towards attaining, an autism service dog to help me navigate back to a familiar place when I'm lost, help me calm down during meltdowns, and make me feel more comfortable and less anxious around strangers. The only reason I haven't taken the steps towards getting one yet is because I still live with my parents, who meet the needs a dog would fill for the time being. It's on the forefront of my mind as one of the first things I'm going to set up when I move out on my own though.

I should also note that I was diagnosed as an adult (age 21) in the U.S, and have been surprised at the number of services I've found available and had access to. I don't know if I just live in a fortunate part of the country or what, but it's been surprisingly easy for me.

I did have to self-advocate a lot, even just to get my diagnosis. I only got the services I did because I tracked them down and presented myself to the relevant people. If that sort of thing is hard for you, is there a friend or family member who could help you?

My only thought about that is this: I've been trying to do that for 50 some odd years. Apparently I'm not good at it. Telling me to 'try harder' is the same BS everybody else has said. I don't think I would have been happy.

One of two things would have happened.
1) I would have been so taken off guard that I would not be able to formulate a response until much later (The usual)

or, if hits me wrong or in the wrong frame of mind

2) firing back and just not being nice about it. Basically, all the frustration would just pour out.

The biggest thing that helped me was not going to or staying with counselors/etc who don't REALLY understand autism in adults.

I've found there are many who claim to, but they either only know about kids who have severe issues with it (and so deny anything that doesn't look like that is any form or autism or a real problem), or they just don't know any of it and they "treat" with things that help NTs but hurt Autistics.

I've only found 1 counselor so far who actually understood me from the start (even though he's not autistic). It was freaking amazing to be able to be truly and truthfully understood and helped (versus the other).

Yeah, that's about how I took it too... completely useless BS, thanks, doc. I can make friends... and then mysteriously piss them off for reasons I don't understand, so they never talk to me again.