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Hi people,

I'm Snowgoose - real name is Nic.

I'm 42, currently living in the UK and about to return to education and embark on a Degree course at Uni in September.

I have suspected that I'm an Aspie for a good few years now and, looking back on my life so far, it would explain a lot.

Currently I am in a pretty bad place, having recenty taken a totally unsuitable job out of sheer necessity (telesales - if you knew what the jobmarket was like around here you would understand...) and I find myself raw, utterly drained and emotionally beaten up at the end of each day - I need the money for Uni tho' so no real option there.

Hence my current interest in my supposed condition - but I'm still not not sure what to do about it - a referal to psychiatric services around here usually takes in the order of six months by which time I'll be feeling perfectly "normal" again & not seeing any need for help.

I've done a couple of the on-line tests & these seem to point toward Aspergers being the root of my issues (40 points on the aq dot server8 dot org AQ test & an Aspie:NT score of 131:81 on the first run and 132:77 on the second run-thru on the Aspie-Quiz server).

As I said though, I just don't know what to DO about it - even if I get a diagnosis - is it anything more than a rubber-stamp on my condition? what do I tell my employers? do I say anything to my Uni? will my colleagues and friends understand? and if I DON'T get a diagnosis - is there any point saying to a potential employer "I think I might have Asperger's - I did this online test" or should I just keep quiet about it?

I know, I know - this isn't the best introduction but I'm climbing the curtains at the moment, what I've writen here has taken me hours and I'm needing advice too badly to lurk - give me a few weeks and I'll have my feet back on the ground.

Hello and welcome.

The first person to speak to about diagnosis is your GP. They should refer you to a clinical psychologist who can diagnose adults in your area. Often, there is no one local to provide this expertise. In this case, you might require an out of area referral.

I experienced a 9 month wait for psychiatric services for anxiety. It turned out they knew nothing of AS/autism. That was around the time I'd begun to suspect it in myself.

Instead of going through them concerning my suspected AS, I ended my (harmful) anxiety treatment and went back to my GP to mention the possibility of AS. I knew the mental health team would not listen (they very rarely listened to me about anything). He thought me to be correct and things went from there.



If you require accommodations at uni and work, a diagnosis will give you easier access to them. It is possible that your future uni may even be able to obtain funding to send you for a diagnosis if the NHS refuses. You can access some of the help available from uni disability services if you just have a note from your GP about suspected AS. However, if you obtain a solid diagnosis (rather than just having it noted as suspected AS in your records), I think your uni will also be able to access the funding needed from your local education authority to provide you with more support; for example, weekly meetings with a support mentor.

I think a diagnosis will also give you a stronger case concerning work-related accommodations or if challenging discrimination.

Let me know if you have any more questions concerning diagnosis and the NHS.

Becoming aware of your mental wiring will help you find workarounds for what you need to do to live. I agree tho, you do have one of the worst jobs for people like us. Good luck on your future.

Thankyou for the replys,

I think you are both right, I really need to go ahead and try to get a referral, more for "closure" and my own peace of mind than anything else, but if it means that I can get easier access to some kind of support / mentoring at uni when things go bad (which they undoubtably will) then all the better.

My trouble is that the majority of the time I just don't feel the NEED, I feel perfectly happy and "normal" although I'm not certain people around me would agree with that.

Anyway, thanks again and I'm glad I found this site, it has already started answering some long-standing questions and issues for me.

SG.

welcome here