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Official diagnosis, finally!

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F0XES
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21 Mar 2017, 9:42 am

HI WP.

So I posted this about a year ago while I was struggling with my GPs at the time to get an assessment, had been going on for so long! http://wrongplanet.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=307837
GPs were an absolute nightmare and they had an incredibly poor understanding of ASDs and mental health in general, but in the end I found other people who actually were specialised in mental health etc. and got referred for an assessment middle of last year.

Today I was *officially* diagnosed with HFA/Asperger's and I feel like I can now learn to understand myself better and learn how to deal with the problems I face with more information at hand.

Posting because when I was going through it, it seemed so difficult to get a diagnosis as an adult, but it is entirely possible and has 100% been worth the wait. Super happy! I was bouncing about like an idiot when I got outside after!

How did you feel about your diagnosis? :)



AspieUtah
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21 Mar 2017, 9:51 am

F0XES wrote:
...it seemed so difficult to get a diagnosis as an adult, but it is entirely possible and has 100% been worth the wait. Super happy! I was bouncing about like an idiot when I got outside after!

How did you feel about your diagnosis? :)

The same way! I had the same stumbles in my first (non)diagnosis, so when I got the second diagnosis, I was joking with my diagnosticians afterward in the office lobby. I felt great; not because I was autistic, but because there were people who agreed with me. I could understand myself for once.

I am happy for you! :D


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F0XES
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21 Mar 2017, 10:12 am

AspieUtah wrote:
The same way! I had the same stumbles in my first (non)diagnosis, so when I got the second diagnosis, I was joking with my diagnosticians afterward in the office lobby. I felt great; not because I was autistic, but because there were people who agreed with me. I could understand myself for once.

I am happy for you! :D


Yes! 100%! It sounds silly but I feel like i've just been given permission to understand myself properly.
Even though i've suspected for so long, I couldn't really confidently apply that to myself and start really understanding until i'd made sure it wasn't just me making things up, if that makes sense.



davidmcg
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21 Mar 2017, 11:54 am

Happy for you. My assessment said no to ASD. Everything was normal...I know I'm not but it just shows I project normality.

They'll see more into it with therapy...kind of lost at the moment with a lot of mixed messages which is driving me crazy..

I'm happy for you.



burnt_orange
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21 Mar 2017, 12:15 pm

Congratulations



Mori Tod
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21 Mar 2017, 12:31 pm

Congratulations! I'm so happy for you!

This is my first thread, my first post on this website. I came here because, like you, I just received my official diagnosis of Asperger's. For 20 years I've been fighting through so many layers of red tape and jargon to get to the truth, especially fighting "the establishment" which was more than satisfied to diagnose my symptoms without ever reaching the cause. I'll admit, I was a little horrified at first. A large part of me equated "autistic" with "down syndrome". But once I started researching Asperger's... I kept saying YES! That's it! EXACTLY! That's me!! ! Which is incredibly exciting for someone who's been outside the herd.

So once again, congratulations! I hope this leads to new insight and a fresh set of tools to use.



ArielsSong
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21 Mar 2017, 12:52 pm

Congratulations!

I was very lucky with my diagnosis, that the process was quick and people paid attention to me - perhaps due to my husband's presence when I went to see my GP, perhaps not.

I'm glad you have your answer.



Floundering
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21 Mar 2017, 1:06 pm

Can i ask who told you the diagnosis was it your GP or the consultant?

I start the process next week after a 14 year battle and never want to see my GP ever again.



SaveFerris
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21 Mar 2017, 1:47 pm

F0XES wrote:

Today I was *officially* diagnosed with HFA/Asperger's and I feel like I can now learn to understand myself better and learn how to deal with the problems I face with more information at hand.



It never feels right for me to congratulate someone on having a disorder but I know it's the done thing here and does not mean that. Congratulations , I hope everything falls into place for you :D

I'm currently waiting for my assessment and initially hoped that if I had an ASD Dx it would put my life in perspective and I'd have that eureka moment, but I have come to realise I don't need an assessment to do this and even if I have ASD it is unlikely to change anything and won't answer the questions I need answering because my comorbids make me suffer not my ASD traits :roll:


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F0XES
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21 Mar 2017, 6:12 pm

Floundering wrote:
Can i ask who told you the diagnosis was it your GP or the consultant?

I start the process next week after a 14 year battle and never want to see my GP ever again.


The diagnosis was done by specialists in assessment for adult autism.
I found GPs to be useless with it so in the end I went to a mental health drop-in type thing that I found and asked them about referring me. It's worth looking to see if there's anything like that you can access, speaking to actual mental health professionals is a huge help when it comes to that! GPs are just the worst, the quicker you can be done with them the better I swear, it was like bashing my head against a brick wall with them.



ASPartOfMe
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21 Mar 2017, 6:18 pm

Congratulations FOXES and Mori Tod. And welcome to Wrong Planet Mori Tod.

While how people react to an ASD diagnosis varies greatly, for me it was a combination of, that explains a lot, relief, and there are others like me out there.

Your persistence against the many many obstacles adult females face when trying to get an ASD diagnosis finally paid off. That is something to be proud of. That you have accomplishment this is something to remember as you go through the rest of your lives.


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F0XES
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21 Mar 2017, 6:44 pm

davidmcg wrote:
Happy for you. My assessment said no to ASD. Everything was normal...I know I'm not but it just shows I project normality.

They'll see more into it with therapy...kind of lost at the moment with a lot of mixed messages which is driving me crazy..

I'm happy for you.


See I do too but the people who assessed me knew it was important to figure whether it was *natural* to me or not.
I made sure to tell them that I pushed myself to learn it all by reading up on all sorts of psychology and communication type things etc. because I was just not naturally good with anything like that.

Perhaps that's something you could speak to someone about again?



F0XES
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21 Mar 2017, 6:47 pm

Mori Tod wrote:
Congratulations! I'm so happy for you!

This is my first thread, my first post on this website. I came here because, like you, I just received my official diagnosis of Asperger's. For 20 years I've been fighting through so many layers of red tape and jargon to get to the truth, especially fighting "the establishment" which was more than satisfied to diagnose my symptoms without ever reaching the cause. I'll admit, I was a little horrified at first. A large part of me equated "autistic" with "down syndrome". But once I started researching Asperger's... I kept saying YES! That's it! EXACTLY! That's me!! ! Which is incredibly exciting for someone who's been outside the herd.

So once again, congratulations! I hope this leads to new insight and a fresh set of tools to use.


Ahh well done! It's so hard to fight through it all and I experienced the exact same as what you just said!
Having more understanding of how your mind works is so useful!



F0XES
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21 Mar 2017, 7:06 pm

burnt_orange wrote:

ArielsSong wrote:

Thank you!




SaveFerris wrote:
It never feels right for me to congratulate someone on having a disorder but I know it's the done thing here and does not mean that. Congratulations , I hope everything falls into place for you :D

I'm currently waiting for my assessment and initially hoped that if I had an ASD Dx it would put my life in perspective and I'd have that eureka moment, but I have come to realise I don't need an assessment to do this and even if I have ASD it is unlikely to change anything and won't answer the questions I need answering because my comorbids make me suffer not my ASD traits :roll:


Oh absolutely!
The assessment won't fix everything, I have anxiety/depression and that's something I recognise I have to work at myself. But having it definitely helps me find ways of making my life easier, also my anxiety/depression definitely developed because of the ASD and not understanding the world and why people reacted to me the way they did, so I feel understanding where they came from now gives me something to go on to help conquer those problems now!




ASPartOfMe wrote:
Congratulations FOXES and Mori Tod. And welcome to Wrong Planet Mori Tod.

While how people react to an ASD diagnosis varies greatly, for me it was a combination of, that explains a lot, relief, and there are others like me out there.

Your persistence against the many many obstacles adult females face when trying to get an ASD diagnosis finally paid off. That is something to be proud of. That you have accomplishment this is something to remember as you go through the rest of your lives.


Totally! Thank you! I certainly do feel like it's an accomplishment.
It's a huge relief just knowing I don't have to deal with the whole process anymore too. :')



Floundering
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21 Mar 2017, 7:56 pm

F0XES wrote:
Floundering wrote:
Can i ask who told you the diagnosis was it your GP or the consultant?

I start the process next week after a 14 year battle and never want to see my GP ever again.


The diagnosis was done by specialists in assessment for adult autism.
I found GPs to be useless with it so in the end I went to a mental health drop-in type thing that I found and asked them about referring me. It's worth looking to see if there's anything like that you can access, speaking to actual mental health professionals is a huge help when it comes to that! GPs are just the worst, the quicker you can be done with them the better I swear, it was like bashing my head against a brick wall with them.


Sorry i don't think i explained it too well. I actually start the assessment process next week at an adult autism assessment centre in birmingham, because of the protracted situation (14 YEARS) i just want it over and done with and out of the shady grasp of my GP, so the question is did the person doing the assessment give you the diagnosis at the end of the process or was the diagnosis sent to the GP to pass on to you?



liveandrew
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22 Mar 2017, 2:21 am

F0XES wrote:
HI WP.

So I posted this about a year ago while I was struggling with my GPs at the time to get an assessment, had been going on for so long! http://wrongplanet.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=307837
GPs were an absolute nightmare and they had an incredibly poor understanding of ASDs and mental health in general, but in the end I found other people who actually were specialised in mental health etc. and got referred for an assessment middle of last year.

Today I was *officially* diagnosed with HFA/Asperger's and I feel like I can now learn to understand myself better and learn how to deal with the problems I face with more information at hand.

Posting because when I was going through it, it seemed so difficult to get a diagnosis as an adult, but it is entirely possible and has 100% been worth the wait. Super happy! I was bouncing about like an idiot when I got outside after!

How did you feel about your diagnosis? :)

Congratulations! I felt the same as you; I cried with happiness when the psychologist told me :) Luckily, we have a self-referral system down here, so I could bypass my GP.


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