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Bristol itself. I don't have a Twitter account, no. I can't handle Twitter.@Pringles
Bristol eh? Bristol area or S.Glos? I happen to be not far from you and know quite a few autistic ladies from these parts on Twitter. Do you have a Twitter account?
Thank you so much, that would be great! What a relief to find everyone here.I'll ask on Twitter for any pointers from people in the area, with your blessing of course. I'll just describe you as "someone I've come across online" and see if anyone has any information that could be of help to you.
OKThank you so much, that would be great! What a relief to find everyone here.
Thanks so much for all your responses, everyone. I really appreciate them as they've been very comforting. I received a copy of the letter sent to my GP today with a summary of the session (and it re-angered me and set me off spiralling again) so at least now I have it in writing that they've made some incorrect assumptions about autistic people, as well as the names of the people who interviewed me.
And yes, it was a triage session to assess whether I should have a full diagnostic assessment. Maybe it's quite common for those to go wrong...
Thanks so much for all your responses, everyone. I really appreciate them as they've been very comforting. I received a copy of the letter sent to my GP today with a summary of the session (and it re-angered me and set me off spiralling again) so at least now I have it in writing that they've made some incorrect assumptions about autistic people, as well as the names of the people who interviewed me.
And yes, it was a triage session to assess whether I should have a full diagnostic assessment. Maybe it's quite common for those to go wrong...
Those of us who get to adulthood without a diagnosis or perhaps without anyone even noticing are clearly very good at "masking."
You just lived my biggest autism-related fear. Really the only advice I can give for self-acceptance is what you've probably done already--learn as much as you can about ASD and clinically analyze yourself and your life experiences to see if ASD fits. I'm secure in my self-diagnosis because I doubted it and challenged the idea until the evidence simply piled too high; you've probably done similar. I'm sorry to hear you were treated so poorly, hopefully your second opinion goes better. If you formally complain, make sure you emphasize the procedure, not the diagnosis. It's obvious they didn't bother to properly analyze you and they ignored your input, as well as operating from flawed and outdated understanding, so hit them on that. That way, people won't think "Oh, it's sour grapes from not being told what she wanted to hear."Has anyone had a similar experience, or can anyone potentially give advice on coming to a place of self-acceptance without a formal diagnosis, but after being told by a professional that you're not autistic? I realise many people here are self-diagnosed, and I now wish I'd just left it at that because I'm ashamed and embarrassed about how the meeting went and keep obsessing about it and getting more and more angry.
Can you point me to this piece? I find it useful to keep tabs on what the idiot masses are being told to think. Know thy enemy, and all that.The comments made during @Pringles experience do worry me though, coming ,as they are, hot on the heels of the nasty and damaging "opinion" piece published in The Guardian a week or so ago. The guy who wrote it is a known agitator and bully who wishes to be a gatekeeper, determining who is and who isn't allowed to call themselves "autistic" and does everything he can to undermine any progress towards neurodiversity.
I hope "professionals" aren't listening to the likes of him.
Is there any reason why you need to see yourself as autistic?
Psychological diagnostic is a complex matter, since a variety of traits can occur because of quite diverse circumstances, and this includes a fair amount of autistic behaviors in adulthood.
You sound disturbingly similar to one of those doctors!
I'm very sorry. I agree with former posters in asking to a different psychologist/psychiatrist, however if they do indeed believe the very same thing than the former doctor, should OP go through more practitioners until finding one that confirms her diagnostic? I think this could potentially do more harm than good to OP, in terms of time and money, and the possible treatment of a different diagnostic that may require therapeutic treatments and might be the origin of this behavior.
I do believe OP should see an specialist in ASD, and I disagree with the statement "shouldn't go private because they'll just tell you what you want to hear and it won't be a real diagnosis" because it's utterly ridiculous. But I also hope OP doesn't fall into despair if she doesn't receive an ASD diagnostic.
Can you point me to this piece? I find it useful to keep tabs on what the idiot masses are being told to think. Know thy enemy, and all that.