Diagnosis

[halojedha]

I had my ADHD assessment on Monday! I didn't get a "I now declare you diagnosed with ADHD" moment, but the psych did refer me for ADHD medication so I think I can consider that a diagnosis. There's a 6 month wait for the titration team to become available though.

Within ten minutes of starting the appointment the psych started asking me autism screening questions and asked if I'd had an ASD assessment (no) and if I wanted one (yessssss). So she's referred me for that too apparently! Which is the only way I'm ever gonna get an autism diagnosis on the NHS, so I'm thrilled. 

I'm also incredibly curious if there was anything that tipped her off, or if ASD screening is something they do as standard. Did I ping her autiedar? Am I that obvious? I'm intrigued.

So this is all a) good, b) incredibly validating and a massive relief, and c) a Lot to process. Having all sorts of feels right now, starting with "oh crap, now I need to renarrativize my whole life in light of this information". Might write more about the emotional side of it when I'm less exhausted.

Comments

[pauraque]

I'm glad you got a validating diagnosis! I can't speak for what your evaluator was thinking, but in the US it's not uncommon to also screen for ASD when there is suspicion of ADHD and vice versa, since there are overlapping characteristics.

[halojedha]

Yeah, it may well be standard. Part of me is hoping my traits are just very obvious, which is a bit weird but I guess validation is really significant!

[ewt]

I believe it's now standard to at least ask about ASD screening in ADHD screenings, but this is not what happened when I got my ADHD diagnosis back in 2007.

[halojedha]

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get the additional ASD screening if you wanted it, I know that it's almost impossible to come by otherwise.

[ewt]

To be honest it wasn't really on my radar in 2007; and there's enough less clinical support for autism that I'm not sure formal diagnosis is helpful for me at this stage.

[sfred]

I hope it's all useful for you.

[halojedha]

Thank you! I am looking forward very much to supervised medication 😊

[kaberett]

<333 congratulations? good luck with the integration? hello and welcome?

[halojedha]

Thank you! The integration sure is a Thing. I've been self-identifying as both ADHD and autistic for a few years now, but this makes it all much more Real. I am amongst the best company though!

[charlie]

I'm really happy for you that you got such a positive and helpful outcome x