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Anyone had an NHS Autism assessment before?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
So I am being offered a assessment in the NHS at a hospital in London called The Maudsley hospital. I don't really know when I will be seen or if I will get any treatment from them but what I wanted to know was if anyone here has had an autism assessment in the NHS and if you have recieved any support for things?. I havent had a FACS assessment from social services because i dont meet the highest level of needs. Is it possible to be completely isolated with Aspergers Syndrome? I haven't stepped out of my house in a while. Now I'm worried about being depressed and not facing people
I am having extremely bad panic attacks and anxiety is making me paranoid. I don't know who to turn to because apparently my clinic picture is not eligible for help in the mh services. This is my last option for any help. I don't want to sound like a trouble maker. I feel really isolated at the moment and spend any time I get on my own distancing myself from loads of people and ignoring them because I can't deal with pretending to be happy infront of people who don't understand my mental health. Do I even have mh issues? Other people say it and it sounds I don't have anything wrong with me psychologically they say they've agreed not to give me any support because treatment three years ago didn't work. I am going to be changing my GP soon because she is less supportive and never understands me. It's a waste of time seeing her. I feel really low and feel afraid of the future. I also haven't been eating very well. I've been wanting to throw up after binging on junk food I know I shouldn't be eating in the first place.
I am having extremely bad panic attacks and anxiety is making me paranoid. I don't know who to turn to because apparently my clinic picture is not eligible for help in the mh services. This is my last option for any help. I don't want to sound like a trouble maker. I feel really isolated at the moment and spend any time I get on my own distancing myself from loads of people and ignoring them because I can't deal with pretending to be happy infront of people who don't understand my mental health. Do I even have mh issues? Other people say it and it sounds I don't have anything wrong with me psychologically they say they've agreed not to give me any support because treatment three years ago didn't work. I am going to be changing my GP soon because she is less supportive and never understands me. It's a waste of time seeing her. I feel really low and feel afraid of the future. I also haven't been eating very well. I've been wanting to throw up after binging on junk food I know I shouldn't be eating in the first place.
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I don't have any experience of the assessment or know your full situation in terms of what services you have been involved with previously. Just make sure you are totally up front about everything that's going on for you as you have here and definitely change your gp of you're not happy with the service they're giving you.
Have you spoken to anyone about the anxiety/panic attacks?
Dp
I knew I had it (as do other people) but it was just needing (for support and other stuff) a diagnosis in writing.
X
We're you seen at the mh services? Do you still get any support? I don't have a single thing in place at the moment so I'm struggling to cope on my own knowing I have Aspergers having it tested privately is one thing but now having it verified by the NHS. Did they not give you any support? and who discharged you? Did u complain?.
Sonia
My complaint ended with PALS writing a letter and telling me that CMHT have done nothing wrong.
Apparently now, they only diagnose you with Autism / ASD and not high functioning Autism (HFA) or Aspergers.
I've found a couple of links for you with info about how autism is diagnosed - hopefully it will help you to prepare a little:
Autism and Aspergers diagnosis NHS
Autism - getting a diagnosis
I'm so sorry to hear about how your anxiety is stopping you from going out. Are you getting much support from your friends and family? Maybe you could try and make a plan with them, taking really baby steps and work up to going out with someone?
*hug*
with regards to the assessment, a common tool used with adults is the DISCO which is basically an extended interview with questions about your development. you might be asked to take a parent or someone who knew you as a young child so that they can provide more information. there are other assessment methods too but some are specifically used with children rather than adults. again as Melian has mentioned, the main aim of a diagnosis of autism in adulthood is to access other support, such as social services, for which a firm diagnosis is needed. Melian is also right in saying that as of 2013, technically Asperger's Syndrome is no longer a recognised condition (under the American Psychiatric Association's guidelines - it still exists in other reference texts). that doesn't mean that the difficulties experienced by those with AS are not very real, but that the name used to label the condition has changed. previously the main diagnoses were Autistic Disorder and Asperger's Syndrome. now there is a single name, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, and within this category you might be described as 'high functioning' or 'low functioning' depending on the degree of difficulty you experience. although this has been a really controversial issue, the reasoning behind it is that people like you who are falling through the net with support services should become entitled to the same services as those with more 'traditional' autism. so if your NHS assessment leads to a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder then you may have more success in future applications.
sorry that this has got so long, but there are quite a lot of points in your post that i wanted to respond to. my advice would be to make sure that when you attend your assessment you make it clear that you have mental health difficulties that cannot be explained by your autism. you need to make sure that the doctor realises that you are struggling to go out and that you are feeling low and anxious, because although it is likely that some of the issues are related to autism, they are having a negative impact on your ability to cope on a daily basis and therefore you need further health care. being autistic should not automatically exclude you from mental health services but unfortunately these days everyone has to fight really hard to be heard.
explain and for them to listen and actually believe something is going on rather than ignore it and sign post to non existent help which is not available. I get why mh services can't see people with Autism but they have to help somewhere because if you don't meet help from social services called FACs assessment then have a history of mental health issues then you can't be dismissed into having nothing wrong with you. That's the bit I find hard. What with all the cuts. I know in my area
They are cutting funds and where before you could see a psychiatrist for medicine reviews now to cant unless its short interventions and go back to your GP and ask for help. It's all a spiral of endless trouble for me at the moment. Especially because to start of with in 2009 I came to mh services with symptoms and anxiety, depression etc but once they found out I have autism they are saying that due to them not giving me a diagnosis could easily say they are down to having Asperger's syndrome.
One thing I struggle with is explaining what help I need. In my head, I know I need x, y and z. But I can't seem to explain what help I need and why.
I have made a complaint to social services; but haven't heard anything yet.
I've linked to a great info sheet on what FACS is.
FACS is basically
There's loads more info on this pdf too.
http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/guides/guide33/files/facs-leaflet.pdf
Hope that helps clear things up a bit.
Phil :thumb: