Ive never seen anyone talk about their diagnosis process being like mine, so I figure I've gotta be the one to talk about it / dana_._andersen / danaoandersen ko-fi.com/dana... / dana_._andersen patreon.com/DanaAndersen
When I got my diagnosis papers and read the summary, tears rolled down my face, because it said some things about me which I did not believe really described me, and I felt hurt. However when I looked at page 2 and saw the scores from testing, I was relieved to see I was at last getting a diagnosis and that there have been good reasons for many symptoms over the years. I’ve done pretty well coping, getting an education, and working in a neurotypical world and now allow myself to just relax and accept myself.
I have thought about getting an official AuDHD assessment, but every-time I hear what happens at one, I get stressed out at the thought of 3 hours of awkwardness & confusion.
Your character is just fine! None of those comments means you're a bad kid! I've realized I'm happier with just a few trustworthy, kind friends. There's nothing wrong with not enjoying all the rigamarole that comes along with socializing. Take care of yourself!
I just wanted to commend you for being so courageous and going to get an assessment. I know it can be difficult sharing your private and personal information and feeling a little vulnerable and worrying about whether or not you're being judged in your assessment. So well done for being brave and I'm glad you have a diagnosis now.
I'm currently on a waiting list and had to fill out 4 old and badly translated(like recognise translated with remember in the AQ-Test, or understand translated with appreciate in the EQ-Test) versions of diagnostic tests before being put on the waiting list. There was even an "empathy test" and I find the thought really weird, that someone might be excluded from diagnostic and questions like "do you care if you see an animal suffer", "do you care if you're late when meeting with a friend", or "did you used to cut earthworms in half as a child" could have been the deciding factor. Then again, the ICD-10-GM is still in use and probably will be for as long as legaly possible.
I'm dreading being told I have to bring a parent to mine! I've not really spoken to them in a few years & I wouldn't feel comfortable disclosing that I'm going for assessment to them. I hope my memories & remembered anecdotes will be enough. I have at least another 6 months to wait - there was a minimum 2 year wait when I went on the list 🙄
@@Dani.P.F. Not really - we moved around a lot when I was a kid & my family are pretty scattered around! I keep reading comments from people diagnosed in their 60s & older, so I assume they don't have anyone who knew them as infants & they were still diagnosed 🤔
My first assessment in 2007 they interviewed my mother and my sister. My sister was younger than I but still probably more useful than my mother. That assessment said I possibly had autism as a child but didn't have it as an adult even though I had some traits of autism still. ?? But they didn't know as much about autism in women back then. For my second assessment (this year). I only had to bring my boyfriend. Which is good because my mother was 75 and is forgetting a lot. And she wasn't happy about me going to an autism assessment.
@@lauraburystedmundsyoga8231 Yeah, it is in my assessment. That was in 2007. The understanding of autism has changed a lot in 16 years. A therapist thought that I might have autism. I read 3 books on it before my first assessment. One sounded like me. One didn't sound like me at all. And one kind of did. So I didn't really think that I had autism. I was diagnosed with ADHD. I didn't worry about having autism until a second mental health professional (who had formerly done autism assessments) suggested that I look into it. Nowadays RU-vid videos are available (not just books from the late 90's). Once I saw some videos by women with autism it fit a lot better. So I got diagnosed.
thank you for making this video! i’m currently waiting to receive my assessment (which was promised to be done by the end of this week… its currently friday here, 5:28pm, still haven’t fucking received it 🙄)… my session with the psychiatrist i saw seemed really… brief, and weird, he asked me so many seemingly irrelevant questions which totally derailed me… I’m nonbinary and he even questioned me on that, and when i answered, in a way that related to my neurodivergency, because like… thats relevant, thats what i’m here to talk about, he was like… “Ok, but how do you feel about your body?!” he wanted to know if i experienced dysphoria… but like… who cares!? it was so none of his business and totally irrelevant? i feel like he thought i wasn’t transgender enough, and that i just felt weird and different because of my autism. like what the hell..? it was a 40 minute session… and i don’t think he asked me nearly enough questions about my childhood, though i don’t think every diagnostic session should be solely about that, most kind of are? so i found it weird that he didn’t seem to care so much about that? also, no one ever asked me to bring a parent with me, which is like, great in one regard, i never felt infantilised by them, which is great! but i also have a shit memory, and i know there are so many things i missed that would have given them a lot more info to work with. its also kinda valuable learning all these things that parents have always glossed over or overlooked. anyways. have a lovely day Dana, keep on trucking along. i think you’re doing amazingly 😸 these videos are quite inspiring to me. just the way you talk and live your life and how strong you seem. much much love 💗🫂
I just got some questionnaires as far as test go. Mostly it was my experiences en my parents. When I was younger I did have the kind of test where you had to do puzzles and games and give explanations, but maybe that was because they didn’t know what they were searching for at the time. This time they were searching more directly. Or maybe because I was 9 at the time, and I am 21 now. Not sure
I dont have anyone that has known me since childhood that spent much time with me. My mom has passed and even when i saw my dad i didnt interact with him much and had to mask around him and my stepmom as best i could otherwise they werent very kind. Ive never had a close friend and actually can't remember alot of my childhood. I have an assessment in February but if you have to have other people i dont even know if i should go now.
Very similiar to what I experienced a few months ago. Except that I could not have my mom come with me so they took most of the clues from my school records and a letter my teacher had written to the school psychiatrist when I was 9 or 10 .. and what I had to report remembering or having been told by my family. Thank you for sharing. In all honesty, the kind of chaos and messiness of your report somewhat gave me a sense of calm about my own diagnosis process.
It's all a bit of BS really to have someone tell you what you already know, and then send you on your way with a good luck, practice your masking, and get on with it. I'm self-identified, mainly due to the cost but also because I'm concerned about the additional stress of going through it to begin with. Thank you for sharing your report.
Sadly, I was not asked about my special interests, but I did bring them up so maybe they thought that was all. It was not. I would say maybe the Foo Fighters tattoo on my hand was enough to let them know about that, but I’m pretty sure I brought up that I had two Foo Fighters tattoos and had just seen them in September and had loved them for 26 years and so on. Then LotR did come up when I was talking about tattoos because I was talking about my son and how he was getting a LotR sleeve because he was into it like me and I also thought he needed to be assessed, but would have to check his insurance. Also, they didn’t have a parent come to mine. They sent my mom a questionnaire which was surprisingly short and didn’t ask very many questions that I thought were too relevant. That was frustrating. I still have 13 days to wait until I get my results though.
Mine is 9 pages long but my assessment was done over a zoom call because of Covid restrictions. My dad was my informant and his was done over the telephone. I was non verbal basically until I started school and needed to have speech therapy. I vaguely remember her, all I remember is her telling me to speak with my tongue touching my bottom front teeth. I don't remember why, I know I ignored her because speaking with my tongue touching my teeth made me sound even more retarded. Mine probably mentions Blake's 7. I am obsessive about it. I have watched the entire series back to back probably at least 50 to 100 times now since I was able to get my hands on the VHS tapes back in the early 1990s. I have watched it so many times I practically know the dialogue word for word almost. If I wasn't autistic I could probably write a thesis on it. I was massively into science fiction books as a kid. I probably rented from the library every Doctor Who Target novel I could get my hands on. I read a few of The Foundation books by Isaac Asimov.
That is really interesting, thanks for sharing. There's is really no 'norm' for what the diagnosis process and the paperwork are like. Mine were very different and the reason why I questioned the diagnosis for so long. Do you think it should be standardized?
also, would you consider putting ads just at the start and end of your videos? they can be kinda jarring for me. i understand if you want to squeeze as many in there as you can though, gotta make a living somehow ^_^
Just to comment on this, you can't actually pick where ads go anymore on RU-vid, you pick how many you want, like 'aggressive ads, minimal ads etc' you can't even turn them totally off anymore if you are a creator, so yeah, RU-vid basically is more interested in making money off videos than creators wants.
Oh I find support for adults is a ball ache they send telephone details and having contact them I don’t like phoning usually get a silly robot press 1 for this 2 for that 3 etc I get frustrated
Also, that was nice of you to share that but you don't have to. Fuck them if they don't believe that you are autistic. Some people think anyone that looks fairly normal could never be autistic. They only believe severe cases. Thanks for your videos! I enjoy them.
I'm still waiting on my assessment, been on the list like 1 year and 8 months, I was at one point took off because they got my results wrong, took months but got put back on, back in my original placement. I try not to think about it untill I get confirmation with a date otherwise it's all I think about.
Its much better if you bring fact data about chilhood. Such your parents or somebody Who knew you, such a nighbour or an ancle, a sister... You can get the diagnosis without that proof of fact...they Will ask in diferent Vogue and try to check if your traits are developmental o due to other causes. You can bring videos from your childhood and fotos....you can be Creative remembering.. You can either have no memories, because of dissociation, trauma... And that It s fine. Just be honest and as much accurate as you can and be parient. There is many people outthere willing to get an autism diagnosis just because they think It is cool and because they want to change the one they allready got, such as bpd, edhd, bipolar... Be honest about trauma if that happened in your childhood or nowadays... Trauma It is serios enogh to be respected.. and missing trauma and getting instead an autism diagnosis can even damage your sanity and get the wrong resourses The trauma community is allready advocating so much to get the help they need. If you have autism and trauma and you need help and your psychosocial issues are the only ones addressed..dont warry about ..that is a good direction...and be clear your autism is nota invisible...one the provider Will know you well, they Will speak about those issues, and then you can retalk about your concern about autism.
I was diagnosed in 2011, and Asperger's was still an official thing, so I received two diagnoses on two papers, one said Asperger's Syndrome, and the other said "Autistic Disorder". Since the DSM-IV was being used, my diagnosis appears unclear to people for some reason.
