Hey y'all. I'm in the process of being diagnosed for Autism. I was wondering if anyone could walk me through what the appointments will look like? Such as questions, tests, what kinds of things they'll go over ect? I'd really really appreciate it. I'm from the United States if that makes a difference? Thank you so much.
Much love. <3
1. first, get evidence of autistic behaviors. write them down so you don't forget them. you can find a bunch of typical symptoms on youtube and startpage.
2. go online and complete a few "autism tests". complete them honestly. don't try to pick the "right" answers. that can give you better ideas of what's going on and where to focus. you can save the results as evidence.
3. most of the sessions I've had were pretty much just explaining symptoms and the like. not too many tests, etc.
4. speak in past tense. it's a lot easier to discuss things in past tense, even if it's actually going on atm. doing this allows you to talk about stuff without worrying about getting sent to a psych ward. after all, that was last weekend, not today.
5. autism is different these days. if you're high functioning enough you may not get the "full" diagnosis. you may end up with "autism light". that can mean that things may not go the way you want or expect.
6. get ready for "oh shit" moments. when something syncs with my behavior I usually think "dammit. that makes too much sense amd explains a lot. I guess it's really true." quite possibly, a bunch of past behaviors can be understood as stemming from autism, etc.
