Private or NHS Diagnosis?

[Leenie0811]

I'm in an odd situation at the moment, in March I was diagnosed with ADHD (combined type mainly innattention) with Autistic tendancies. So the psychiatrist basically said I have Autism but wants to put me on ADHD meds and see how that works before looking further into my autistic traits. Has anyone else had this experience before? Does ADHD medication help any autism traits or does it make it worse?

It has confused me so much thinking about it because she said to me that I have it but my report says "ADHD - combined type predominantly innatentive" then in the notes it says symptoms include autistic tendancies but fails to mention my struggles. These reports aren't the best at describing what is happening so I do not know how this will help me with my uni DSA application. Will they see ADHD and Autism separate or completely miss the autism as it is in the notes and want to see a separate diagnosis?

This is where my question comes in, do I wait for my titration period to end and pursue with my current psychiatrist or do I research a private psychiatrist who specialises in female representation of autism to get the diagnosis before Uni in September?

I hope my post makes sense!

[Glad2BDifferent]

Hello Leenie0811

I hope this messege finds you well and not tied up with anxiety over the great unknown.... I myself have autism and my step daughter is going through Uni and has adhd amongst other unique and fabulous issues. In short, you really need to have your diagnosis put in writing along with your own account of your day to day and overall difficulties. Without making it sound like you have to convince someone who is unable to put themselves in your shoes, in short you really need to ensure you have everything you know you will need along with having someone you trust and knows you go through it all to add any information you have missed.... you need to get as much help and reasonable adjustments in place from the get go, as I witnessed myself, if you miss something, it's a long journey to get that extra help once you already need it.... the DSA can really be your best advocate and also your nemesis at rimes, but remember that you are more than capable of doing what you set out to do, because you know who you are inside and I have no doubt that when you come out the other side of your journey, there will be nobody remotely like you or as driven or determined... My step daughters biggest issue was the translating instructions ( the autistic side of our gift ), as so few of her lecturers could put themselves in her shoes and then covid on top stopping labs..... she really did have the whole smash on her shoulders, but like you, she is so strong willed and determined.... you will make your friends and family so proud and astonished I promise you

[Leenie0811 in reply to Glad2BDifferent]

Thank you so much for your message it really made me smile. So I applied this academic year and managed to get some of my accomodations sorted before the end of the year (just finished my last exam this week) at first they said they were processing the applications but I waited and waited to find out they just left mine and then it was sorted with only 2 months to go of this year. I feel like I could have done much better with the accomodations they have put in so far but because I got my ADHD diagnosis this year some of the accomodations are being set up over the summer in preparation for September.

Do you think I should wait for titration to end and stick with the current psychiatrist thats given a plan going forward if my autistic traits persist when I am medicated correctly for my ADHD or seek a private diagnosis for my ASD to add that full report onto my DSA application?

I have been advocating for myself for as long as I can remember because I have other health issues (Lupus, endometriosis and raynauds) and as much as I find it exhausting I do understand what you mean by that determination. It really is relentless where you stop at nothing to achieve what you set out to do. I do worry sometimes I burn myself out too easily but at the moment I live alone so I don't have the social pressures at home and can be as weird as I like with no judgement. Your stepdaughter sounds pretty awesome as do you!

I think my brain is just in overdrive at the moment wanting to make the best use of the summer to get everything ready in time for the next academic year, I love to be fully prepared but get frightened by procrastination! My brain has a love/hate relationship with itself 😂

[Bee-bop]

Hi there Leenie0811,

Just wondering if you had any support in place at college/school or ab EHCP ? These can usually help in any future support you may get. That said, as you have a diagnosis for ADHD now, that will help towards your support but, hopefully having "autistic tendencies" as part of your diagnosis should help with the support you need? My daughter is deferring a year as she isn't feeling ready to do Uni without a therapy animal in place but, before this I was asked to get in touch with the student support office to explain what needs she has and what measures may need to be put in place. So maybe find out who you need to contact in the SEND and additional needs team at your chosen university and explain what your needs are and that you have a diagnosis for ADHD with autistic tendencies.

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I can’t comment on the uni side of things, but my experience of meds with a younger person (my daughter when she was aged 7) was that they actually made her autism more obvious because she was more present in the room. She got put on equasym (methylphenidate) and school - who to that point had been pretty unhelpful anyway - got annoyed because she became more difficult to manage as a result of her ASD related anxiety taking precedence over her distraction and inattentiveness for a change. ADHD hadn’t even been on my radar until she was diagnosed: although it ultimately took until she was 10 to get the diagnosis, I was certain of the ASD from her being 18 months old, where the ADHD came as a complete surprise - I wouldn’t have believed she had it without seeing the difference medication made to her. Without the medication revealing the underlying presentation, I also think we would have waited even longer still to get referred for ASD assessment. She’s now 14, and on days where she doesn’t take her equasym, she’s much more difficult to motivate and often off in a would of her own, but slightly less anxious overall. She comes across as extremely flaky and disorganised. On days she takes it, her ASD is much more obvious, but she’s able to sit and engage much better in lower anxiety situations.