Anxiety about upcoming assessment

Clareh37 said:
Hello all. I have somehow missed this whole conversation after the initial (lovely) reply to my post. Reading all the follow ups now is so reassuring and I love how supportive this group is, I will try and engage more from now on. And I hope that you are all finding the support and care you need - Bluelyn, Camel, Polarbear … I am thinking of you all.

I haven’t had my assessment yet … it’s scheduled now for the 3rd March, and after all your support, I’m trying to be as positive as I can about it, rather than simply terrified!

We can do this! ☺️
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Hi Clareh37 - Good luck for your assessment today. I was diagnosed ASD/C in Jan 26. Thinking of you and hope it goes well. Let us know how you get on. Joey.
 
Hi all,
Just wanted to let all you kind people know that I had my assessment on Monday, and have just been called today to say that I am officially autistic. Such relief! (Along with a slew of other emotions I haven’t quite identified yet). I was terrified that they’d say I was imagining things …but no. And they were so kind - none of the contempt I had someone been expecting 🙄. Weird what we can do to ourselves!
Anyhow … if anyone is looking for a good private assessment (and is lucky enough to be able to afford one, as I was after an inheritance) … I would highly recommend Auristic Girls, based in Knutsford. They specialise in late diagnosed women (I was 64 yesterday - this is a great birthday present for me!).
Thanks everyone for your support with my pre-assessment anxiety. It meant so much.
Clare xx
 
Hi Clare

Congratulations, well done and belated Birthday Greetings!🥰

I’m so pleased the support from your community has been helpful.

This is just a beginning. Expect to feel all kinds of emotions. This is a life changing diagnosis.

Can I encourage you to build even more connections with the Autistic community. It’s full of kind, helpful and supportive people. Research what post diagnostic support is available in your area. It’s extremely variable, from good to more commonly non existent. I can recommend the NDSA “Living well with Autism” lectures and especially the NDSA “Pathway course” which includes one to one mentoring from an Autistic trained mentor. This changed my life, helped me to understand myself and the Neurodivergent community. I’ve made good friends and had all the help and support I need to come to terms with my real authentic identity.

I look forward to reading more of your posts as you embark on the journey of being Clare 2.0, authentic, unmasked and comfortable in your own skin.

Best wishes,

Wade
 
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Camel said:
Hi Clare

Congratulations, well done and belated Birthday Greetings!🥰

I’m so pleased the support from your community has been helpful.

This is just a beginning. Expect to feel all kinds of emotions. This is a life changing diagnosis.

Can I encourage you to build even more with connections the Autistic community. It’s full of kind, helpful and supportive people. Research what post diagnostic support is available in your area. It’s extremely variable, from good to more commonly non existent. I can recommend the NDSA “Living well with Autism” lectures and especially the NDSA “Pathway course” which includes one to one mentoring from an Autistic trained mentor. This changed my life, helped me to understand myself and the Neurodivergent community. I’ve made good friends and had all the help and support I need to come to terms with my real authentic identity.

I look forward to reading more of your posts as you embark on the journey of being Clare 2.0, authentic, unmasked and comfortable in your own skin.

Best wishes,

Wade
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Thanks so much Wade. And yes, planning to delve more into all this as I embark on this new phase of life. 🥹. A lot to think about and start to unravel ….
Thanks again to you and everyone on here. Such lovely folk!
💕
 
bluelyn said:
Oh autistic girls are lovely team, I've followed Becky for a long time now, I considered her for my own private assessment, but at the time she only did in person.

Glad you got the answers you were looking for, have you been given any resources to help you processes and assess your environments or sensory needs?
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They are lovelyaren’t they :). I have a follow up ‘reflection session’ next week where we will discuss all of that. I’m lucky now in that I have retired early, and I live alone (near the sea!) … so I’m able to manage my environment pretty well for the most part. So different from when I was working (hot desking in a busy office environment - horrendous!).
I do feel very lucky /blessed just now!
 
Hi Bethcrofts,

Can you tell us a little more about yourself? Are you Autistic? What is the purpose of your research? Who us going to see this? Will we see any results? How is this going to benefit our community? Has your research been through any kind of ethical scrutiny? Who is supervising your research? Did you make it clear to the moderators of the site that you intended to collect data?

I notice that you joined the forum only yesterday and that your first communication with tbe community is a request us for us to engage with your research. This is unusual.

We are community where openness and honesty are highly valued. There have unfortunately been examples in the past where we are seen as "lab rats" to be exploited for other people's purposes and with no explanation of benefit to us.

Happy to help, but I think you owe us all a little more explanation before we participate.

I have asked the moderators of this site to review your post.
 
Camel said:
Hi Bethcrofts,

Can you tell us a little more about yourself? Are you Autistic? What is the purpose of your research? Who us going to see this? Will we see any results? How is this going to benefit our community? Has your research been through any kind of ethical scrutiny? Who is supervising your research? Did you make it clear to the moderators of the site that you intended to collect data?

I notice that you joined the forum only yesterday and that your first communication with tbe community is a request us for us to engage with your research. This is unusual.

We are community where openness and honesty are highly valued. There have unfortunately been examples in the past where we are seen as "lab rats" to be exploited for other people's purposes and with no explanation of benefit to us.

Happy to help, but I think you owe us all a little more explanation before we participate.

I have asked the moderators of this site to review your post.
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Hi Camel - its 100% SPAM, across multiple posts

have reported
 
Chill-E said:
its spam - you should of got NDSA approval

you should not post a research request across multiple threads even with NDSA approval - regardless if you are autistic or not
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Hi Chill-E

I agree.

I’m taking this direct to the Boss. This is absolutely not the way this site is to be used by wannabe researchers.
 
bethcrofts said:
Hi, thank you for your message and for raising these points, I completely understand your concerns.

I’m a final year Biomedical Science student, and I’m currently carrying out a research project as part of my degree. I am autistic, yes. The purpose of my research is to understand more about how sensory overload effects autistic people.

I’m not collecting any personal or identifiable data, and participation is entirely voluntary. The research is being supervised by my university, and I’m happy to provide more information about this if helpful. I also understand the importance of ethical considerations, and I’m following the guidance provided by my institution

I’m sorry if my initial post came across as unclear or abrupt, that wasn’t my intention. I should have introduced myself and explained the context more fully before asking for any input.

I completely respect the community and appreciate that trust needs to be built. I’m happy to answer any further questions, and I understand if people would prefer not to take part.

Thank you again for your honesty and for taking the time to respond.
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Hi bethcrofts,

I don’t think you do understand how wrong your approach has been.

You have not engaged with this community for any other reason than your own personal educational ambition. You join the forum one minute, post nothing, support no one and then, in the next, post your research request in completely inappropriate threads. In what way was this relevant to “Anxiety about upcoming assessment “.

Even when I put direct questions to you about your research you have been selective in the ones you choose to answer.

As you rightly say, trust needs to be built. How do you think you have done this? Did you approach anyone in NDSA management about your research? You have not been honest and open and been completely disrespectful of this community and our sensitivities. We are not your guinea pigs to be researched and sampled.

I would be grateful if you would provide me with the contact details of your supervisor and the institution who approved your project. I think there are some very important lessons that need to be learned.

I have asked Marie Djela to review your posts.
 
@bethcrofts when you signed up to this forum the terms include the following, which you completely ignored

"You agree ..... to not post appeals for study research subjects or any pilot, media or commercial activity, unless specifically authorised by us....

If you do not agree with these terms, please do not register or use the Service. Use of the Service constitutes acceptance of these terms. "