Just A Square Peg

15/05/2023

⭐️ Private ADHD diagnosis ⭐️

Tonight (Monday 15 May) BBC Panorama will air a programme ‘exposing’ clinics who are giving out diagnoses willy-nilly (paraphrasing).

People turn to private services because there’s no public provision. It’s through desperation not choice. I would have preferred to see someone in the NHS definitely. But no one could do it at the time.

I didn’t have a private ADHD assessment ‘because I could’ and because it was a ‘nice to have’. I was let down on so many occasions being wrongly diagnosed, wrongly medicated and told that I was ‘just being dramatic’ which is a ‘symptom of BPD’. Trying to get the right diagnosis broke my soul. It had a massive impact on my life and also so many others who don’t have the right diagnosis.

The BBC should have focused on lack of NHS provision and the fact that so many CMHT staff want to help people with ADHD but can’t due to no funding or services.

My private ADHD assessment and diagnosis saved my life and gave me hope that I wasn’t broken or my brain wasn’t ‘disordered’.

I’ve written a bit of a ragey blog post about it here! https://justasquarepeg.com/truth-about-private-adhd-diagnosis

BBC Panorama will tonight (Monday 15 May) look at 'exposing' private ADHD clinics 'giving out' diagnoses. If it wasn't for a private ADHD clinic and the knowledge of the psychiatrist, I would still be living with an NHS mental health misdiagnosis and taking medication for a condition I didn't have.....

18/04/2023

Hello lovely followers!

I’m sorry for the radio silence. In true neurodivergent fashion I managed to take on too much and get sidetracked doing things! 🤣

I have, however, been busy doing some writing and more sharing about gender bias in autism and ADHD diagnosis. Thank you so much to female powerhouse magazine Heroica for helping me to share my experience and thoughts honestly ❤️

Read the full article here:

Any hopes I had of a diagnosis didn’t last. Two weeks after the final appointment, I was told I wasn’t autistic because I didn’t fit the criteria. According to these ancient and outdated guidelines, my hobbies were ‘too female’, my eye contact was ‘far too good’ and I was ‘coping too...

27/06/2022

This is so true and something I struggled with in terms of managing money and trying to not be so impulsive with it!

23/06/2022

‘You’re not me enough’ - told that in 2017 when I had my first autism assessment.

It’s not good enough 😢

Diagnostic criteria that exclude us.
Psychiatric training that ignores us.
Medical training that invalidates us.
Teacher training that doesn't acknowledge us.

Yet the gap in diagnosis was recognised in the 1980s by Lorna Wing. Why is this still so?

https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/autism-medical-misogyny

08/06/2022

Sorry for the radio silence… just been busy marrying my best friend in the world 💍👰‍♀️🤵‍♂️

If it wasn’t for this beautiful person, I might not be here today. He’s supported me whole heartedly throughout my diagnosis journey which I couldn’t have done without him 💜

24/05/2022

⭐️ It took nearly 6 YEARS for me to be diagnosed autistic⭐️

In a study by Swansea University released today, they found that women and girls have to wait SIX YEARS LONGER than men to be diagnosed as . Many women are misdiagnosed with conditions instead.

Many women seeking autism (and ADHD assessments) are being condescended, relentlessly questioned and disregarded. It’s traumatic when you want help but no one will listen.

The National Autistic Society are calling for Welsh Government to improve the process to make sure females aren’t being missed.

Read the full BBC News article:

Charities say girls are missing out on support because of "narrow stereotypes" used for diagnosis.

23/05/2022

This sadly sounds all too familiar. When I was assessed and diagnosed privately for , (after being told there were no NHS services in my area) the NHS kept refusing to acknowledge the diagnosis.

⭐️They refused to read the report.

⭐️They refused to accept the diagnosis they’d given me was wrong.

⭐️ One psych refused to take the BPD diagnosis off my records because ‘they wouldn’t have diagnosed it if you didn’t have it’. Yet another said ‘Who told you that you had BPD in the first place?’

And my personal favourite…

⭐️They refused to take copies of the 20 page ADHD and 8 page autism reports because… ‘we don’t need ‘em love’.

WHY WOULD YOU NOT NEED IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS WITH A CORRECT DIAGNOSIS??

More needs to be done so the referral of care from private to NHS is better and less traumatic. If you’ve gone private in the first place, it’s probably through desperation. Do better.

Nicole Nadler struggles to pay her medicine bills while she waits for her diagnosis to be recognised by the NHS.

20/05/2022

Thank you so much to everyone who’s voted so far! I really appreciate it 🥰 if you haven’t already you can vote for me using the link below to the Mental Health Blog Awards 🎉

Thank you for taking the time to vote in the 2022 Mental Health Blog Awards. Voting is open from 29th April to 3rd June.

16/05/2022

When I needed an Autism assessment for my Daughter I needed to go private. She needed support and services at college and without it, she would have been left behind and may never have been given the opportunity to get equality through equity.

The NHS are so overwhelmed they have a 4 - 5 year waiting list and that's if you get a referral, which can be hard enough thanks to old fashioned stereotypes and misinformed doctors and "professionals". I've heard stories that children are too sociable for an Autism diagnosis 🙄

So I have teamed up with RTN Mental Health Solutions and Neurodiversity Training International to help bring an affordable and NICE compliant diagnosis, to those that cannot wait for years to get their child the help they truly need and deserve.

They can diagnose Autism, adhd and even a combined Autism/ADHD diagnosis (which is amazing).

All the assessments completed by RTN adhere to the NICE Guidelines, and are completed by Chartered Clinical Psychologists, Psychotherapists, and a Psychiatrist who are members of the British Psychology Society (BPS), and recognised by the NHS.

At the end, you will receive a comprehensive report (up to 25 pages long), outlining all the information that your school and healthcare providers will need. This ensures NHS Gold standard, and NICE Guidelines are met.

The assessments can also be paid by instalments after initial deposit is paid.

They are online over video call, and are available from 6 years and up.

Any questions, please contact, RTN Mental Health Solutions I don't work for them, I'm just recommending them

Autism Assessment click here https://www.neurodiversity-training.net/a/2147506643/fuiubZEC

ADHDifferent Assessment click here https://www.neurodiversity-training.net/a/2147506644/fuiubZEC

Autism & Adhd Assessment click here https://www.neurodiversity-training.net/a/2147507961/fuiubZEC

09/05/2022

Self diagnosis & loneliness💜

This week is with this year’s theme being LONELINESS.

Autistic self diagnosis can be a lonely place. Constantly being at war with your own mind is exhausting and something not easily explainable to others. You think you might be autistic and you’ve done so much research and self testing… but no one wants to know. You feel disappointed and frustrated and upset. But again, it feels like no one else gets it.

Until you discover…

✅ YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Not at all.

In fact, you discover there are hundreds of other people in similar positions as you, trying to work themselves out but who also DO get it.

As someone who SD for a year before getting diagnosed, I get it completely. I want you to know you’re not alone. That it’s so difficult sometimes but you’re stronger than the doubt in your mind.

You are stronger than the loneliness that fills your head.

You are welcome here square peg 🥰