Hey, Mel; loved this - a really interesting and personable account. It struck a chord with me many a time; loads of parallels with my own life and journey. (For the record, I'm aged 55, dx'd with dyspraxia in 2011 and adult ADHD in 2015. Daughter currently seeking ASD dx but on the eternal treadmill of a waiting list - and I feel I need to get her through her own assessment before I can contemplate one for me.) I do hope your assessment goes well and gives you the outcome you are seeking; I know how important this can be, especially in terms of self-identity and reframing the past. Hopefully the psychologist who's assessing you will have a good working knowledge of how ASD presents in girls and women. Have you come across Sarah Hendrickx yet? Amazing woman! She's def who I'd go to for an assessment if I were paying for one. Your duo-nail colours made me laugh, btw: it's what I do when I paint my toenails (for much the same reason: can't decide if I want turquoise or lime green - so hey; let's have both!). Colours make me happy, too. Looking forward to your next vlog :)
Hi Gilly. Lovely to hear from you. And so glad that there are others out there! I haven't heard of Sarah. I was only told about 2 companies that offered private assessments and the Harrogate was was more than twice the price of the Warrington one, so I went for the Warrington one. I have found Spectrum NW great, though, so no regrets. Where is Sarah based? It's bizarre how old I was before I realised that colours make me happy. Really happy!! You'll see more of that as the diaries go on :) Thanks again for your support. I look forward to sharing this journey with you
Hi @@belleandmel8498, Sarah is based in Cheshire, I think. Definitely worth finding her on RUclips (note the unusual spelling of Hendrickx); aside from being able to offer assessments, she's a great advocate of women and girls on the spectrum and like you/many of us, was late coming to recognise her own autistic traits. This is particularly notable/funny when you understand she's a well-lauded autistic trainer and consultant, has a Masters in autism and has also written a number of books on the subject. (This indicates not that Sarah must be crap at her job (!) but how poorly understood the presentation of ASD is in girls and women.) She's bright and sparky, and her conference presentations are highly entertaining. Re colours, an old school friend from primary days (who I made contact with for the first time in 30+ years) remarked that her over-riding memory of me had been the wonderfully bright colours I'd choose when painting, and wishing she could do the same (dunno why she didn't really, but there you go). If I have any 'special' skill, ha ha, it's being able to mixing/matching paint colours (the cry would invariably go up in art classes for me to "make flesh colour" for somebody or other). Yay to the rainbow! Keep up the good work, don't forget to check out Sarah and I look forward to watching more updates soon :)
@@gillywillybythesea Oh, how interesting! I have already watched one of her videos but I didn't make the link. I really like her presentation style. I will watch more now - thanks for the tip. I often talk to women who say they wish they were brave enough to dye their hair like me. I wonder what they are afraid of, but I don't ask!
Hey, Mel; loved this - a really interesting and personable account. It struck a chord with me many a time; loads of parallels with my own life and journey. (For the record, I'm aged 55, dx'd with dyspraxia in 2011 and adult ADHD in 2015. Daughter currently seeking ASD dx but on the eternal treadmill of a waiting list - and I feel I need to get her through her own assessment before I can contemplate one for me.)
I do hope your assessment goes well and gives you the outcome you are seeking; I know how important this can be, especially in terms of self-identity and reframing the past. Hopefully the psychologist who's assessing you will have a good working knowledge of how ASD presents in girls and women. Have you come across Sarah Hendrickx yet? Amazing woman! She's def who I'd go to for an assessment if I were paying for one.
Your duo-nail colours made me laugh, btw: it's what I do when I paint my toenails (for much the same reason: can't decide if I want turquoise or lime green - so hey; let's have both!). Colours make me happy, too.
Looking forward to your next vlog :)
Hi Gilly. Lovely to hear from you. And so glad that there are others out there! I haven't heard of Sarah. I was only told about 2 companies that offered private assessments and the Harrogate was was more than twice the price of the Warrington one, so I went for the Warrington one. I have found Spectrum NW great, though, so no regrets. Where is Sarah based?
It's bizarre how old I was before I realised that colours make me happy. Really happy!! You'll see more of that as the diaries go on :)
Thanks again for your support. I look forward to sharing this journey with you
Hi @@belleandmel8498, Sarah is based in Cheshire, I think. Definitely worth finding her on RUclips (note the unusual spelling of Hendrickx); aside from being able to offer assessments, she's a great advocate of women and girls on the spectrum and like you/many of us, was late coming to recognise her own autistic traits. This is particularly notable/funny when you understand she's a well-lauded autistic trainer and consultant, has a Masters in autism and has also written a number of books on the subject. (This indicates not that Sarah must be crap at her job (!) but how poorly understood the presentation of ASD is in girls and women.) She's bright and sparky, and her conference presentations are highly entertaining.
Re colours, an old school friend from primary days (who I made contact with for the first time in 30+ years) remarked that her over-riding memory of me had been the wonderfully bright colours I'd choose when painting, and wishing she could do the same (dunno why she didn't really, but there you go). If I have any 'special' skill, ha ha, it's being able to mixing/matching paint colours (the cry would invariably go up in art classes for me to "make flesh colour" for somebody or other). Yay to the rainbow!
Keep up the good work, don't forget to check out Sarah and I look forward to watching more updates soon :)
@@gillywillybythesea Oh, how interesting! I have already watched one of her videos but I didn't make the link. I really like her presentation style. I will watch more now - thanks for the tip.
I often talk to women who say they wish they were brave enough to dye their hair like me. I wonder what they are afraid of, but I don't ask!