Hello all.. I am a support worker and have an adult client who believes she has ASD (specifically adhd).. she is looking for a professional in Melb who she can see for diagnosis.. any suggestions please
Hello all.. I am a support worker and have an adult client who believes she has ASD (specifically adhd).. she is looking for a professional in Melb who she can see for diagnosis.. any suggestions please
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2 Replies
ASD and ADHD are 2 completely different diagnoses. But they can both be diagnosed by a psychiatrist or psychologist. Psychiatrist is better if you mean ADHD , not ASD, though if she is wanting medication for it as GPs can prescribe those meds unless a psychiatrist does the initial prescription
ASD (and please just call it autism, really, there's no need to avoid calling it what it is; it's a neurotype, not a "disorder" and nothing to be skirted around or avoid talking about) and ADHD are both neurodivergences, but ADHD is not on the autistic spectrum as far as we're currently aware.
Some people (like myself) may be both autistic and ADHD, and some are just one or the other.
In order to be diagnosed with ADHD you need to be referred (by a GP) to a psychiatrist who can assess and diagnose ADHD in adults. This is a hot topic at the moment as the media attention has caused many people to realise they're ADHD and so psychiatrists are overwhelmed with new patients requesting diagnosis, so if your client manages to find a psychiatrist taking new patients, they may still be in for a wait to see someone.
I finally received my diagnosis last year and I can tell you that having access to medication at last has been life-changing. It's not a magical fix-all but it helps so much with the day-to-day overwhelm I was struggling with.