HELLO, my name is Sophie and I have recently been diagnosed with ASC at age 24 after suffering from what I was told was Anorexia Nervosa in 2013. My condition worsened and with my needs not being met by the mental health services I ended up being sectioned, force fed and medicated with anti-psychotic drugs for weeks with 24 hour supervision in 2016. I received multiple failed courses of CBT and was dismissed was the NHS for ‘not engaging in treatment’ and was completely left in the care of my parents with no support. In 2017 my mother read an article about a girl with Autism and thought it was a mirror image of me. Me and my mum asked the GP for a referral for an Autism assessment and thought things may finally make sense and change. However, after waiting 8 months I had a brief ‘assessment’ and was completely dismissed as I wasn't displaying ‘typical’ autism and my current difficulties were just because of the ‘anorexia’ so, more depressed I struggled on paying more for any sort of private help. I was determined to get the recognition I felt I needed to be able to receive appropriate mental health support so paid for a thorough private assessment from a Cambridge trained, qualified clinical psychologist which lasted 5 hours and mainly focused on my childhood difficulties and was diagnosed with Aspergers in 2018. Again, I thought things would begin to improve and with the knowledge of having ASC as well as Anorexia I began some new therapy out of county an hour away which my father fought tooth and nail for.

THEN, after a few weeks my Anorexia diagnosis was questioned as my challenges were not ‘typically anorexic’ and not related to body image, weight or size and if anything, things got even worse! So, after another long wait I was given a full psychiatric assessment and was diagnosed with Aspergers, OCD and Anxiety! I was then, referred back to a different service in Bristol where I faced more waiting and received more assessments with things slowly deteriorating at home with no support.

NOW, after much fighting and with my parents hugely pushing the NHS I am about to begin some appropriate treatment with the Complex Psychological Interventions service which I hope is now the final answer.

FROM, my traumatic and highly frustrating experience over the last few years of misdiagnoses and experiencing inadequate disjointed care and unsympathetic therapists and much of my childhood difficulties misunderstood, I am setting up this Bristol based charity Auti.Ms.

I have founded this charity to “advance the publics’ understanding, professional and general, in England and Wales, of the prevalence and needs of females with Autism Spectrum Conditions. We aim to raise awareness of female ASC by promoting the development of research and campaigns to further the knowledge, identification and comprehension of girls with ASC.”