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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics

An autism diagnosis, but where’s the treatment?

patient having a medical consultation with a doctor
‘The diagnosis explained my life; it did not come with any help to live it.’ Photograph: BongkarnThanyakij/Getty Images

Your coverage of the Fonagy review concentrates on children and on the risk of diagnosing too readily (NHS at risk of ‘system failures’ as demand for ADHD and autism care soars, inquiry finds, 9 October). I’d like to speak for those of us who were not diagnosed at all.

I first asked for help at 17. For 34 years I was treated for anxiety, depression and trauma. All were real; none were the whole story. I was diagnosed as autistic at 51. The same report identified ADHD, which until 2013 could not officially be diagnosed alongside autism.

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