Medication and new therapist

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Truth.

Even if the therapist knows full well it’s not autism, that’s how to get insurance companies to pay for it &/or public schools to provide accommodations or it (which they’re legally required to anyway, but without a well recognized name, they can also legally claim that there’s no “way” for them to ‘reasonably’ blah blah blah. Meanwhile if it’s autism, they get told to suck it up and hire a speech pathologist already, and that they should have had one on staff for yonks)…. which is why the diagnostic code is now essentially useless.

There are couple dozen disorders that share sensory processing “issues” (in various directions!) as a symptom… but the black hole of Autism sucking everything in… is making it increasingly difficult to find people who specialize in best treatments for sensory issues from other disorders, or as a stand alone issue.
Add to that, apart from various forms of intellectual disability, sensory therapy is typically focused on children so it’s even harder for adults to access these. My son and I had a trauma I couldn’t protect him from and he was able to access sensory equipment in primary school and at his special purpose (MH) high school, but if he was on the spectrum he would’ve had more options for sensory profile.
I think also sometimes the trauma means relearning social cues and how to interact outside the safe place of say the home (I know it’s not always, just for example) which could appear with dissociation as remoteness, poor social skills, sensory overwhelm, etc, and there’s a lot of people in the media (largely women) speaking out about how ASD is not getting recognised in females and diagnosis is being made in 30’s or later. Perhaps it was to rule it out, but if you already had a rapport the T should’ve known better.
Labels go through phases and can be so frustrating. I got given an ‘in’ label a couple of decades ago and didn’t even meet the dsm criteria for it at the time, but the label caused so many issues and a lot of harm, and actually the label caused a prejudiced decision where the action of the decider was trauma for me. My son got a couple of labels after our trauma, but after what I’d gone through I used them to access supports not available without labels (they wanted me to test him for adhd amongst other things, I did minimum testing, enough to get supports), his behaviours were from trauma, but it was a canny psychologist who said use the labels to get supports but ignore them in daily life, he’s survived trauma and needs time and reassurance that he’s safe and you’re going to be there and love him regardless how he behaves, whilst helping him relearn appropriate ways to release those emotions. I’d had to relearn emotions so I strengthened that skill by helping him. We use the labels sparingly and with red tape, but he’ll never meet the ASD label so he’ll have less access to support ms like therapy dog (which his psychologist suggested to help him feeling safe going to school etc, and she checked in session and only for kids with ASD). I’ve worked with people, largely kids, on the spectrum and I don’t doubt the supports they can need, especially the low or non-verbal end, however so many people have sensory issues, there’s a reason MH public facilities are starting to build up a room or box of bookcase of sensory items for patients, they help and sensory therapy and profiles should be an option for anyone, but at least expanded to be offered adjunct to any/all trauma survivor services/treatment.
Rambling, and teen to wake for school. He uses my sensory kit too (his NDIS was rejected, I got mine after AAT and as I needed sensory items I got a couple of doubles of smaller items put many in box and showed my son where and he uses as needed or brings to me when I need, some items are pretty cheap like 1-5$).
 
I was fortunate to briefly work with a sensory OT and she did a full sensory profile which gave me further non-meditation options to help manage high arousal.
Yeah, I found an OT that did a lot of sensory work by dumb luck. She wasn’t a trauma specialist. She was funded by NDIS, so mostly she worked with ASD (seems to be about the only thing they’ll fund sometimes!) but she was brilliant.

With PTSD, if you have your plan written right (re-write it if necessary!), you can get sunnies (different coloured lens can be really soothing) and noise cancelling headphones funded. You can also get Apps funded under Technology - some of the more expensive ones that you wouldn’t otherwise try (BetterSleep is brilliant - not just for sleep).

I’m on DSP and NDIS so I can’t pay upfront
Have a word with your manager about this. They can sometimes arrange approval for specific providers (even ones that aren’t NDIS providers) so that you don’t have to pay up front.

For me, even though I was on the DSP it was worth forking out the cash for a good therapist.
 
I think also sometimes the trauma means relearning social cues and how to interact outside the
For myself that also includes the absolute basics of living ( Poll - Back To Basics )

Labels go through phases and can be so frustrating.
Yep. I was a (very small) voice in getting ADHD recognized as not magically disappearing on one’s 18th birthday; just because we’ve learned not to be so annoying to others (using fine motor for constant movement, instead of gross motor; the ability to choose our course schedules & fields that use our strengths, instead of our weaknesses, etc. 3/4s of my family are ADHD, though. So I grew up with; if you go into medicine? The ability to hyperfocus for 36 hours of surgery, thrive on adrenaline in the ER, or the intuitive leaps necessary in our research are going to be your jam, rather than the 9-5 and mountains of paperwork of clinics.). Ditto continue to be a (very small voice) in attempting to get giftedness recognized as a spectrum disorder.

In the interim “everyone” knows these things exist, and come up with workarounds (ADHD continuing to be treated &/or medicated in adults by coding for depression; complex trauma & CPTSD; giftedness largely falling under autism intervention, etc.). But until we can get cannon? Getting professionals (who can actually specialize AND make a living at it) is vexatiously difficult… and relies a helluva lot more on dumb luck than anything else.

Yeah, I found an OT that did a lot of sensory work by dumb luck.
LMFAO. 🤣 Case in point!

My son got a couple of labels after our trauma, but after what I’d gone through I used them to access supports not available without labels (they wanted me to test him for adhd amongst other things, I did minimum testing, enough to get supports), his behaviours were from trauma, but it was a canny psychologist who said use the labels to get supports but ignore them in daily life, he’s survived trauma and needs time and reassurance that he’s safe and you’re going to be there and love him regardless how he behaves, whilst helping him relearn appropriate ways to release those emotions.
Exactly this.

Ditto my own kid, by the by, although the teenage years where he WANTED a label (the whole ‘authentic’ thing was big at the time) were difficult. Now that he’s just a few years older & the career path he wants to take doesn’t allow for it? He’s grateful. Because there are just as many people in the field he wants to be in (as the rest of the population) that have disorders/conditions/professional help managing them… but they get to keep their medical history & private lives private, and pass their background checks, by NOT having certain labels in their records.
 
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