A circle of Autism normally refers to a group of people who have been or are affected by Autism and meet on a regular basis.

There are many groups in Lincolnshire.

However, when you are diagnosed with Autism you have an Autistic Spectrum Disorder and that diagnosis can only be given by specialists in that field.

From NAS
Who will diagnose my child?
There are a number of different health professionals who may be involved in diagnosing an ASD. Most frequently these would be psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and, in the case of children, paediatricians. In some areas there may be 'multi-disciplinary teams' (teams made up of a number of different health professionals) involved in diagnosing autism. It is important to make sure that whoever sees your child has a good knowledge of ASD.

Any parent with an ounce of decency for their child/chidren will fight long and hard to get a correct diagnosis.

If you go to a GP that has no knowledge of Autism, you stand the chance of not getting you child diagnosed correctly.

Autism and ADHD seem to go cap in hand with families. However, try and get an ADHD child diagnosed is like p*ssing in the wind.

We knew at a very early age that our older daughter was ADHD, but try as we would, they would not allow a diagnosis unless she was over the age of, I think 5/6 so that they could eleminate the temper tantrums.

My daughter was about 9 when we finally decided to refer her for diagnosis. Fortunately one of our doctors at that time was interested in Autism and ADHD. So she referred her to a specialist at the hospital. By that time I was well versed on Autism and ADHD becuase of my other daughter being diagnosed with Autism.

The meeting with the specialist was a total waste of space. He knew nothing about Autism or ADHD and just sat there and said "There is nothing wrong with this child, that good parenting wouldn't solve". F***ing pillock.

Fortunately the specialist that was handling my Autistic daughters case, having chatted to him about it, was prepared to do a second opinion.

We visited him for about 10 weeks whilst he did lots of different tests on her. At the end he gave me a complete diagnosis and explained the results in a very clear way to me. He reffered her to the psychiatrist for final diagnosis. One meeting and she was officially diagnosed with ADHD. Something we knew from the age of 3.

So in fairness it is very possible to be Autistic or ADHD without diagnosis, becuase of the system and people who know FA about it.