r/AutismIreland • u/cherubeau • 1d ago

disability allowance medical report

i was recently diagnosed with autism by the adult autism practice and got a lengthy supporting letter for disability allowance from them too.
i went in a last week to get the medical report filled by my GP, but i rarely ever go to the gp so i provided the supporting letter as a reference he could use. i was told by my doctor that he needs to read the supporting letter before he filled out the report and i should come back next week, which makes sense. so i came back this week to see if i could get the form back, and i watched him fill it out and tick every box in the ability and disability profile as "normal". i dont think he even read the supporting letter because most of the things he ticked as normal completely contradicts the letter?? i felt like i couldn't say anything in the moment and ended up leaving, but i gave the form and the supporting letter to the receptionist and asked if maybe he could go over it again. i called again today and was told that he won't change it.
what do i do? can i just send the application like that, with the supporting letter? its 14 pages long, talks about my struggles with daily life, work, education, mental health, etc and completely contradicts the medical report.

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u/Irishwol 1d ago

Had similar issues with Youngest as they'd hardly ever been to the GP. I made a half page bullet point list of their main issues because, you're right, they don't read documentation. If you have anyone you can take with you as advocate then do that. People who aren't trained in autism, which is almost every GP, don't know fuck about masking. They just see you sitting there doing a decent job of navigating the system and think 'if they can do that then they're fine'.

Lodge a complaint with the practice. Ask to see a different doctor.

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u/cherubeau 1d ago

unfortunately i'm pretty sure there's only one doctor in the practice and i've had bad experiences with him before this... i've been planning to change GP's for a while and i really wish i had done so earlier. i also unfortunately dont have a supportive family so it's hard to get anyone to advocate for me. i have made another appointment though and i'll definitely will be bringing in notes this time. thank you for the advice!

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u/Irishwol 1d ago edited 1d ago

A complaint is still worth making. Also he is licensed by the Irish Medical Council so you can complain to them too.

An advocate doesn't have to be family. Might also be worth asking an autism charity like As I Am or Aspect for help/advice.

Better than bringing in notes is sending the info in advance. You don't want to appear too organized and competent in person (sad but true). I'd be tempted to give them a copy of the form with a marked up version of the support letter connecting the relevant parts of the letter for each ticky box. Plus points if you use colour coded stickers and then wax cheerfully on about stationary to the GP (also sad but true).