What to expect at an adult assessment for ASD

Hi all,

I'm completely new to this community and was wondering if you could help me?

I am a 23 year old female who has been finally referred for an assessment for diagnosis. 

I'm sure you're all aware of how difficult this can be, being a girl and every single medical professional never taking you or your parents seriously and so on because you outwardly appear 'normal' whatever that is. 

I was diagnosed with an unspecified developmental disorder as a child because they didn't have enough evidence to say I had ASD (or perhaps because I lied a lot to avoid a diagnosis because I didn't want any more bullying or people to think I was weird) it's tough being a teenager!

since my referral I've been browsing this online community and other sites and I can resonate with a lot of the things people are posting and talking about. I too often find myself overwhelmed by sounds and lights as if the world is a living, spinning kaleidoscope. I love animals, they're all I want to talk about and I have loved collecting facts about them for as long as I can remember  

anyway my question is...

What should I expect at an adult assessment for ASD?

what questions do they ask/how long does it take/is it really awkward/frightening

i am really nervous even thinking about it, thank  you

Parents
  • Me again!  I had my final assessment and have been diagnosed with Asperger's.

    It wasn't too different from the initial assessment, in my experience.  Most of the early year things were skipped over because the Clinical lead had been able to fill those out from the initial assessment answers.  He clarified some of those things, asked a few that weren't answered before. One part is emotional, other behaviour and action. It focused on school, relationships with others (how they made me feel/how i would behave etc).  Sometimes I couldn't answer, it was overwhelming, and the clinical lead would offer some explanation (not to lead me). It was very helpful to convey a proper answer.

    In total, my full assessment was only 1 hour 30 minutes.  Which is unusually short. But he had a lot of evidence from the initial assessment and he did say that the initial assessment had been enough for him to feel that it would be a positive diagnosis. I was told the diagnosis  then because:  he had no doubts and did not need to consider, i showed clear impairments in the necessary areas  and I was clearly very anxious (and he didn't want me to wait until the full report). 

    After that, he spoke about AS and was very empathetic in telling me what would happen now. He took into account I am female and that DISCO and standard ASD assessments/criteria are geared towards males.  My experience was very positive despite how emotionally gruelling it was. He made it clear that although ASD is classified as a disability under legal acts - that it is just a difference. That with proper routine and learning to cope methods I can do anything I set my mind to. 

    I'm finally at peace with myself. I hope that you have a similarly positive experience, .  

Reply
  • Me again!  I had my final assessment and have been diagnosed with Asperger's.

    It wasn't too different from the initial assessment, in my experience.  Most of the early year things were skipped over because the Clinical lead had been able to fill those out from the initial assessment answers.  He clarified some of those things, asked a few that weren't answered before. One part is emotional, other behaviour and action. It focused on school, relationships with others (how they made me feel/how i would behave etc).  Sometimes I couldn't answer, it was overwhelming, and the clinical lead would offer some explanation (not to lead me). It was very helpful to convey a proper answer.

    In total, my full assessment was only 1 hour 30 minutes.  Which is unusually short. But he had a lot of evidence from the initial assessment and he did say that the initial assessment had been enough for him to feel that it would be a positive diagnosis. I was told the diagnosis  then because:  he had no doubts and did not need to consider, i showed clear impairments in the necessary areas  and I was clearly very anxious (and he didn't want me to wait until the full report). 

    After that, he spoke about AS and was very empathetic in telling me what would happen now. He took into account I am female and that DISCO and standard ASD assessments/criteria are geared towards males.  My experience was very positive despite how emotionally gruelling it was. He made it clear that although ASD is classified as a disability under legal acts - that it is just a difference. That with proper routine and learning to cope methods I can do anything I set my mind to. 

    I'm finally at peace with myself. I hope that you have a similarly positive experience, .  

Children