Assessments

Hello, I’m 21 and female! I’ve been to my doctors and they’ve referred me to a specialist to get assessed for autism. When people first meet me they say ‘there’s nothing wrong with me’ or ‘I look normal’. I’m very aware that I’m different and have been aware of this since I can remember! The reason I’ve only just gone to the doctors is because I have a very supportive boyfriend who has helped me lot and I was too scared to go before. I want to know the details of what happens from the very beginning of the assessment right up to the very end! I’m scared they will either misdiagnose me or say I’m not autistic! Which I understand might seem like a good thing to some people but when you’ve been struggling your whole life you feel like you just want the answers! And im certain and so are others that I’m autistic! Thank you for reading! 

Parents
  • Mine (South West) was a private assessment. I was able to self refer, and the whole process was very quick (1 month from referral to assessment, verbal diagnosis on the day, final report 1 month later).

    My self referral form consisted of a short questionnaire (the 10 point one) and I was asked to write a short paragraph about the difficulties I had ( I actually ended up writing 2 pages!). Then I had a more detailed form sent asking my medical history, education. job history etc sent to fill in. This asked for details of a family member they could contact to discuss my childhood but I declined (and this did not turn out to be a problem). Also 2 questionnaires to fill in beforehand (the AQ and EQ I think) and a further 2 sent to me to bring to the appointment (RAADS and SQ).

    I then had 1 single appointment lasting 4 hours with one psychologist which I thought I would find really hard as I struggle to talk about myself, but she was really lovely and it went well. During it I had to do a "tell the emotion from the picture of the face" test, we talked a lot about every aspect of my life, and I received a verbal diagnosis of Asperger's (my region still uses this label) at the end. I was given some info booklets etc to take, and a letter I could show to my employer if I wished (I did).

    The full report was emailed to me a month later to check I was happy with it, and with my consent was sent to my GP (although I didn't have to go through him to refer I had discussed it with him). It was an incredibly comprehensive summary of the conversation I had had with the psychologist and also detailed my scores on the various questionnaires. It confirmed the diagnosis of Asperger's and specified that this was also considered a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (under the various classification systems)

    All in all I found the process much easier than I thought, and was very glad I did it. I do realize that I am fortunate in that I could go private as otherwise the NHS waiting list in my area is up to 2 years.

    In the few weeks I've been on this forum I have found it very useful and helpful. It does amaze me though how the assessment process does seem to differ so much by region.

Reply
  • Mine (South West) was a private assessment. I was able to self refer, and the whole process was very quick (1 month from referral to assessment, verbal diagnosis on the day, final report 1 month later).

    My self referral form consisted of a short questionnaire (the 10 point one) and I was asked to write a short paragraph about the difficulties I had ( I actually ended up writing 2 pages!). Then I had a more detailed form sent asking my medical history, education. job history etc sent to fill in. This asked for details of a family member they could contact to discuss my childhood but I declined (and this did not turn out to be a problem). Also 2 questionnaires to fill in beforehand (the AQ and EQ I think) and a further 2 sent to me to bring to the appointment (RAADS and SQ).

    I then had 1 single appointment lasting 4 hours with one psychologist which I thought I would find really hard as I struggle to talk about myself, but she was really lovely and it went well. During it I had to do a "tell the emotion from the picture of the face" test, we talked a lot about every aspect of my life, and I received a verbal diagnosis of Asperger's (my region still uses this label) at the end. I was given some info booklets etc to take, and a letter I could show to my employer if I wished (I did).

    The full report was emailed to me a month later to check I was happy with it, and with my consent was sent to my GP (although I didn't have to go through him to refer I had discussed it with him). It was an incredibly comprehensive summary of the conversation I had had with the psychologist and also detailed my scores on the various questionnaires. It confirmed the diagnosis of Asperger's and specified that this was also considered a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (under the various classification systems)

    All in all I found the process much easier than I thought, and was very glad I did it. I do realize that I am fortunate in that I could go private as otherwise the NHS waiting list in my area is up to 2 years.

    In the few weeks I've been on this forum I have found it very useful and helpful. It does amaze me though how the assessment process does seem to differ so much by region.

Children
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