Initial assessment

Welcome to the forum.

Well, firstly, I think it's important to note that experiences vary a hell of a lot; different diagnostic teams seem to structure things differently, and even the NICE guidelines for NHS assessments give several options for frameworks that assessors can use. I wasn't told of any split between initial assessment and continuing investigations for my assessment, which may be because it was a psychologist who suggested my referral, but I'll assume that my first meeting was equivalent.

A fair chunk was taken up with filling in standardised tests, and most people seem to do these; they're just multiple choice questionnaires that give the interviewer a rough indication of whether you are autistic and some hints for what behaviours to ask you about.

After that, the rest was basically just an interview about what kinds of things I'd experienced during my life, focusing on aspects pertinent to autism; social skills, language, depth of focus on hobbies, abilities at planning and carrying out actions, etc. My main difficulty with this was trying to find specific examples of when something had caused me problems; not because there weren't any, but because I'd often get stuck trying choose a single one. So that might be something to think about over the next couple of weeks, and maybe even jot down a few notes about particularly notable events from life to take with you.

Don't try to guess what answers are expected, it's much more important to be honest about what your "inner voice" tells you, even if you've spent your life suppressing it so that you can get along with other people better. However, I found that the assessor was actually very good at seeing beneath all the coping strategies that I usually use to conceal my strangeness. In fact, some interview techniques are partly designed to do that; the way that you answer is as much part of the assessment as the answers themselves.

The assessor that I had was absolutely excellent, I cannot fault her for anything. She gave me a lot of confidence in the diagnosis by stopping occasionally to point out what the things I told her might mean. Someone working in autism assessment should have a far better understanding of autism than any doctor, counsellor, etc. that you've seen so far. I found it very refreshing to talk for the first time to a professional who actually understood what I was talking about and didn't just dismiss things as faulty thinking due to depression or self-esteem problems. Of course, this will depend a lot on the particular psychologist that you see, but you should find it a lot easier than trying to explain things to your GP!

It seems like they do it differently everywhere?! My initial assessment was just a short chat and screening test which lasted maybe less than 20 mins. I got a package with more questionnaires about a month later, and after returning them, about another month latter I got a letter telling me I'm on the waiting list for the full assessment afterwards.

Greetings and time is pressed, and I am not used to chatting or doing this sort of (internet) thing... If you feel pressured to "Mask" because of someone then I would say that that is not the someone to take... but if that is the only someone, then if there are "breaks" during your assessment then try to talk to (ambush!) the assessor when the someone is not listening... is what I myself sort of did.

The main honest thing is (!) - if you want to Mask all of your life or not, and if not then be yourself and deal with the consequences after that. Your assessment is about YOU and not about anyone else...

Welcome to the potentially rocky road of losing friends but gaining support...? (Anyone else, please bail me out here - I am soooo not good at chat...! - But beware of the update and this Forum about to offline soon, and so bail me out to-morrow...??)

I wish that was my age, I’m knocking on a bit now.

thank you for the link, I’ll look at it now. I was hoping for peoples personal experiences as I’m tying myself up in knots and the GP has been no help at all

when you say be yourself and don’t mask I think I’ll struggle as I feel I’ve masked for that long it’s almost natural, a relative is coming with me which I think will make me want to mask more as I get embarrassed about my quirks.

im sure it will be fine and I just need to stop worrying 

thank you again

Here are NAS' own links about it:

https://www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/children.aspx

...assuming that " xiv " is not your age (!), here is one for Adults:

https://www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/adults.aspx

...If you can, bring a Parent/Carer, who can vouch for your behaviour before you entered Adolescence. And, I always say, during the assessment, be your "true" self and do not "mask". (being yourself is what is being assessed, there.)