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Countdown to diagnosis

Sunflower

Hi everyone, 

I've been undergoing autism assessment by a team of Clinical Psychologists for the last few weeks.  I hear the outcome later today.

I am a woman in my late 50s and the component parts of my ASD assessment are as follows:

  • Initial assessment with psychologist (1.5 hrs)
  • Full developmental history meeting with psychologist (1.5 hrs)
  • AQ / EQ questionnaires (completed at home and handed back to psychologist) 
  • Developmental history (written autobiographical information supplied by me)
  • Developmental history questionnaires (completed by parents/siblings & emailed to psychologist)  
  • Narrative account of issues and challenges (emailed by husband)
  • ADOS-2  with two different psychologists (1 hr) followed by analysis of results (1 hr)
  • Multi-disciplinary Formulation Meeting (professionals only) 
  • Feedback meeting - psychologist + me (1 hr) 
  • Post assessment follow-up sessions - optional (3 x 1 hr)

I first emailed the service provider requesting information on 10 August. 

The Formulation Meeting will be held sometime next week (mid November). This is where everyone in the team gets together to consider all the evidence and reach conclusions about likely causes of difficulties, and potentially helpful recommendations. 

I will get feedback from a psychologist at a meeting next Friday 16 November. 

Although I am paying for this assessment privately, the provider re-invests any profit into providing services for autistic people.

I looked up 'formulation' and it seems this is a psycho-social group decision-making process, combining narrative accounts with evidence derived from the application of ASD diagnostic criteria. This approach aims to reduce the risk of individual bias by promoting creative thinking and collaborative problem solving.  

Needless to say I am looking forward to finding out what diagnostic decision has been reached. It will be fascinating to see if the professionals agree with the conclusions I reached by reading, reflecting, and talking to people in this community!

There are varied formats for assessment so it would be interesting to know what other people's experiences have been. 

Parents

  • I was desperate at the time to find out "what was up", so to say. I didn't have a clue about anything before I went into the process. I decided to go in "blind", as to be as honest as possible, and have no bias in my head. I'm not alluding to anyone doing this here, before anyone takes offence! I just thought it was best to have no way to not give a precise answer. Sometimes preconceptions can cloud situations.

    I took my mom, and my ex of 10 years (and still one of my most loyal, honest and frank friends), the psychologist was very appreciative of it. I thought having other peoples views of me would be helpful.

    It messed with me when I was diagnosed, but then as I learned more about Autism, certain things made more sense.

  • in reply to Cloudy Mountains

    How lovely to be on good terms with your ex and for them to have been involved in your assessment and diagnosis. 

    It's interesting looking back at the events leading up to my assessment. Years ago when showing students the 'mind in the eyes' photos I could hardly recognise any expressions myself. Then an autistic service user said she was sure I was autistic.

    When a former colleague said she'd been diagnosed with ASD I read articles about autistic women and found lots that applied to me. I did the AQ and EQ questionnaires too, which suggested I might be autistic.

    I have no idea what the outcome of my assessment will be, whether or not I will get an ASD diagnosis, and if any specific recommendations will be made. I really do hope so!  I'm glad I've only got 5 days to wait now! 

  • in reply to Sunflower
    Sunflower said:
    How lovely to be on good terms with your ex and for them to have been involved in your assessment and diagnosis. 

    Yeah, we are very close. I didn't really have to ask, I told her that they had suggested that I bring someone close to me to the assessment, and she said "What about me? We were together 10 years", it made sense.

    I had recurring mental health problems, and my GP just put me forward after an AQ test. I didn't ask about it, so it was quite unexpected. Even all the shrinks I saw over the past 25 years never suggested it. I'm pretty glad I went in blind.

    Sunflower said:
    I have no idea what the outcome of my assessment will be, whether or not I will get an ASD diagnosis, and if any specific recommendations will be made. I really do hope so!  I'm glad I've only got 5 days to wait now! 

    I didn't really care about being diagnosed with ASD. I just wanted answers. My brain was killing me in a way. Do you hope to be diagnosed with ASD, or just get answers?

  • in reply to Henpecked

    Given the nature of ASD it is ironic that the assessment process involves so much waiting around and uncertainty. 

    In between appointments things have gradually been falling into place in my mind. Maybe some of the waiting around has been quite productive. 

    Do hope you hear back soon. You could always contact them and explain you need an approximate timescale in order to make arrangements. 

    I emailed and also got my husband to phone on my behalf when I got stressed about not knowing when the next meeting would be. Got an email back with a time and date. 

  • in reply to Sunflower

    I'm currently waiting on contact just to discuss an assessment. It's driving me mad not knowing when it will be and having to arrange for my husband to take time off work given he has a couple of busy projects he has to be around for. I'm glad you only have a couple of days left to wait. 

Reply Children
  • in reply to Henpecked

    Given the nature of ASD it is ironic that the assessment process involves so much waiting around and uncertainty. 

    In between appointments things have gradually been falling into place in my mind. Maybe some of the waiting around has been quite productive. 

    Do hope you hear back soon. You could always contact them and explain you need an approximate timescale in order to make arrangements. 

    I emailed and also got my husband to phone on my behalf when I got stressed about not knowing when the next meeting would be. Got an email back with a time and date.