Referral

It varies wildly by where you are. I struck so lucky - the adult autism unit in my area only opened in September, so there is no waiting list and I went from GP referral to diagnosis in around 3 months. 

Basically I got sent an AQ-10 a few days after my GP referred me that I had to send back, then a month or so later I got a phone call to book an initial assessment and they sent through AQ and EQ forms for me to send back. A couple of weeks after that I had my initial assessment via Microsoft Teams where ask about the issues you are having and how they are impacting you. At the end of mine, the doctor decided she'd heard enough to not need me to go in for the other assessment (my mass of notes and talking points I'd prepared obviously did some good!). They also needed someone that knew me as a child to have an interview as well, so my older brother did that for me a week later. A couple of weeks after that I had my results meeting (also remotely). 

I'm hoping that you don't necessarily need a person who knew you as a child to be part of the process. My mum is one of those "if you've met one autistic person you've met them all" people and my dad is dead. I'm not sure that my sister would be a good person to ask as one of her children is autistic and she's had quite a time coming to terms with the diagnosis and supporting them. It sounds an excellent idea to send in lots of notes :-)

actually your sisters children show that the genes are in your family so mention to your sister  & her children  to your assessors.

actually your sisters children show that the genes are in your family so mention to your sister  & her children  to your assessors.