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Importance of being totally honest during Autism assessment

Elizabeth

This morning I wrote the paragraphs below in a separate discussion thread on this site. Do you have thoughts on it, based on your/your loved one’s experiences being assessed?



“For what it’s worth, some advice I would share regarding going through the assessment process is to be extremely honest in answering all questions, regardless of how “bad“ or “cold“ or “messed up“ you might think it makes you appear.

I found that I answered the test questions and replied to the interview questions in ways I would not have done even one month prior, because I had realized ahead of time that I would need to be extraordinarily honest with myself and with my clinician about my true feelings and my true preferred behaviours, when I wasn’t masking and camouflaging.

My impression in talking to my psychologist is that, especially for women, it’s common to go into the assessment process and minimize or even omit mentioning their true feelings and behaviours. By not doing that, I was able to emerge from the assessment process with the feeling that the result reflected who I am – not who I have worked over two decades to appear to be.”

Parents

  • I suppose one of the fortunate things that occurred for me was that I was sleeping badly, was absolutely knackered and didn't have the energy to mask any trait at all when I attended my assessment. My psychologist zoomed in on my (lack of) reciprocal small talk - which I struggle with at the best of times.  

    I had slipped into a routine on the 6 sessions of counselling which I've had periodically over the years, not intentionally, but I was very comfortable on a 1 on 1 scenario and only surface issues were discussed (oddly I was never referred on anywhere). It's only when I completely lost my bearings that I stopped making excuses for myself and paid to go private - thereby providing me with additional incentive to be honest.  

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  • I suppose one of the fortunate things that occurred for me was that I was sleeping badly, was absolutely knackered and didn't have the energy to mask any trait at all when I attended my assessment. My psychologist zoomed in on my (lack of) reciprocal small talk - which I struggle with at the best of times.  

    I had slipped into a routine on the 6 sessions of counselling which I've had periodically over the years, not intentionally, but I was very comfortable on a 1 on 1 scenario and only surface issues were discussed (oddly I was never referred on anywhere). It's only when I completely lost my bearings that I stopped making excuses for myself and paid to go private - thereby providing me with additional incentive to be honest.  

Children
  • in reply to Ethan

    Ethan, that was absolutely fascinating, thanks for sharing that. I paid for (part of) my assessment privately as well, grateful to have that option, and I found spending my own money was an added incentive to be honest. It didn't matter to me how 'not together' and 'messed up' I might seem - what mattered to me was getting at the truth, for my own well-being. 

    Elizabeth

  • in reply to Ethan
    Ethan said:
    and paid to go private - thereby providing me with additional incentive to be honest.  

    Yes Ethan, I thought that too, secondary to simply wanting to know whether my fairly long-standing self-diagnosis was accurate, which it was - so money well spent.