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Assessment next week

Dawn

I'm sorry if I'm repeating myself here...I thought I'd just posted, but don't see it so I guess there was a glitch and it didn't

I haven't posted for a few months here - I've been rather tied up with some divorce proceedings - long sad story, but my much longed for and long awaited assessment at the Lorna Wing Centre is finally due next week.  I'm trying to prepare now - collect together anything they might need to see.  Anyone got any tips for what I should take?

I do have a friend going with me.  She was asking me what, if anything they will want her to do.  If anyone has been through this at the Lorna Wing, what can you tell me about the role of the "supporter" to pass on to her?

I'm pretty nervous about it, I have to say.  Whatever the outcome, I so desperately need it to be right so I can get the right kind of support with a few major issues.  I'm very nervous about the travel to London being as I've barely been out since the beginning of the pandemic and certainly haven't been on public transport.  I'm still very frightened of that.

I must add a word of thanks here though to many of you on this forum.  When I first twigged that ASD could well be behind the life long problems I've been facing, it was you guys on this forum who helped me make sense of so much.

I'll update you on the other side of the assessment :-)

  • in reply to Dawn

    Thanks for your reply, Dawn.  It's really reassuring to read your descriptions of the assessment and how well it went.  
    I sent them my triage forms plus an extra document I'd written with a lot of extra detail about childhood experiences I remembered which I thought would be relevant.  I was re-reading it today, and I think I do sound autistic.  I've been meeting several autistic people in the last few months (I've joined a local group) and I'm getting better at recognising the signs.  I've also had other issues which are often co-morbid with autism in women, e.g. anorexia, insomnia, migraines, etc.  I think it's likely that I'll get a diagnosis, but I don't dare to hope too much.  I hope you're right, and that a half-day assessment means a clearer-cut case.  They also offered me the option of a video assessment with a shorter waiting time before the assessment, but I wanted to have a face-to-face one so that they would be able to make the best decision possible.  But when I asked about video assessments, they told me that they don't offer them to people they think would be difficult to assess online.

  • in reply to Ultramarine

    If it's only half a day, it might be because you'll be a clearer cut case. They want a full day if they think it might be a more subtle presentation and/or there are mental health issues which might interfere with the diagnosis. They have to be sure what is autism and what could be something else.

    Don't worry they'll get to everything and follow up afterward if they need to.

    Errr the morning and afternoon seemed to morph into one, they same ground sometimes but from slightly different perspectives. I'm not sure which bits they might not do with you. 

    They make a decision on whole or half days based on your triage forms. I'd given them a lot of detail there but I went out of my way to give them all the stuff that could argue for and against and a lot of stuff about the medical phobias. I think in my case they needed to be ultra sure that the other MH issue didn't have another cause.

  • in reply to Dawn

    Oh Dawn, that's fantastic!  I'm so pleased for you!

    How are you feeling now that you have the diagnosis?

    Can I ask, what type of assessment did you have in the afternoon?  My assessment at the Lorna Wing Centre is only going to be half a day long.  I keep wondering why it's only going to be half a day, because I've read that most people go for a full day.

    How many assessors did you see?  Was it all at the same time?

  • Thank you so much Guys.  It's official - I'm autistic.

    It was a long day - five hours worth of assessment.  The staff at the Lorna Wing Centre are wonderful.  They were very good to my friend Ange while she was waiting, kept brining her cups of tea.

    The assessors are very friendly and inspire confidence from the getgo.  I was very comfortable with them.  I had an excellent debrief at the end too when they gave me the diagnosis.

  • tell ur supporter to bring some drinks and some fruit in case u both need a wee boost. pen and notepad to write things down

    maybe this would be some use

    https://vimeo.com/346872106

  • I don't have any experience of Lorna Wing but good look.  Only 1 general point, during my assessment I think I tried to agree too much with the interviewer so leading questions such as "you don't....." would be answered no even if the actual answer was yes.