Lorna Wing Centre assessment

Thanks Dawn.  Happy New Year!

I wouldn't worry about not having that verification from others too much.  I did get a lot of information from my mum but she is way to old and frail to write anything herself, or make it to Bromley and her hearing is so bad now, she can't talk on the telephone.  I think they are quite good at telling what is a genuine experience and they'll judge a lot from how you are presenting anyway.  

I think your time line is a good idea.

Well, in my case there was a hitch in that the language specialist couldn't physically be there.  So that part was over video link while I was there.  Normally, they prefer to have both professionals there.  so, they did say ahead of time that if, in light of that, they weren't sure enough to diagnose that day, they would follow up later over zoom.  but as it happened that wasn't necessary.  I imagine their admin guys might be able to tell you more about what they normally do in such situations.

I wouldn't worry about the half day.  They make that clinical decision about half or full days on the basis of your triage forms.  I asked out of curiosity why mine was a full day and apparently they do that when they think that the presentation might be more subtle or that there are complex mental health issues involved.  I would think that if they only want a half day for you, you'll likely be a clearer cut case.  But don't worry, they are through and they will pursue everything.

Thank you for your comments, I know I'll be super anxious on the day but I'm hoping that having to get up at about 5am to travel to my 9.30am apt might take the edge off it! I'm currently writing a timeline of anything I can remember as I don't have anyone to verify any traits from my childhood. Guessing that may be why they have decided it'll be a whole day assessment. Really helps to message people on here who know what I'm talking about! 

Hi Dawn, thanks for this, it's helpful for me too!
You mentioned that they do a follow-up if they're unsure.  Did they explain how this works?  For example, if I went for my assessment and they said 'you're borderline, you have some autistic traits but you might not be autistic' would they then ask me to come back for another assessment later?

I'm glad that you and Dawn have managed to connect with each other!
Hope your assessment goes really well.  It's so good that you were able to get funding for it.

It's interesting that both you and Dawn were given full day assessments.  Mine is going to be just half a day.  I wonder on what basis they decide this.  

Just click on my name, the message option will pop up

Hiya, Relax. They are brilliant.

I had a full day assessment there in November. They are lovely, very thorough and are among the world's best in reputation. They will put you at your ease. They are also expert in complex and more subtle presentations, often seen in but not exclusively in women and girls. 

Most of us have some sort of anxiety consequent to ASD, they'll take their time and seperate the two. If ASD is there, they'll find it for you.

I did get a diagnosis on the day. If they are unsure for any reason they'll do a follow up. The report with your individual profile takes a while to write. I'm expecting mine in the New Year. They did give me a few tips to work on in the mean time.

Well done on getting the funding, btw. I had to pay for mine :-)

What you might want to do in the meantime is collect together anything which could give them background detail, for instance I had a bunch of middle school reports and an old diary from 1981 stuffed full of examples of my traits. I also photographed my crochet sock designs, socks and massive yarn collection as an example of one of my interests so they could objectively judge for themselves how much focus I was giving that. They'll really appreciate all that detail to work on.

If any of your family have ASD or any other ND condition; say, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalula, ADHD etc, mention that - they all ride on the same genes.

Just be yourself and just be honest about everything. I gave them everything I thought both argued for and against because whatever the truth was, that's what I needed. If you are sub-consciously masking, don't worry. They'll see behind it.

If you've got questions before hand their admin staff are very friendly and very helpful. If you want ask me anything specific, feel free to message me.

Good luck

Thank you for your reply, and your good wishes. I hope you get your apt through soon. So nice to have people on here to message, although I'm not sure how I would contact Dawn. Maybe she will see this and message.

Hi, I know Dawn had an assessment there recently, so you might want to ask her.  I remember she said that she did get the results the same day. I'm on the waiting list to be assessed there hopefully in spring! 

Hope your assessment goes well!