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Adult assessment without ADI-R - does it exist?

Craig

Due to the increasingly large NHS waiting lists for adult autism assessments, I am considering biting the bullet and going private. My primary concern (apart from the cost) is the fact that I don't really have anyone who could accurately represent my childhood for the ADI-R part of the assessment (I'm 50 years old). Therefore, can an assessment be purely based on ADOS-2? If so, is it still a valid assessment? I'd be interested to hear from anyone in a similar situation who has managed to find a valid assessment path. Thanks in advance.

  • My own autism assessment and diagnosis was based on the ADOS-2, as I didn’t have anyone to complete the ADI-R. So yes, autism assessment without the ADI-R does exist.

  • As an adult, they will want to see that your difficulties started at a young age. If your parents are no longer around, you could ask a sibling or anyone that knew you.

    You were around! lol, so anything you can recall would be helpful giving the assessor some insight.

    My mother, 72 wrote some random thoughts and memories in a piece of a5 note paper lol. That, along with my memories, and a paragraph from my younger sister were enough. It doesn’t have to be specific. It just needs to shed some light in your character, deficits and positives in your behaviours and personality.

    My children, 27 and 18 both submitted some text, as did my ex partner. It helped build a picture.

    I went private. The report/diagnosis is valid. It’s important to know there are no hard rules on how to assess an adult like there is with children. If you meet the criteria, pass all the observational tests and questionnaires, and can also back it up with medical reports, past experiences etc, you’ll be fine.

  • Hi Craig, I was lucky to have that input, but many here have been assessed as adults without, either because their loved ones have passed on or because they don't get on with them.  The issue would be the same irrespective of whether you were assessed on the NHS or privately.

    Yes, it is still a valid assessment.

    You can help your assessors out a bit if you still have old school reports or anything of that nature.  I expect that they will take the child hood accounts direct from you and you might want to spend some time thinking about the things that bothered you as a kid, what you played and how etc.