Diagnosis

Yes - huge list in a notebook.

I found it useful to place events in my past experience and past present traits under the headings used in the diagnostic manuals:

1) Persistent difficulties with social communication and social interaction,

2) Restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviours, activities or interests (includes sensory behaviours).

I ended up with six A4 pages of notes, quite autistic thoroughness!

I also wrote a big list of everything that made me think I was autistic.

They asked me to fill out a form three months before my assessment and I literally spent an entire day from morning to night writing about absolutely everything I could think of. The form asked about how I socialized, how I engaged with my interests, my experience in school, how family members would describe me as a child, sensory issues etc etc. Basically the form covered everything, and it was helpful knowing they had all that information before they met me for the first time. 

Even if they don't send you a form, I definitely recommend writing down everything beforehand - literally anything that feels relevant, you could just do bullet points if it's easier. It just makes the whole process so much smoother in my opinion, and you don't have to worry about forgetting anything. I also find it so much easier to communicate in written form - if I had just gone to the assessment without anything in writing I know that I would have found it so difficult to actually say what I wanted in the moment. So filling out the form took a lot of pressure off me.

I write a huge report lol it included everything about sensory things, interests, routines, childhood, school, and lots of things had happened to me, and situations where I struggled.