Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi everyone,
PLEASE I have an upcoming assessment outcome meeting this upcoming Wednesday and need tips on how to prepare for it, to make the most of the 30-45 min call.
PLEASE HELP! i need tips, guidance, quesitons to ask etc at the outcome meeting as have been waiting years for this assessmeent and dont have anyone attending with me.
Thank you in advance!
SOME DETAILS ABOUT MY CASE & ADVICE I NEED:
- Assessors came to conclusion very soon after my assessments.
- I was referred for assessmnent as i seem to show female traits of ADHD and hence may have associated ASD. I dont think i have autism but aparently am reading that you only get diagnosied if symptoms are severe enough - not enough to have symptoms themselves. i find this is odd! what if you've been masking even withouht realising to ensure you're great at things - not the outsider - or the "thick" one etc.
If i get a negative diagnosis, is this because my ASD traits dont cover ALL categories (e.g dont think im obsessive, and no issues with authority, but do have "masked" building & MAINTAINING relationships/friendships issues, and can ave very strong opions/morals, NEED a template/order etc to enable me to draft a document etc)?
Can i still have "mild" autism for which i can get some guidance/advice/tips /tools, that will help me a) in PERSONAL aspects of my life (relationships, how to organise activities/work so head is clearer, etc), b). in the WORKPLACE (i.e. to ask for "Reasonable Adjustments" more dove-tailed to MY need (to avoid workplace prejudice and instead get some simple but effective adjustments for "office" work e.g. ways of working, how to give me tasks, giving me more structure etc) - These being my MAIN REASONS for asking for diagnoses after a coma a few years back) as i started to notice i could no longer MASK the extra work i was doing to "behaive" exceptionally well at work, especially with being at home (so no one to copy/mimic from)?
i fi DONT have ASD at all, can i ask for any other support or sing-posting etc. or is that it? my famiy dont remember me as a child, so i cant get a FORMAL diagnosis anyway, even for Mild/moderate autism. my younger bro is the severest end of Autism & learning disabilities so is non-verbal but IS quite well behavied and displays many NON-typical autistic traits (in that way, like me, as siblings). This is WHY i believe i am NOT autistic at all compared to him.
Thanks so much - all adice welcome. I've looked so much that i am word-blind right now so want to hear form ASD people themselves! :)
First of all, perparing for the assessment should simply be you going in and being open and honest. It isn't an exam and if you start to sound like you are telling the assessor what you think they want to hear, this will work against you.
Just listen, answer when asked and be brutally honest about it - if you are autistic then the high pribability is they will diagnose it.
In the event the answer is not what you want to hear then you can go private - a private assessment will probalbly take a few hours, cost in the region of £500 and be done in a few weeks. Not cheap but a good chance for a second opinion.
In the event you still don't get the answer you want then you need to explore what the assessmend does say and revisit your assumptions.
If the initial assessment says not autistic and the private one says yes you are, then you can get your NHS record updated with the revised assessment.
Thinking through all the what-ifs seems to be counter productive until you have at least the first assessment, but hopefully the above will help plan the high level steps to consider.
When you do have the assessment then we can spend some time and tailor recommendations to your needs from there.
It can take some time to come to terms with the results so don't get ahead of yourself and I would recommend taking the time to research more about the actual diagnosis and what it means to you so this can inform any future requests for adjustments etc.
It's hard to not worry about it too much but I've been there and it doesn't help. Maybe set a time for when you will research the subjects in deptth rather than do it now, give yourself time for adjustment and learning.
Good luck and just be yourself, warts and all.
hi, thanks so much for your message.
i have had the assessments, i need help to prepare for the outcome meeting - what Qs to ask, what things they might misss out in a case of diagnonisnig i DONT have ASD.
I'm pretty sure i dont have ASD (but i could be in denial as my younger bro as a very severe version of it). Im more familiar with ADHD and was suggested i may have ASD. i find it hard to mary up the ADHD and ASD - to me personalyl, they seem like very different things, but maybe i am misinterpreting it all in my panic, given workplace discrimination.
Any tips in adavance for thsoe of us NOT deemed on the spectrum woudl be great . Thanks
London_Star said: i find it hard to mary up the ADHD and ASD - to me personalyl, they seem like very different things,
Have a read at https://psychcentral.com/adhd/can-you-have-adhd-and-autism
ADHD and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can occur together.But there’s conflicting evidence on how common it is. Some research suggests that about 50% to 70% of autistic people also have ADHD. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the number is closer to 14%.
So I would ask the people in the interview what their confidence level is that they have got the right diagnosis given the simiarities and overlaps. Don't be afraid to push them on this as they may not have much experience and thus may be misdiagnosing.
The chances are you will have so much going on in your head at the time that it will be hard to ask or take in the answers, so the one thing I would suggest you get to take away is their recommendation on further reading on the subject.
There are loads of books on autism and ADHD so which are the ones they think are well written and can offer advice on both understanding and living with it.
Please feel free to ask away if there are any more questions post meeting, including for recommendations on books on the subjects your diagnosis covers.
Good luck.