Assessment next week

Have they explained what the process is? I had three sessions over three days for different aspects of the assessment, had to fill about 10 different forms in and they interviewed some people who know me.

I've filled in the forms and got a long time friend to fill in the parts they wanted someone else to fill in. Sent those back a few weeks ago. Apparently my appointment next week will last 2-3 hours and they'll ask me questions about my childhood and my life now.

I usually find I have to script medical appointments in advance and then memorize the script to get anywhere, but perhaps with this being a couple of hours rather than being kicked out after a few minutes that might not be necessary?

MrSolo said:

I usually find I have to script medical appointments in advance and then memorize the script to get anywhere, but perhaps with this being a couple of hours rather than being kicked out after a few minutes that might not be necessary?

Scripting is masking and this being an autism assessment they very much need to be able to see the real you under the masks. Therefore I wouldn't do any rehearsing or scripting in advance.

If that means you may struggle to answer questions then that should demonstrate any difficulties with communication you may have as an autistic person.

MrSolo said:

I usually find I have to script medical appointments in advance and then memorize the script to get anywhere, but perhaps with this being a couple of hours rather than being kicked out after a few minutes that might not be necessary?

Scripting is masking and this being an autism assessment they very much need to be able to see the real you under the masks. Therefore I wouldn't do any rehearsing or scripting in advance.

If that means you may struggle to answer questions then that should demonstrate any difficulties with communication you may have as an autistic person.

Scripting can be a useful tool when time is limited and you really need to get across important information, such as in the short GP appointment you mentioned or in a job interview. As you have found, without it you are just dismissed or fobbed off and people do not give you time.

In the autism assessment they should give you the time you need to process what they say and formulate a response, repeat the question as many times as you need, allow you to refer to notes if you get really stuck. They will be trained to an extent to look past masking but that will be difficult if you are a master at it. 

If you're anything like me and have spent much of your life continually relying on scripting to get by then it will be a hard habit to break. It isn't something you can switch on and off at will. Sometimes I think that every time I open my mouth what comes out is a mix of previously well rehearsed scripts, not necessarily the rights ones for the circumstances!

Kieran Rose, who is the co-author of academic research on masking and published a recent book on the topic, wrote about his own lifelong experiences of scripting here.

https://theautisticadvocate.com/2018/07/masking-i-am-not-ok/

"For me, personally, the most obvious form of Masking is Scripting.  For every conceivable situation i have a script.  Many of them i keep in my head, I store them on the rolodex of memories I talk about in ‘The inside of Autism‘

Others though have to be created prior to events or engagements, some of them (the horror!), have to be made on the fly."

This isn't that though. It will be relatively guided, not a "okay, sit down and tell me how you're autistic" situation. If they ask a question and your natural reaction would be to hesitate and fidget while you get it straight in your head, you need them to see that rather than you reciting your prepared answer that you've been through 10 times in your head on the way there. 

They told me to try not to mask (which isn’t easy) and to be as unguarded and natural as I could.

Interesting. I thought of it as the opposite of masking - it's a way of making sure I communicate what the issue is and what I want the doctor to do about it. Without the script I go quiet and let them send me away with a vague reassurance and no tests or treatments.