Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all,
My informant completed the ADI-R today, and they called me when it finished and told me what they had said. A lot of things don’t match up to my experience - for example, they said I can carry out small talk (I struggle massively with this), that sounds didn’t bother me as a child (I used to run away from the hoover/cover my ears, and would cry during storms because of the noise) and that I don’t mimic people (I’ve been doing this my whole life, to the extent even my accent can change). I scored over the threshold for all areas, except for 1.
I feel I strongly identify with a lot of autism traits, and when my informant told me the assessor felt a lot of my symptoms sound like social anxiety, I don’t think this matches me, I feel it’s more than that. I found my ADOS-2 assessment so overwhelming, I couldn’t complete some activities as I got so stressed I cried.
Does anyone have experience with below threshold ADI-R scores and still getting a diagnosis? Until today, I was convinced I’d be diagnosed, now I’m not so sure.
Thanks.
I wouldn't worry if you wrote a lot about yourself. My husband wrote very little about me but I wrote loads about myself and all the questions were around my experience. They didn't ask to talk to him.
I guess they realise as well that neurotypical informants will often try to put a 'positive/neurotypical' spin on everything, and will remember the positives. You probably masked at times, as I did. I was outwardly quiet and obedient as a child but not on the inside!
I also anticipated the social anxiety thing and explained why I didn't try hink I had that. Tell them they're wrong!
Good luck. It's you they're interested in.
Thank you, I did make sure to write as much as possible as I keep a lot of my struggles to myself, so I knew my informant wouldn’t be able to give accurate descriptions.