Late assessment - ADIR without an informant who knew me as a child

Hi, I’ve got my assessment this week, I’m 57 and only have my mother left  who knew me as a child, she is nearly 80 and what I would class  as a hostile witness. My wife is going to accompany me, she has known me since I was about 20, I do get comments that I used to like certain things, she thinks I’ve somehow changed.

My assessment is an NHS one, I’ve informed them that I don’t have an informant, the reply was that it will be conducted using ADOS and a general discussion about my childhood. To be honest it feels like going to court and being cross examined. If you have any school reports, they can be used as evidence. Good luck and I hope you get the outcome you hope for.

This must be a huge issue for lots of people, my Mum's still alive, but she's never had a great memory and I wonder if she's ASC too. Why would anyone keep school reports from 40 or 50 years ago, who has the space?

I don't have anyone else who's known me for any length of time, I guess I was lucky I was never asked for any of this stuff, it all seems to have changed a lot in the last 13 years since I was diagnosed, I don't remember being asked to fill in any forms or anything, just a few appointment with a psychologist.

Like so much else around ASC, it all feels as though it's set up for the young and us latelings are 'out of context problems' the systems don't know how to cope with

This must be a huge issue for lots of people, my Mum's still alive, but she's never had a great memory and I wonder if she's ASC too. Why would anyone keep school reports from 40 or 50 years ago, who has the space?

I don't have anyone else who's known me for any length of time, I guess I was lucky I was never asked for any of this stuff, it all seems to have changed a lot in the last 13 years since I was diagnosed, I don't remember being asked to fill in any forms or anything, just a few appointment with a psychologist.

Like so much else around ASC, it all feels as though it's set up for the young and us latelings are 'out of context problems' the systems don't know how to cope with

Stuart333 said:

I have a feeling they decided in the first 30 minutes and the rest has just been confirming what they thought.

I’ve heard it said (by Francesca Happé IIRC) that an experienced receptionist can tell the moment you walk in and the entire examination is really about confirmation!

By game the system I didn't mean you had done anything. I'm sure things have changed as the diagnostic criteria have been updated a couple of times.

I meant I think I could have filled in the forms and claimed various things in the interviews that would be hard to disprove and would give whatever answer I wanted. But there didn't seem any point exaggerating or downplaying things. It is also possible I might be bad at lying and it would go wrong.

You don't need need herds of people, they just ask for 1 if possible.

I still have all my paper exam certificates in an envelope. First one is from 1983. I was always aware I needed to look after them.

Like I said I can't remember being asked to fill in any forms, nor was I asked for contact information for people from my past. I don't remember being asked anything about my developmental progress either, like I say it was all different back then, it's not about 'game[ing] the system' as you put it, its just how it was. But then autism was only just starting to become recognised in the way it is today, especially among women and girls, the whole diagnostic landscape seems to have changed massively over the last 13 years. It seems to have become less personal, less about the individual and more tick box, I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not? On the one hand it seems less erratic and the person diagnosing has more criteria, but it all sounds very confusing and sometimes almost like a "computer says no" thing.

I think there's to much emphasis placed on personal history and documentation for older people, autistic people are notorious for finding friendships and relationships difficult to maintain, so why do they expect us to have herds of people who've known us all our lives or even for a significant part of it.

My school was knocked down years ago, I doubt if there are any records available. My son went for a job where he had to show his GCSE certificates, he didn't have them and like me his school had closed some years before, he had a hell of a job tracking down any records from the school at all, let alone his. They're supposed to be kept, but the reality is that they end up lost, damaged or destroyed, especially if like us you went to school pre computerrsation and even if you did will digital records be in a format usable today? You also have to physcially travel to the town where the school was so you can trawl through council achives.

The forms were mostly the screening forms, like AQ 50, plus additional ones for trauma, childhood issues, background info, authorisation to contact people, etc.

There was one big one which ended up at 30 pages, which was about half questions and half answers, which covered all the developmental stuff. Taking ages, writing lots, finding it hard, may all be indicators on their own.

Like I said elsewhere,  I did not pick the easiest route.

It may be possible to game the system if you are smart, but they look for inconsistencies, and saying yes to everything would be suspicious, besides how does it really help.

I just decided to be honest. The result is what is. Perhaps it is obvious, I can't tell from the inside looking out.

I have a feeling they decided in the first 30 minutes and the rest has just been confirming what they thought.