Early life info - no informants

Stuart333 said:

They are mostly interested in social interactions and communication.

Without meaning any disrespect to Stuart, I feel it’s importance to clarify that they’re not “mostly interested” in those aspects.

They’re equally interested in the other criteria, which are explained here - these resources should also be helpful in explaining what kinds of things it might be useful for you to highlight:

NAS - Criteria and tools used in an autism assessment

NAS - Signs that a child or adult may be autistic

From the NAS page:

Autism is defined by ‘core characteristics’. These are described in medical literature as: 

• social communication and social interaction differences 
• restricted and repetitive behaviours and interests (RRBIs) – including potential sensory differences.

The post was about absence of an informant related to childhood.

In order to get a diagnosis I believe you should demonstrate the above, ideally now and in the past, to show it is a developmental issue not as a consequence of something else. This was the primary focus of the questions and info that I and my informant were asked, related to childhood experiences. I believe you also need these to have had some impact on your life.

The NICE clinical guidelines can be found online, which I read, which may be helpful They encouraged me to think about the items that would be key, but I did not try to skew or misrepresent anything.

However, in my case they had decided I was likely to have ASD before the formal assessment even started and before looking at any of my submitted info. Clearly it is largely influenced by how you come across, hence my psychologist saying there was no need to prepare tons of info, the additional items are to complete the picture. So I  would not get too hung up.

I did note other items that would be of interest, but without communication and interaction differences across time it would be harder to meet the criteria. So having these will be helpful.

There is a caveat to this, related more to girls than boys, based on compensation, which is where the CAT-Q comes in. But this is where an assessor that is experienced in the presentation in women and girls is helpful.

Note also that you don't need 10 examples of a point, once you've ticked that box they moved on. This is where some people online have been surprised not all their info was used.

In any case, it will do any harm to think of everything, but it takes a lot of time and effort and may not be needed.  For example I remembered the elm trees being cut down in 1975, seeing stag beetles in 1976, that there was a sweet shop with loose sweets in jars and 1p or 2p could get a bag, that I saw some kid get run over and just lie in the road, I knocked my front tooth out, but none of it is relevant. It's your interests.and behaviours, if you can remember them, and interactions.

Stuart333 said:

Autism is defined by ‘core characteristics’. These are described in medical literature as: 

I'm fully familiar with both the nature of AnnieBo's question, and with the characteristics of, and diagnostic criteria for, autism - to the point of having a qualification in the subject.

My point was that, in falsely claiming that "They are mostly interested in social interactions and communication", your earlier reply was highly misleading and could have caused them - and others, who read this thread over time - to exclude, or reduce or minimise their focus on, the other equally important criteria (during childhood and beyond) during their preparation for their assessment.

It is also important, when offering advice to others, for us not to assume that their experience will be the same as ours. For example, you say:

Stuart333 said:

However, in my case they had decided I was likely to have ASD before the formal assessment even started and before looking at any of my submitted info. Clearly it is largely influenced by how you come across, hence my psychologist saying there was no need to prepare tons of info, the additional items are to complete the picture. So I  would not get too hung up.

In my view, advising people not to "get too hung up" on providing plenty of supporting evidence is not at all helpful. Their situation might not be the same as yours. And, for many, this may be their only chance to be assessed. So, in my opinion, it is well worth making the effort to prepare as much available evidence as they might have.

Stuart333 said:

Note also that you don't need 10 examples of a point, once you've ticked that box they moved on. This is where some people online have been surprised not all their info was used.

For example, if someone does have 10 examples of any given point, then I'd strongly suggest submitting them or noting them down for reference. If we have more, but instead only submit one or two examples for any given trait / behaviour / issue, then we cannot know whether our submitted choices will meet the assessor's requirements as supporting evidence. For an assessor, It's also not just a matter of "ticking boxes" to reach a simple yes or no for a diagnosis of autism. Their level of understanding of our difficulties also informs their view of our support needs.

I hope we can now move on.

Fine, I'm not going to argue.

The forum should be for expressing personal opinions and experiences, so that a range of views are available.

I thought we were just talking about the informant stage. There should be an opportunity to cover other items too..

Writing a lot of information is time consuming, emotional and stressful. If you wanted to reduce the burden and pressure then you may not need everything.

If you read it otherwise, then I apologise.

Fine, I'm not going to argue.

The forum should be for expressing personal opinions and experiences, so that a range of views are available.

I thought we were just talking about the informant stage. There should be an opportunity to cover other items too..

Writing a lot of information is time consuming, emotional and stressful. If you wanted to reduce the burden and pressure then you may not need everything.

If you read it otherwise, then I apologise.