Assessment A!

That's pretty horrible to treat you like that really, I mean that's pretty common amoung autistics, it's kind of the same for me! To make your feel bad about it is unprofessional. 

If someone kept telling me I was giving answers wrong, it would be very upsetting. 

Definitely a possibility - I'm not sure at this point what is me and what is me pretending to be whatever the world expects me to be.

I dont know if it was me not understanding the questions or my answers not fitting the options on her form at times... she asked about whether I have a best friend I see regularly and when I said that would be my partner or my sister she told me that's not a best friend and couldn't seem to fathom me not having someone else I would 'go on a night out with' as she put it. It felt judgemental at times... whether that was her or me, or a combo who knows

Ah, that's not great emma90 :-(

Couple of thoughts to share that might be OK - if you're in the right emotional state for them?

Could it be that you were accidentally masking?

Also when I'm especially anxious I can get very defensive.

Whether the answer to those answers is yes, no or maybe, it's not ideal if the person leading what could be a difficult conversation is unable to maintain their emotional calm and their means of expression.

Hope you're OK now.

All the best.

seems odd - so was this actually part of the assessment or not - I would get clarification from them on what you had today and what the next bit is.  Is seems very anti-ND not giving you more notice and not telling you more detail in advance.  This may be worth logging for now - but do request more notice of part B and what that is before asking you to attend that.  Good luck too!

No, she just said someone will be in touch in a few weeks or months to book me in. Hopefully that person will give me a little bit more information

So sad to hear this. Have they given you any indication as to what will be involved in part 2?

with my assessment I had to complete a lot of paperwork and do some online cognitive assessments and the only 2 calls (online) I had was one where someone asked me questions (but these were the same as one of my bits of paperwork) and the next was to deliver my diagnosis which consisted of a discussion with the diagnosis delivery at the end. 

Oh no, sounds stressful. I hope the second part goes better for you. 

That's so hard, and pretty gutting. If you are having communication trouble, they should be understanding as it's assessing autism!! That is by definition one of the areas it's defined to have problems with. 

I hope you can relax for today and your other part goes better.

Well I think that was horrific - the woman doing it spent most of the time saying 'no that's not what I'm asking' whenever I answered anything. The way she talked to me, felt like I was annoying her the whole time.... 

Silver lining, surely I can't get anyone as rude and lacking empathy for the second part?!

Good luck Emma

You might find the advice here helpful - good luck with your assessment!

NAS - What happens during an autism assessment

NAS - Criteria and tools used in an autism assessment

NAS - Professionals involved in an autism assessment

Good luck for later today. I hope it all goes well.

It seems rather short notice, perhaps there was a cancellation and a slot became free so you have been bumped up.

The people should be calm and sympathetic. It should feel like a conversation, they want you to talk openly and should try to put you at ease.

I expect there may be a break in the middle, 2.5 hrs is quite long in one go. But the time flies once you start talking.

Longer can be better as you have more time to say what you want to, but it can be mentally tiring.

Don't try to tell them what you think they want to hear. Just tell them the truth. If you don't understand a question, say so. If you don't know, be honest. Try not to mask, they won't judge anything you say. Things which seem embarrassing, strange, weird etc. they have likely heard it before. Just be yourself.

All the best for your assessment experience.

Feeling nervous and the mind racing is pretty normal in such circumstances from what I can gather.

I found my assessor friendly in a professional manner.

I did find the interview quite enlightening although naturally it stirred up a few things that were and continued to be a bit problematic for me.

This settled pretty quickly afterwards and my support people were all really good about it.

I hope that you're feeling OK by the time you read this and feel reassured as able.

Best wishes

That's very true - it actually probably is a good thing it's blindsided me so I'm not anxious for weeks.

I'm already looking forward to getting through it so I can have a bubble bath, followed by a big steak and a sleep!

Good shout on the tissues and notes, I'm a cryer at the best of times!

Good luck! I got pretty anxious before mine, so in some ways it's good you don't have too long fret about it. All places are different, so mine had a slightly different timing format (more shorter sessions), but yes, they'll probably have things they want to go through. Good idea to have some water on hand, tissues just in case you need them talking about hard stuff, and just be your most open self. Oh and a fidget might be handy if you use something like that.

I did put some bullet points on a bit of paper in front of me, in case I needed something to help prompt me, you might not need it but it can help to feel a bit better. (It was mainly to make sure I mentioned a range of different issues).

150 minutes does sound a lot, but you'll get through it. You might need a nap after though, I know I would (or at least a lie to down!) And hopefully an easy dinner. Self care after is a good focus!

Thanks for your reply - unfortunately the provider I've chosen doesn't offer much insight... they texted me a support guide that leads to an error message!

I keep telling myself it will be okay and by 3pm it'll be over and I can relax, but that little devil is on my shoulder as well thinking up all the things that could go wrong too ha.

I hope you hear from your provider soon ️

Hi Emma90, I didn’t want to read and run, I don’t really have anything useful to say because I haven’t had my assessment yet, been waiting since August. But on the website of the provider I went with through RTC there was a little video explaining it would be informal, more of a chat, yes it could be long but they would be aware it would be difficult for someone. It also said there would be some activities. I wish you lots of luck with getting through it … it will be okay.