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Adult ADOS Assessment Next Week. Help??

criticalwavey

Hi everyone,

I have the first part of my Autism assessment next week (4th June), and I am absolutely terrified. I have been on the NHS waiting list since July 2021, but I was becoming very impatient as my mental health started to decline and I couldn't deal with waiting any longer. I contacted by my GP last year to see if I could go through the Right to Choose pathway. I have waited 10 months for this through Clinical Partners, and I will finally have my assessment next week.

This is the Adult ADOS Assessment, and I have heard a few things about what it's going to be like. I was just wondering if anyone has done the ADOS before. What happened? What did you expect? Were the people assessors friendly and nice?

I hate going into assessments blindly, and I feel like I need to know at least a little bit about it before I can do it. I spoke to my counsellor earlier this week, and she told me that I cannot expect anything and to just be myself. I struggle to be myself every single day due to masking and burnout. I just really would like some insight into this.

Thank you,

Chlo :)

  • They should be calm and friendly..

    They just want to observe how you behave with some simple tasks. It is best not to prepare. They want the real you. Just listen to what they ask and do what you think is right.

    Don't worry if you find it easy, or hard, or get stuck. There are no good or bad answers. I thought I had done too well, but it I was how and what I did that mattered.

  • Hi Chlo,

    I did my assessment with clinical partners about 6 months ago and I was as nervous about it as you are, but it was OK. I can't say I found it hugely enjoyable but the assessor was very kind and patient. As others have said, you don't want to be prepared because they want to see how you react naturally. Obviously masking is an issue with autism but they can see through that easily enough I think. The ADOS really wasn't too onerous, it's just asking you to react to things. Try not to worry about how you come across to the assessor or be embarrassed about not saying the right thing - they do multiple assessments every day and will forget all about you almost straight away. I got a diagnosis and am very glad I went through with it despite considering pulling out beforehand. Best of luck.

  • Hi

    I was recently assessed with clinical partners. The ADOS is just a few little tasks. Things like look at a picture and talk about what's going on. I was desperate to find out more about it but honestly I now genuinely understand why its a closely guarded secret. If id known the tasks in advance and been able to prepare my reactions id have behaved very differently. They want to see your natural reactions to things. 

    Good luck.