Psychiatry UK

I'm afraid that I can't / wouldn't want to try and tell you exactly how they'll approach your assessment, as it may differ from case to case and I wouldn't want to mislead you.

For example, in my case, at the end of the appointment, the lead assessor told me that my autism had been very obvious to them from my childhood history alone. So I think they'd already felt confident about my diagnosis before my appointment had even begun.

The people involved were very kind and considerate. For most of the time, I was on a joint video call with a psychiatrist and a specialist nurse. The nurse was seated relative to her camera such that she wasn't looking at me directly, which was very thoughtful. The psychiatrist broke off for a while towards the end (perhaps to consult / confirm with others or just to gather his thoughts / review his conclusion, I'm not sure).

The discussion was focused mainly around my answers to the questionnaire, so it was more a case of expanding on things that I already felt prepared for, rather than being presented with any new / unexpected questions or topics.

When they diagnosed me at the end, I cried with relief - and they handled it with great kindness. I suspect that might happen a lot! :) 

I hope this info is of some help.

I'm afraid that I can't / wouldn't want to try and tell you exactly how they'll approach your assessment, as it may differ from case to case and I wouldn't want to mislead you.

For example, in my case, at the end of the appointment, the lead assessor told me that my autism had been very obvious to them from my childhood history alone. So I think they'd already felt confident about my diagnosis before my appointment had even begun.

The people involved were very kind and considerate. For most of the time, I was on a joint video call with a psychiatrist and a specialist nurse. The nurse was seated relative to her camera such that she wasn't looking at me directly, which was very thoughtful. The psychiatrist broke off for a while towards the end (perhaps to consult / confirm with others or just to gather his thoughts / review his conclusion, I'm not sure).

The discussion was focused mainly around my answers to the questionnaire, so it was more a case of expanding on things that I already felt prepared for, rather than being presented with any new / unexpected questions or topics.

When they diagnosed me at the end, I cried with relief - and they handled it with great kindness. I suspect that might happen a lot! :) 

I hope this info is of some help.