What to expect at your Autism assessment

You might have a lot of questions about what attending for an Autism assessment will look like, and what you might need to do to prepare yourself for it in advance. There isn’t anything in particular that you need to do, but I hope that this helps give you a clearer idea of what will happen in the assessment and put your mind at ease.

An Autism assessment with me is usually spread over two appointments with you, with the first lasting approximately 2 hours and the second appointment lasting 1 hour. Sometimes, it can take us a bit more time to complete the assessment and I will discuss this with you if I think more time is needed.

In part one, we spend time thinking about you as a whole person and discuss different areas of your life. As part of the assessment and identification work, we explore other aspects of your experiences, such as your time in school and/or college, experiences in the workplace if relevant, friendships and relationships. You may have experienced difficulties with anxiety or low mood over the years, and it is important to think about the impact this, and other traumatic experiences, may have had on you. In order to be able to identify Autism, we have to rule out anything else that might better explain difficulties you have experienced and so this is part of our focus during part one of the assessment.

In part two, we will go through the diagnostic criteria for Autism in detail, discussing examples from your childhood and current life that might fit with the criteria. In this part of the assessment, I will ask about your experiences of social situations, your communication styles and preferences, and friendships and relationships. We will also talk about some other areas including your interests and sensory experiences.

If you have someone who can be an informant, I will arrange an interview with them separately. This can take place in person, over the phone or through Zoom.

We will arrange to meet for feedback and to share your report approximately one month after your final assessment appointment. The feedback appointment lasts up to 1 hour and is a chance to go through the findings of the assessment, discuss and share strategies and resources that may be helpful, and provide a space for you to ask any questions you may have.