Why adults may seek a diagnosis?

Have you always felt that you have navigated through life feeling different? Have you read something about autism or has someone you know recently been diagnosed and this knowledge has helped you to make sense of some of your own life experiences? 

 Many people with autism have learnt to cope with their challenges. Maybe you have reached adulthood and learnt to mask along the way? Are you fed up with struggling and feeling different in silence? Sometimes just understanding your life and receiving answers to your questions will allow you to open up your experiences and help you and those around you, accept your strengths and diversity and understand you better than people have before.

It may be that the Team can be confident that you have ASD and a diagnosis will be given. Alternatively, they may feel that you do not meet the diagnostic criteria for ASD and a diagnosis will not be given. There may be times wehn a diagnosis of ASD cannot be concluded without further assessment. 

Sometimes conditions including attachment difficulties, social anxiety, ADHD and ASD can have overlapping features and may present similarly in terms of the child’s behaviour. Therefore, it may not be possible to offer a diagnosis of ASD without further assessment. In these instances, further assessment for a differential or co-morbid diagnosis will be recommended.

Clinical recommendations, advice and support will be offered regardless of the outcome of the assessment in order to offer appropriate ongoing advice.

WHAT COULD THE OUTCOME BE?

Post-Assessment Support:

Based on the recommendations laid out in your assessment report, post-assessment support will be made available by specialists within their field. If we can not offer the service required then we will be sure to guide you with further recommendations and advice along the way.

ASD assessments are very thorough. You will be provided with a key person who will be with you through every step of the assessment process. This will allow them to gain an in-depth understanding and relationship with you to thoroughly understand your needs, requirements and differences. 

The Process:
Step 1:
You and an informant will be offered a telephone appointment to gather an in-depth understanding of you, your early years, your developmental history and your current presentation (The telephone call will be booked within 1-2 weeks of commencing the assessment)

Step 2:
You will be seen by professionals who will carry out a formal assessment of social communication and interaction (1-2 weeks after completing the developmental history phone call). This usually lasts around 45 minutes - 60 minutes.

Step 3:
We recognise that it is not always easy to share and re-call everything that you want to say within one assessment session. We therefore offer you the opportunity to follow this up with a self-questionnaire to share anything that you might want to add to your assessment.

In addition to the assessment for Autism Spectrum, our Multi-Disciplinary Team will also screen for other conditions that often sit alongside. These include looking for possible anxieties and emotional difficulties, sensory sensitivities or problems with attention and hyperactivity (These screenings are included as part of your initial enquiry pack.)

Step 4:
You can be confident that our team will offer a holistic assessment across the key environments that you encounter, after which you will be invited for a feedback phone call where focused and individualised recommendations will be provided, which can support you to meet your potential and thrive within your environment. The outcome of your assessment as well as any recommendations discussed will be shared in a comprehensive report.

The ASD Assessment:

When you make an enquiry for an ASD assessment, you will be sent a ‘screening-pack’ containing various questionnaires for you to complete. Some of these directly relate to ASD symptomatology, and others are designed to gather information about other conditions that can be present alongside possible Autism. Once completed the questionnaires will be reviewed by a member of the team.

If the Neurodiversity Team feels that an ASD assessment is the best course of action for you, we will book you on to the assessment pathway. If we do not feel that an ASD assessment is the best way to support you, we will discuss our recommendations and alternative steps with you.

Initial enquiry: