Aspergers / High functioning autism assessment

[Lorien]

Has anyone got any experience of an adult aspergers / High functioning autism assessment.  I'm trying to decide if this is something I am OK with being referred for. Any idea of what it entails would be really helpful.  I've read through the local pathway information - bit it refers to interviews and questionnaires that are not accessible online.

I know a lot about assessment for children with profound learning disabilities,  but next to nothing about mainstream adult assessment.

[princess890]

Lorien, I am also in a similar position to you as I am also trying to find a doctor that specialises in autism for myself

[Lorien]

Your gp and other services should be able to find one. The Therapist I've seen for ages has suggested it so I I don't have to find someone because she already knows how to do that. But I'd like to know about it more than I do before I decide.  But it feels like I'm on a bit of a ticking clock because I won't see the Therapist after December. 

[Gerard]

I was assessed by a clinical psychologist over 10 years ago, in my early 20s. Will post more later. Many GPs or frontline staff will probably draw a blank if you mention adults and ASD due to a lack of knowledge.

[Gerard]

Couple of things.

1) I was assessed privately, this can be expensive. My first assessment was with my therapist at that time and the clinical psychologist.
2) My second was with my parents and the clinical psychologist. Are your parents alive? You will need them to provide your childhood history - anything about your language, speech at a young age, what you were like in school, how you related to peers, if you had friends, etc, etc. Ideally, this should be done in person rather than you giving it second hand to the psych, via your parents.
3) This is an area where some snake oil salesmen operate, unfortunately. You need to find a good practitioner/diagnostician. They should be adhering to best practice guidelines.
4) The assessment can be intense and draining. Take some time for yourself afterwards.
5) Tests and assessment tools are generally not available online as they cost a bit for the psych to use/source. iirc, the Autism Spectrum Quotient was one used in my case, I'll have to revisit my report to check.
6) There is a public perception that the issue is massively over-diagnosed (ADHD has the same negative image), but this claim OTT. It is harder for women and girls to get diagnosed due to the lack of awareness at the clinical level and because their presentations can differ from men and boys.

[Lorien]

Thanks Gerard. 

The Therapist is NHS and so would the person making the assessment.  I don't know what other areas have but here there is a Professor that heads a team specialising in autism in adult general psychiatry.  So hopefully no worries on the snake oil front either. But very useful to know.

I'll have a look at the links, thanks.  It doesn't seem too different than with children with profound disability,  only that I might get some opportunity to answer for myself. 

I'm a little worried that both my family and I would find it nearly impossible not accidentally mess it up, because we work with a lot of people who have autism in addition to other cognitive disabilities. I'm not sure how much difference that would happen.  It's also quite difficult to get my head around either way.  If i don't have an ASD why does the Therapist think I do, and if these people do think I have an ASD - I'm 27 and have had one psychiatrist or another for 10 years, as well as working where I do, so...its difficult to think it would be missed in every sphere of my life. Sorry I'm not sure this isn't just a monologue of what is in my head. It's just difficult to get my head around. 

There are things that do fit, that are difficult to explain in other ways, but I couldn't be certain that it is 'enough' for want of a better word. I also don't know how I feel about either outcome.  I'd much rather she'd never raised it to be honest

[faithful]

I recently had my assessment for autism/aspergers.

It took about 3 hours and consisted of loads of questions. I had to take my Dad and he was asked a lot about my childhood and what I was like as a baby and at school and how I related to other people. I was asked about secondary school and college and up to present. I was also asked about things specific to autism, like my diet and habits with food, eye contact, movements I make repetitively etc.

Before having the assessment I also had to fill in several questionaires and my parents had to fill in one. These were looking at autism traits and asking whether you tend to be blunt, understand humour,etc etc. Based on your scores on the questionaires you either have the face to face assessment or don't. 

It was anxiety provoking for me having the assessment but that's just me. The psychologists were lovely and very understanding though.

[Lorien]

Thanks faithful... Do you mind me asking if the outcome was useful to you?

[Lorien]

Sorry just read in your thread you don't have an outcome yet.

[Tucan]

Pretty much as others have said. My was completed a few years ago now (in childhood I had 2 separate speech therapists at different times and it wasn't picked up until I was in my 20's). It is common for it to be missed. Even professionals don't always fully know what to look for. I can talk to people who work in mental health and they say they would never know unless i had told them. It helped me receiving the diagnosis as it meant I was better able to understand why I struggled with certain things.

I had a preliminary meeting with the 'proffessor' that headed the team. This was done with me alone, with my parents and with all of us.. He decided to then take me to the next stage of the assessment which included large questionnaires for myself and my parents. After a couple of months once the questionnaires were in he took the assessment to the next step. This was around 3 hours I think. My parents were quizzed for an hour. I had to do some talking. There was also a section with specific tasks to complete. One was me reading from a book with no pictures. They assessed my voice, non verbal communication and facial expressions. They looked at my use of imagination. I remember the assessment being adapted from one for kids (as most of the assessments are made for children) so it was a bit young in places. I cannot remember what the assessment was called, it was around 5 years ago.

I hope yours goes ok. Try to hold onto the fact that it is a spectrum so everyone on it is different and struggles with things to different degrees. Good luck.