Adult Autism Assessments: How you Should Prepare...

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How should you prepare for your adult autism diagnosis?

00:00 Seeking to provide detail
00:50 Let the extra shine
02:15 All the paperwork
03:39 Should you go alone?
05:00 Make a folder!
08:09 Access your Full Medical Record
09:49 Prepare video clips
11:40 Do you know where you're going?
12:35 Don't be afraid to ask for this!
15:31 Make Plan!!
16:07 What if you don't get a diagnosis?

References:

💛My Videos Mentioned💛:

Autism Screening Quizzes on Embrace Autism:

The DSM-5 Traits of Autism:

NHS Autism Pages:

Books I'd Recommend about Autism:

*Unmasking Autism by Devon Price:

*Chloe Hayden's Book (where was this book when I was 17?? PLEASE READ!):

*Aspergirls by Rudy Simone:

DISCLAIMER: I am a second-year psychology student and a late-diagnosed #actuallyautistic individual. I am not a qualified healthcare professional.

*Links with a star are affiliate links. The channel will receive a small commission if you buy anything on Amazon after clicking through with this link. There's no extra cost to you and any money will go towards putting out more content. I'd love to post twice a week and put more time into research for these videos. Thank you so much - I really appreciate every like and comment!

[imautisticnowwhat]

I am so incredibly grateful (and surprised, as cliche as it sounds!) that this channel is close to 20, 000 subscribers. I really hope todays video is at least a little bit helpful. For those with an upcoming autism assessment, best of luck! 💛

You might want to watch these next…

If you are still trying to decide if an autism assessment is the right next step for you, this video might be helpful:


And here’s a fun one reacting to autistic TikToks (I can’t believe so many people use mayo in place of butter on their sandwiches. I don’t know how to feel!):



Thank you sooo much for being here 💛💛

[TinyGhosty]

COMFORT ITEMS ARE IMPORTANT!! If you benefit from comfort items they can be absolutely wonderful to help you through the stress of the assessment and you can also use it as an example, "this is my comfort item and it helps me regulate myself." I took a crocheted turtle I made to my assessment and one of the moments of happiness during my assessment was showing him off and being proud of him.

[lulisbuli]

i’m terrified that if i let myself be myself they are gonna think i’m faking it or pushing it for attention

[Misshowzat]

And remember it's okay to go to another doctor. The first guy I saw assessed my little brother perfectly but basically said to me; you're an adult & a woman, it's not possible for you to have Autism. Yeah I saw someone else very quickly.

[kajielin]

I also want to add that even if something seems to be "for children", try to still play along, as they might be monitoring something completely different than you are thinking! Mine had "childish" tasks incorportated, but afterwards my clinitian explained why and it made a lot of sense!

[Authentistic-ism]

It's amazing I got a diagnosis at all~ I am too old for home videos, we didn't have that tech back then. And I'm estranged from my abusive family so I did not invite them to the interview, I went alone. And yet here I am

[Thi-Nguyen]

This explains my insistent concern with my lab results. I was concerned that I had thalassemia. I’d been concerned for several years. But my doctors kept brushing it off because my symptoms that THEY recognized (aside from my lab work that they didn’t really pay much attention to). I actually pulled my labwork results for the past 10 years. Then I graphed it to show how I was consistently low in these areas and high in those areas, etc. Then randomly, I was assigned a new doctor (I’m a veteran) and when I showed her my charts and stuff she ran another blood test and concurred that I do indeed have thalassemia! I don’t feel so crazy for doing this now. I used to think I was just obsessive and maybe a bit of a hypochondriac.

[InfernalFreakshow]

When I originally went to my dr to get a referral for my Autism/ADHD evaluations I went into great detail about every symptom, every weird little thing I do, what other people (like friends) thought in my rituals and routines, etc. a year later I learned I have do indeed have Autism and ADHD

[rob._.]

I'm an autistic person training to become a psychotherapist.
(I'm partially doing it provide good and available diagnoses for people in need of one, because mine took 4 years to get)
This video is super helpful. I might use it as a guide that I can give to people to present me their observations.

[ecpetty]

What a gift you and your channel are. I’m self-dx autistic (officially dx ADHD so far) and probably won’t be able to seek official ASD diagnosis for a while yet, but you explain the details of the process in just the way I need to feel comfortable, safe and confident when I do seek official diagnosis. I’m already preparing my binder now like I did for my ADHD diagnosis. I’m very lucky my parents kept a ton of old family videos I have access to. Thank you for the inspiration to look to those to jog the memory and even present clips to a diagnostician! Thank you, thank you.

[ambermac]

Oh my goodness!! I’m terrible with eye contact. I look away when I talk because it helps me to form my words and sentences. And I stare when the other person is talking because it helps me to focus on their words.

[timjosling]

I agree it is very important to "unmask" and let it all hang out in the interview.
I found I had to practise it as masking is no ingrained.

[eliasbergmann]

I was on a waiting list to be assessed for two years. Then the letter came that I had an appointment and I was required to bring a parent. I don't know why but I decided it was more convenient to bring my mum, who is convinced I'm “normal”. She threw a wrench in my brother's ADHD diagnosis when he was a kid. I should have known better. I had a 30 min conversation. Same for my mum. All the person assessing me would talk about was what I was like as a child. I don't remember my childhood. My mum has a habit of only remembering what fits her narrative. So, obviously, the result was something along the lines of “Get your trauma sorted out.” Thanks, I've been trying to do that, but I don't know what my trauma is. What a waste of time. This all has me feeling a bit hopeless. My history of therapy leading absolutely nowhere isn't helping. I should probably get a second opinion, prepare better for that assessment and bring my dad instead, but it was so much effort to get that first appointment and I don't know where to turn next. I wish I had found this video before I went into my assessment.

[EpicSillyPets]

Playing with blocks is often part of the assessment. For instance, in the states, areas of intellectual, memory, focus, and motor skills are very commonly part of an autism assessment. Autism often co-occurs with other diagnoses. If a diagnosis of autism is ruled out, then this may provide alternative reasons or diagnoses that may be part of the neurodivergent spectrum. Dyspraxia, for instance, "blocks" are part of that. Also ADHD, it assesses focus, planning, problem-solving, spatial reasoning, speed and efficiency, and so on.... If your doctor busts out blocks, be THANKFUL because they are actually doing you a favor and providing you with a comprehensive assessment, which is actually more valuable. With that said, if you're an adult, and they treat you like a child, then run. Thank you for joining my TED Talk..lol.

[CapiSocialist]

I’m self diagnosed as of this week and it’s such a relief to learn I’m normal at 30 years old, the few videos I’ve seen of yours so far have helped so much. I feel like I’m home. I don’t need an official diagnosis, my whole life just makes sense now and I finally understand myself. I did the online assessments you recommended and they were all a high probability, it actually helped to identify traits and triggers I wasn’t aware of. Needing to know expectations of me, wow 100% yes! I just want you to know your videos are making a difference. I’ve done a lot of harm I couldn’t of known about through masking and not stimming by practicing mindfulness and meditations to control myself, my 20’s we’re pretty much entirely introspection yet I’ve ironically always been outgoing. I’ve always had a deep fascination with consciousness, largely because of my sensory experience, which I’ve only learned to articulate now. I wouldn’t change me, my fascination into consciousness has been the most profound liberating journey into self realisation very few people get to discover. But I’ve routinely suffered in silence. I wasn’t aware but for the last 2 years my special interest has been politics, social revolution and more recently economics because the world literally breaks my heart. Now I have a bookshelf populated with books covering things like UK working class movements 1850-1950. I started coming up with new political / economic models I thought could help the world as naive as that is, but it absorbed me so much. I’ve been burning out heavily the last few months. To the point I’m having baths with the lights out and no noise to come back to some kind of baseline. That was how I discovered burn out and I started researching autism. I’ve quit the political activist groups I randomly joined with my sudden found interest for it 2 years ago for now and the books will be going upstairs. I’ll be changing my username back to something more grounded whilst I’m at it 😂 and for now I’m just going to spend a bit of time nurturing myself and my family

[annabruh]

since realizing i am also autistic its been so nice watching other autistics videos cause they always get straight to the point and never repeat themselves too much its amazing

[SlugcatEmporium]

The first person who assessed me for autism said "you can't be autistic, because you have reciprocal relationships." I knew it was the biggest piece of bs I'd ever heard.

[vangothengirl]

Yay! I'm super early! My hubby agreed to go with me, trying to figure out where to go, please pray for me 🌸

[KatjaTheAutiArtist]

It was your playlist that helped me go through my files and memories and make a binder to give my evaluator. I really appreciate your videos. My binder is a 3 inch ring binder which is actually stuffed. I used this video as a template for real.

[sheevaelyassi]

I received my ASD diagnosis yesterday, at the age of 39. Thank you so much for your videos - they really helped and made me smile 😊 Sending love ❤