What is an adult assessment like, and is it possible to not involve my parents in it?

[maybehollow]

The pandemic has given me a lot of time to think about myself and my experiences, and over the past few months I've become increasingly worried about whether I might be autistic. It honestly never crossed my mind before (I definitely considered it, but I always brushed it off with "I would probably know already, so I must not be"). I have regular appointments with nurses and my doctor for injections and monitoring my meds, but I haven't been able to get up the courage to ask them about getting an assessment.

I've always struggled with anxiety in unfamiliar situations- I couldn't order food or pay for things until I was a teenager and I had to study people doing it to even try it, and I walked 45 minutes to and from school each day until I was 16 because I was so scared of buses. I'm able to function mostly fine now, but this is still a problem for me (I was finally able to drink alcohol for the first time a few days ago, and I've been of legal age for over two years). Naturally the idea of getting a psychiatric assessment terrifies me. The best I've found is just lists of "steps" without much description of what they mean or even whether they're oral or written. Obviously every organization or country isn't going to do things the same, but I would really appreciate hearing what your experience was like so I can at least get some idea.

The one thing I do know about that really worries me is that they will interview my parents. My parents were never absent but they definitely didn't know much if anything about my social functioning or mental state from at least the age of 6. I know for a fact that if I even mention this to my mother she will furiously deny it- she tends to just convince herself problems don't exist. When I wanted to get meds for my anxiety as a teenager she dismissed it and insisted that my symptoms were all "normal" for teenagers (apparently all teenagers get screaming crying panic attacks from hearing pencils on paper in an otherwise quiet room Who knew). Neither of them would probably know enough about me to answer any questions past my early childhood, and even them knowing that I was getting an assessment would probably cause enough stress in my life that it wouldn't seem worth it to me. I guess I'm just generally worried about this and whether I'd be able to do this without them being involved, or how I'd even explain that.

Sorry that this is long and rambly, and sorry if I've made any stupid assumptions or said anything wrong. I'm not very good at getting my thoughts across.

 

[unperson]

Who's paying for the assessment? if you want to pay yourself, of course it's confidential. Just tell the assessor that you don't want family involvement.

 

[Progster]

Diagnostic assessments can vary a lot, according to who is conducting them or which country you are in. Mine was an interview which my mum also attended, they asked both myself and my mum questions. My mum agreed that I probably had Aspergers, that helped a lot.

Parents can often be in denial, but an experienced clinician will know and account for this. The clinician will likely as questions about your habits and behaviour, looking for specific traits or behaviours, and if they answer factually, then everything should be ok. It's likely that they will ask other kinds of questions to rule out other possible diagnoses.

Parents are important to the diagnostic procedure, obviously because to get a diagnosis, one needs to be able to prove the existence of traits in childhood, but there are some clinicians who will diagnose without interviewing the parents. It might need a bit of research to see who can conduct such a diagnosis in your area.

I've become increasingly worried about whether I might be autistic.

Don't 'worry' that you might be autistic, regardless whether you are or not, you're still the same person, just that now you gained insight into yourself that will help you deal with various difficulties you may have.

It honestly never crossed my mind before (I definitely considered it, but I always brushed it off with "I would probably know already, so I must not be").

Not necessarily - there are many adults here who were diagnosed later in life who never considered autism, one of the reasons being that they are not like those media characters such as Rain Man, or those severely autistic kids they see in documentaries. Or they were misdiagnosed, considered to have social anxiety, learning difficulties, depression, OCD or whatever. Or they had one of these conditions, but that masked underlying autism. Or they grew up in the 60s/70s/80s when only the very 'severe' cases were diagnosed, if you weren't severe, you were considered to just be a problem kid to be dealt with with discipline.

 

[Streetwise]

What's it like, in the UK, I live in n.e.England so the nhs is the big kahuna ,this part of the UK has an autism team 3 people do a diagnosis they ask loads of questions I took school reports,that I had also a description from my aunt ,if !you self stimulate! the community of people with autistic neurology call it stimming! that can be rocking backwards or side to side ,flapping your hands or or squeezing ,striking something soft do that don't mask it most therapists aren't that perceptive ,if ?you don't !self stimulate, don't pretend ,it could be another problem and you want accuracy! people with autistic neurology are sensitive!, so a diagnosis could effect medication,you need a piece of paper to please the red tape,if you're not with a scheme like my area it could be a few days of tests a lot of questions,they looked at me physically how I was dressed for the weather but remember you aren't completely non verbal so it's slightly different

 

[Streetwise]

If you want to know more try searching anything !you can think of! about autism! everything and I mean everything !!!!!!has been Debated discussed on this forum!

 

[Alexej]

Firstly - Welcome to the Forums, I was almost forgetting myself and jumping straight into to answering the post.

When I had my assessment it was more of a series of conversations (3) where the assessor asked my different questions. Not much about my childhood came up, but perhaps that has to do with my age = being over 60.

Certainly do search the Forums, the search function is not bad.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

First off, welcome to the forums.

There is nothing to "worry" about with regards to a diagnosis. It may actually help you if you have the professional diagnosis with regards to any employment accommodations as well as any future interactions with the law,...as many developed countries have laws that provide some limited protections for you. You can't claim a disability after something bad happens. It's nice to have those records for the human resources department at work.

As far as your parents go,...if you are a legal adult and do not want them involved in the interview process,...that is your decision. Now, the psychologist may want others in your life to be part of the interview process simply to get a sense of what it is like living with you,...but nothing beyond that. My wife was interviewed separately while I went for testing, and my parents were never part of the process,...and my parents still are unaware of my diagnosis.

Prior to your interview, I would suggest taking some time to write down all the sensory, behavior, and communication "issues" that you feel might be somehow "odd", as well as specific experiences and thoughts you have. One may call it your "You might be autistic if..." list. I made an itemized list of over 150 different things, then handed it over to the psychologist to read over later. This way, if you are having some difficulty with the oral part of the process and have a hard time expressing or recalling things,...you will have that to fall back on.

If you do end up with an ASD diagnosis,...then the next part will be to take that "deep dive" into educating yourself about it. The more you know, the more you will be aware of "Is this an autism thing?" or is this something different.

 

[smnmy]

>is it possible to not involve my parents in it?
Yes. I was diagnosed 10 yrs ago, I told the (NHS) psychologist I didn't have a great relationship with my mum, and they did not contact her.

 

[maybehollow]

Thank you all for the advice and information <3 I'm definitely feeling a lot more confident about this. Hopefully I'll be able to talk to my doctor soon and look into my options for getting an assessment

 

[Sherlock77]

I did an adult assessment on my own (age 48)

In the testing itself I had no involvement of family or friends, no one even mentioned the idea of having someone else along, mind you mine was done during early Covid lockdowns, so the only person in the office was myself and person doing testing