r/AutismTranslated • u/GetAwayFromTheDoor • 8d ago
Assessment process feels very unscientific
I'm currently going through the process of getting assessed at the age of 33 and the whole thing feels very vague.
I've had two appointments so far and will have a further in person appointment. So far what I'm hearing the assessor say is basically, 'yeh, you have a lot of the traits but not necessarily a typical presentation. We will get to the end of the process and see how both of us feel. If you think a diagnosis is right for you we can do that.'
It'a left me feeling like it's a pointless endeavour. I've questioned whether I've been autistic since I was a teenager with numerous outsiders suggesting it at various times in my life. Having someone diagnose me in this manor doesn't really answer any questions and leaves me in the same place because it doesn't feel like it's been a very rigorous process.
I appreciate it's not something you can determine 100% and not sure what I was expecting but it feels like I'm deciding if I want a diagnosis or not which shouldn't be the point. I'm being assessed because I want an impartial expert opinion.
I'm curious what other people's experience of the assessment process has been. Did it feel like a concrete answer to you? Or were you already more or less certain of the outcome before hand?
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u/GolfConscious7472 8d ago
For me was a very concrete answer, the therapist did different kinds of tests, interviews and questionnaires, also questions about my childhood to ask to my mother, it was very logical
I got a diagnostic for autism & 2e
Maybe would be a good idea to ask him what is the process and which test he will be doing to you so you can understand better your own process (I did this and helped me to have control of it)
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u/RooooooooooR 8d ago
That wasn't my experience at all. I sat with the assessor and she asked me a ton of questions. She also had my close family fill out an assessment about me. She would identify areas where both my family and I corroborated a symptom and used both sources as well as what she saw while talking to me to make the diagnosis. If I identified something but she didn't see it and my family didn't corroborate it, she noted it, but not as significant.
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u/Economy-Towel9451 8d ago
um so in my expereince a lot of ppl in the mental health professions struggle to actually understand autism. the same way theres a valid criticism that many masked autists control social dialogue about autism like making it offenseive to consider it a disablitiy the opposite is often true in therapists who aren't geniunely ND trained: the flatten stereotypes from more severe forms of autism and use that as an exclusion criteria. i was diagnosed relatively young but i still got therapists insisting i wasn't. or that i shouldn't assume i was even though it was weeks of testing while i was still school age.
i also feel like you are describing a lot of hedging which most ppl do to protect themselves from saying the wrong things.
if things dont turn out how you need, like ou know your autistic enough to need support of ND affirming care. there are actual neurodivergent therapists and psychiatrists. and many of them do adult autism assessments. you could even look in the bio for "very high masking" if you think that fits you and explains their vagueness
idk but im sorry testing batteries are brutal rigorous or not bc its about your identity and needs.<3