What to expect when going for a diagnosis?

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In a couple of days, I will be going to my first appointment at the psychologist for Asperger's, and I am a slightly nervous because I don't have the faintest idea of what to expect. I know it can take long... How long does it normally take? I want to know what to expect, or I will be very nervous. Thanks.

I know how you feel. In fact I was considering posting the same thing. My first appointment is on Monday, and I'm pretty nervous too.

Best wishes to both of you. Please let us know how it turns out.

Skibum! You are a fountain of wisdom - do you have any advice?

I've already had my first appointment, so I can tell you about how mine was. There wasn't any formal testing at that time, the psychologist just asked me some questions trying to get an idea of how and why I decided I wanted an evaluation. I also had to do some paperwork but that was just because I'd never been to that particular clinic.

But basically I just told her how I was as a child, with constant meltdowns, poor social interaction, restricted interests, sensory sensitivity etc. I also gave forwarded her a copy of an email that I had my mom write, just about how I was growing up. I also told her about my more recent problems, with school and living on my own.

The only other thing that happened is that she filled out and submitted some form that basically started the whole process. I think I will still have 2 or 3 appointments in the future before I am done, but I know that the first one is going to be for the IQ test. I don't know when I will do this yet as it needs some kind of approval first.

That was pretty much it, they said they'd call when it is approved, which will probably be in a few weeks.

Aww, thank you hon, I have not been through the process yet but Rebbieh and Staratrekker have both been through it recently and they have some threads that have some really good advice and descriptions of what they went through. I will see if I can find those threads and link them here. Perhaps one of them will beat me to it.

I am still looking for the threads by Rebbieh and StarTrekker but here is an account by Astramus.

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt266772.html

L_Holmes, keep us posted on how it goes.

Here is Rebbieh's thread.
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt266720.html

Thanks, Skibum. That was an interesting read. Don't know how quitedifferent feels, but I do believe I'm more frightened now.

You are welcome? I did not want you to be more frightened. That's not good. It will all be okay. Try not to worry. I know that is much easier said than done and trust me, I know how you feel. But worrying is not going to make anything better. Just trust that they know what they are doing and you will do fine. Let us know how it goes.

You will have to sign the consent and privacy practice forms that all psychology clients receive. They will ask you why you think you have autism, ask you about your general life history, and possibly take notes. You might have to fill out a questionnaire or take one home to bring back. A well-organized doctor might tell you what you will be doing for your next couple visits.

A crappy doctor might dismiss your suspicions of being on the spectrum during the first visit. Run far away from such quacks.

Here's the link to the thread I made in April about my diagnosis that Skibum was looking for

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt256290.html

Your first appointment will be your intake; you'll primarily be asked a bunch of questions about yourself that don't have much to do with why you came in, things like, "Do you have trouble with drugs or alcohol, have you ever felt the urge to hurt yourself or someone else, tell me about your family," etc. Near the end, they'll probably talk a little more about why you think you're autistic; it was at this point that I gave my therapist the long list of traits I'd identified and typed out in bulleted fashion. It was far easier to do this than to try and remember every detail of what I wanted to say while I was sitting there with a limited timeframe. Writing my symptoms down also gave the therapist more time to look over them after the appointment was over.

Assuming you do the assessment in more than one sitting, your next appointment will probably be when they do the testing; standard tests for autism include the WAIS-IV (IQ test), ADOS 2 (autism diagnostic observation schedule), and perhaps a few self-assessments, and documents for you to take to your parents to fill out (unless they're coming with you, or aren't involved in your diagnostic process; you can still be diagnosed without their input). Anyway, you can get a more detailed look at what my experience was like through the link above, but I wouldn't worry about it too much; you'll do fine Keep us posted!

Last edited by StarTrekker on 17 Sep 2014, 12:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

Just like Skibum mentioned, I recently went through the process of getting assessed for ASD. My assessment took half a year (five-ish months if you don't count the psychologist's summer vacation), though we didn't meet up every week. I've understood that assessments often don't take that long in the US/UK/a lot of other countries. Not sure why. I'm very thankful for a long assessment (even though it's been emotionally draining) because then I know it's been very thorough. Not saying assessments that don't last that long aren't thorough.

Anyway, I remember being very anxious before my first session. I didn't know what to expect, I had never met the psychologist before, I was anxious in general etc. It went well though and the psychologist made me feel as comfortable as possible. My first session was mostly just about the psychologist getting to know me a little and asking "standard/basic questions" like if I have any friends, what I'm studying, how I feel in social situations, if I have any siblings etc. etc. I also got some questionnaires to bring to my parents. My parents live quite far away from here so they weren't able to come meet the psychologist during the assessment. Instead she talked to them on the phone for about two hours and had them fill out questionnaires as well.

I don't know if your first session is going to be similar to mine but I'm guessing they often start out by asking you questions about your life to get to know you a little and get to know why you need an evaluation.

Good luck!

Good luck! My appointment is tomorrow.

Thank you all for your help, I am feeling much calmer now.