How important are diagnostic questionnaires?

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I was diagnosed with ASD by a psychologist several months ago after being referred to a neuropsychologist for autism testing. I've already been to the first appointment with the latter doctor, and several questionnaires were sent to my mom to be filled out before the actual testing date. I've sat with her while she fills them out, at her request.

The problem is that she's been lying on them, and I don't mean in petty ways. When the form asked whether I had been asked to go out by friends in the past month, she responded "very often." It's laughable, seeing as I haven't had a friend in seven years and haven't been asked anywhere in a decade. I pointed this out, and she insisted that anyone would want to be my friend, so it's the same thing. She also insisted that I don't get overstimulated, even though she's sat in on several visits I had to an occupational therapist for sensory therapy.

I made the mistake of pointing out these things and suggested that she was lying to avoid having the autism diagnosis confirmed. It made her very angry, and she started going back through the form and checking off things like, "Makes threats to people regularly" and, "Has violent mood swings," which she had previously answered in the negative.

I have no one else to answer these questions. My dad doesn't interact with me often enough to know how to fill it out. How much of an impact is this going to have on my diagnosis? Should I worry?

I'm not an expert but irritation and violent behavuor would potentially incur a diagnosis of either depression or a disorder versus a neurological condition. Hopefully after the questionnaire, the neuropsychologist actually interviews you because questionnaires can be fudged. You should probably voice it when your mum isn't in the room or articulate to her that a label just change who you are. Your mum shouldn't ruin her credibility or try to void the questionnaire by lying. If you need help, you should at least have the option of getting it. I'm assuming that it isn't severe given your coherence and later-in-life diagnosis

That's what I'm worried about most - not merely having my autism traits overlooked but being misdiagnosed with something utterly irrelevant to my issues. I do expect to be interviewed, but I fear that the doctor, upon seeing the discrepancies between my answers and my mom's, might assume that I'm the one lying. I have talked to the doctors previously about my mom's tendency to lie about my issues, and I can only hope they take me at my word. I'm working on helping my mom come to terms with the diagnosis, too, but she's making slow progress.

As for how much I need help, I'm afraid that I'm lower on the spectrum than most assume. I am very high functioning in certain ways, but because of the severity of my problem areas I can only expect to attain independence within the next few years with considerable help. I am being diagnosed so late in life only because my family does not handle these things well - a doctor recommended that I undergo neuropsychological testing when I was eight, but my mom refused. If I'm not diagnosed properly, I'm afraid that I'll never have access to the resources I need to function independently.

I hope it will be possible without my parents. I don't want share it with them. I don't think they'd understand.

Nothing like that was sent to my parents or asked by the person who officially tested me for autism. I just made patterns with blocks, found what was missing in pictures, organized some things ect. Autism was officially ruled out but he said I had Aspergers. He said the Aspergers was due to Schizoid Personality Disorder instead of anything on the autism spectrum. I believe I was misdiagnosed & wasted thousands of dollars.