Nervous for Autism Evaluation on Monday

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My diagnostic evaluation is on Monday, and I'm nervous for it.

Logically, I know that just "being myself" is all that is required of me, but I still feel like I should be preparing somehow.

Any and all advice would be appreciated.

When I went in for my eval, I brought a list of traits that I displayed both presently and in the past. It spanned about ten pages, but yours doesn’t have to be as detailed. I found it very helpful because, despite preparing for that moment for two years, the moment the therapist asked, “why do you think you have autism?” I panicked and my mind went completely blank. There were so many traits I wanted to discuss that I didn’t know where to start, and being able to give her my list made things way easier.

You’re right about being yourself, but it’s important to remember, describe your worst days, not your best days. If you can talk most of the time, but go nonverbal in certain circumstances, don’t leave that detail out because you think it’s “too infrequent to matter.” Don’t exaggerate, but don’t downplay things either. You want to be taken seriously, and there’s a serious reason you’re spending the time and money to get evaluated. Good luck, and do let us know how it goes.

It's definitely super important to be as close to your normal self as you can, misrepresentation defeats the purpose of seeing a therapist.
When I last went to one of these I spent time thinking about anything I thought made me different to 'normal'. Noting some traits/differences/eccentricities/ETC down would likely be beneficial, even if it's a bit awkward.

I found it to be a very positive experience. How often can you converse with another human being you've never met without having to mask at all? Never. I told the psychologist at the start that I'd given thought as to whether I would mask or not and I decided I was not going to mask in the least. She was of course, perfectly fine with that and I think I made eye contact with her less than five times the entire time. I also was free to do my hand stimming (wringing, twiddling). I was expecting her at some point to actually ask me to mask briefly to see the difference, but she never asked at all. Perhaps it sounds silly, but I was disappointed (only slightly) since I would have been able to perform my masking ability. In the end though, I'm glad she didn't ask me to mask since the whole office was 100% autism specific and 100% autism friendly from the lighting on down.

You'll do great! Enjoy it.

Good advice so far. The main thing I would add is to try not to second-guess the meaning of the questions - answer in whatever way you see fit without wondering "what am I expected to say." While the answers to the questions are an important part of the assessment, the way that you go about answering, and which questions you find hard to answer, can be just as telling to the psychologist. If you're struggling to answer anything, it's OK to admit this and to elaborate on why you find the question a difficult one.

My experience was just as Magna described. After years of not being listened to or believed, it was a breath of fresh air to talk with someone who wasn't dismissive and who validated that my experiences were both real and profound.

Oh, and one last tip. If you can, set aside some recovery time after each session. Although I didn't find my assessment in any way traumatic, it was incredibly fatiguing doing all that talking, and each session left me ruminating about all sorts of things that had been brought up. Allow yourself some time and space to let the dust settle if you can (or come and chat with us here about it, of course!)

Best wishes for tomorrow!

Thank you everyone for the advice. My evaluator seemed very competent, and said at the end that she thinks it is likely I'll end up fulfilling the diagnostic criteria. I have a follow-up in one week.