How do assessors pick up on faking ASD?

Post Reply New Topic

So, I know that going into our assessments a lot of us have had common concerns that we've spent so much time looking up autism that we would unconsciously "make it fit" during the assessment.

I, along with others that I know, even brought these concerns up to the assessor and were met with some kind of answer about how there were things built into the test to pick up on these things and that apparently some things that we do are nearly impossible to fake.

Does anybody happen to have an idea of what the assessor might have been noticing that convinced them that we really are autistic and not just trying to fit the mold?

During the tests they screen you extensively for other disorders and some of the questions gauge whether your answers are being tailored.

I'm inclined to think that people who suddenly find a new special interest researching autism for two or three hours a day in good faith, are often the one's found to be on the spectrum anyway, but that's just my opinion.

Yeah, I think that's fair.

I've heard similar things about them having ways of knowing if people are faking, but I'd rather not know what they are. Certainly when I was going through assessment.

Sometimes psychologists misdiagnose conditions such as autism

"Faking" sometimes plays a part

Some things, can only be verified a certain amount

For example, if the psychologist asks about friends (mine did), they have no method of finding out the truth . Sometimes there is no "truth"


As for the IQ test, they have no way of knowing if you did your best or purposely got answers wrong


Some psychologists might not care if you are "faking"


Some articles claim that some psychologists insists on character witnesses and grammar school report cards. The psychologist that diagnosed me (San Diego 2004) did not.

Two or three hours a day? Is that all? Uhoh! Ops! I think I exceeded that a long time ago! Ok... I have slowed down a little on the subject.... Haha! But I was surprized when you said just wo or three hours, as for e it was morning to evening and into the early hours of rhe next morning daily for a couple of weeks, and then more then that for the next month or so... Until I reached the point where I had the gist of what I needed to know. I may not remember the technical words for things... But I learnt about what was going on...
And I'm still learning. Everytime I see something new or a word I know nothing about... I'm on it!

I no longer have my school reports. I did keep getting complaints that I was daydreaming, which was almost a common complaint right throughout my schooling life... And other complaints that I was too quiet.

I was homeschooled so never had report cards, but my psychologist asked for information from my parents, husband and siblings.

I have my Mum who didn't think I was on the spectrum but is now not sure (As she has traits as well as she thinks in ways like I do, so she now thinks it maybe possible).
I have a brother 3 years younger who may also be on the spectrum but definately thinks I am not. (He has had a step daughter assessed after a 6 year wait, and she was diagnosed with being on the spectrum but the complete opposite end to where I would be, as she is very sociable and hyperactive, but is now around 10 years old and has only just learned to read and write despite being very intelligent in other ways).
I have another brother who is very intelligent and perceptive and is 18 years younger, who thinks 100% that I am on the autistic spectrum and keeps pointing out reasons why.

Not all psychologists require family testimony


Some patients' families are dead, in jail, injured, not willing


Families are biased

She didn't ask if they thought I was on the spectrum, they didn't know what it was for at that point. She just asked me to ask them for their observations on various points. They all wrote very interesting things that I doubt they would have had they known what for.

But that does complicate it now they've all weighed in on that in your case. But it's not as though the diagnosis will depend on that

If they do ask your family for input it will most likely be to answer specific questions, not weigh in on the actual issue.

I think the best thing to go by are school records if any are available.
I know a man who suspected having autism who got his school records, which had a lot of notations from different teachers regarding his behavior over the years. That turned out to be significant in his evaluation.

@kmarie57 Experience plays a big part in in it. I don't know what specific signs they look for, but they exist. Just like a body language expert can tell if someone is lying or not by certain telltale signs.

I told my mum to expect a phone call from a psychologist but not what type of psychologist or what the topic would be about. This was so she would answer truthfully and without bias.

This was after I had my assessment. I had not known what autism was.

I think this is something we may never know because doctors keep things a secret for a reason.

I agree.