The Process
Adult Autism Assessment 

Autism Assessment Screening

You will be emailed a screening pack which consists of a number of standardised questionnaires. This is to see whether enough traits are present to warrant a full diagnostic assessment. Your scores will not guarantee a diagnosis, nor will they rule out a diagnosis, but they can provide helpful information towards the assessment. If needed, a brief telephone call may also be arranged.

ASD Assessment

Assessment is conducted in one 3 hour session or two 1.5 hour sessions. This can be done face to face in Dorset or virtual by video.  We have clinics in Dorchester, Bournemouth and Poole. We use a series of assessment tools including the Adult Autism Assessment (AAA), the Monteiro Interview Guidelines for Diagnosing the Autism Spectrum (MIGDAS) and/or the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2), along with a series of structured clinical interviews. The style of the assessment is tailored to the person in front of us considering how vast the autism spectrum is, and how it can present differently in males, females, and where you are on the lifespan.

Corroboration

Where possible, we will gather information from a 3rd party perspective (e.g., parent, spouse, partner, sibling) to gather a developmental history or to gain insight from someone that knows you well as an adult. This is not essential for adult assessments, but it can prove helpful. 

Autism Assessment Report

The clinician will review all of the information gathered and map that against the diagnostic criteria. We use the ICD-11 and/or the DSM-V diagnostic criteria. A comprehensive report will then be produced and emailed to you. The wait for the report is typically two weeks after the assessment sessions. The report will include a detailed analysis of the assessment content, a formulation, an outcome, and tailored recommendations about next steps. If you do not meet the criteria for a formal diagnosis, there is always a formulation as to why not and what else might be going on instead (e.g., mental health condition, alternative neurodevelopmental condition).

Autism Feedback

Once you have received your report, we will arrange a time for a feedback session. This can be face to face in Dorset or virtual. This will give us the space to talk through the outcome and go over any questions you might have. We will explore the suggested recommendations in the report for future steps. We can also focus on areas such as disclosure to others, education, workplace, and post-diagnostic interventions.