Adult Autism Service: Frequently Asked Questions
1. How long will I have to wait for my assessment?
Please see our ‘Waiting List’ tab or a sense of how long the people being seen now have been waiting.
2. What is involved in the assessment?
In early 2024 two members of the team gave a presentation to people on the waiting list, with lots of information about what the assessment process is like. You can see this here.
3. When will I hear the outcome of my assessment?
Usually within two weeks (more information on the process is on slides 7-8).
4. Why do I need to have someone else give information about my early development?
The assessment involves an interview about your history, from when you were very young. It is often very useful for this to come from someone who knew you very well at this time in your life- like a parent. Sometimes that is not possible, and in those situations, people provide their early history themselves, as best they can recall themselves. Sometimes old school reports or baby books are helpful in this too.
5. What Happens if I change my GP?
We regret that if you change your GP from one in Kingston or Richmond, you would move out of the catchment area for this service and would not be able to remain on the waiting list. We are happy to write to your new provider to let them know how long you have waited already. Some other areas are able to honour pre-existing wait times, and others unfortunately are not.
6. What is a working diagnosis?
Sometimes, the clinicians feel that someone does have autism, but it is hard for them to be sure of how that person presented during development. This can be due to a lack of information, or to some uncertainty about the impact of traumatic experience. When a working diagnosis is given, a person would still receive a summary statement confirming diagnosis because a working diagnosis means that the assessment indicated that your current needs are well explained by the diagnosis of Autism.
7. How can I access support while I am still on the waiting list?
Not all of the organisations that provide support for people who have current needs and who may have autism require a diagnosis. We have put links under the Information and support tab so that you can explore the options now.
8. Are there any reasons why I shouldn’t pursue a formal diagnosis?
Assessment can be an emotional process. The vast majority of people who go through this, report that this is positive, however it can bring about some complicated feelings. Please see slides 15 and 16 of the presentation for more about this.
9. What if I’m not Autistic?
When you are assessed, you will have a detailed assessment that seeks to understand you as a whole person in the context of your experiences. Whether or not a diagnosis of Autism is the conclusion the process does generally result in some increased understanding, and often leads to new ways forward.
10. How much will you contact me when I’m waiting?
You will have email or letter contact to confirm that you are on the waiting list for assessment, and then you will not hear from us until it is time to book the assessment.
In the past we have tried making periodic contact with people on the waiting list to share updates, links or information, before it was time for their assessment. Ultimately, it seemed this could have the unintended effect of increasing anxiety/confusion for some of the people contacted- so we decided not to do it anymore.
11. I’m really good at masking. Would you be able to pick up on that?
We favour a longer assessment, and a face to face assessment because this does help us to see more of how people are when they are less able to mask. In addition we do occasionally use a questionnaire designed to capture masking (the CAT-Q). If you’d like to try it, you can find it here The Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q) | Embrace Autism (embrace-autism.com)
If you have any questions not covered here, please do contact us on: ndsasd@yourhealthcare.org