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Having an assessment tomorrow!

Divrom

Divrom

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
I figured the easiest way to find out if I have Aspergers would be to pay for an assessment myself. So I'm seeing a Clinical Psychologist tomorrow.

And I'm bricking it! :( Not sure why, but I am.

Can anyone who's been there give me some idea of what to expect?
 
After reading Kelly's account of her test results, I think it may be different in the States than it is in the UK. I was tested for a variety of personality disorders, IQ tests, ADHD, PTSD, and memory tests (not sure what that measures). All in all it took about four solid hours of testing.
 
Thanks, Bay.

4 hours?! Yikes! I get the feeling I'm gonna be knackered afterwards.

I've been obsessing about it for days, predictably! :)

Where can I read Kelly's account of her test results?
 
This is the thread, where she talked about it a bit (at least; I'm guessing Bay means this one)

http://www.aspiescentral.com/asperg...on/9-how-did-you-react-being-diagnosed-3.html
or this one;
http://www.aspiescentral.com/aspergers-autism-hfa-discussion/1941-circle-4.html

4 hours sounds short to be honest. I've spent multiple sessions at the therapists office over the course of 3 months. And that was when she even knew that I just had to be tested for both Autism as well as AD(H)D (since that's fairly common to be comorbid).

What I'm wondering though Divrom; aren't you insured? People in the UK have healthcare set up? At least from what I've heard. Or is this different?
 
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Thanks king_oni, it was probably one of the two.

The four hours of testing do not include the hour and a half initial interview, though. The two events were a month apart. All in all I had to wait over two months for the testing and another three weeks after that for the diagnosis. Again, this is the States; your milage may vary.

I was told by the testing psychiatrist that it is quite unusual for a person to seek to be tested. I gathered that usually a person is sent in for testing by another party, presumably a doctor or a school or something. The psychiatrist who tested me said that he had only ever had one other person request to be tested.
 
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king,

The waiting list could last weeks, months or years on the National Health Service. I've known some people be turned-down completely and told that the local authority was too busy with other priorities to help.
 
Divrom said:
king,

The waiting list could last weeks, months or years on the National Health Service. I've known some people be turned-down completely and told that the local authority was too busy with other priorities to help.
Click to expand...

Hm... guess it depends on how "bad" you need a diagnosis.

I'm seeing it with support I've asked for some stuff now. Time is better spent on other people, that need it more badly... priorities and all.

But best of luck and all with the assessment tomorrow :)
 
Hi Divrom welcome to AC :)

Did you try to get a referral via your GP? A good place to have started would be calling the national autistic society to find out where your closest diagnostic places are and what type of referral they take. Some are private some NHS some are both, some require a psychiatrist make the referral others just via a GP. Your quite right though about the waiting lists, some places you only need to wait a few weeks others it's months, it all depends on your area.

The psychologist your seeing...just to check she/he has been trained to recognize autistic traits etc? You don't want to be assessed by someone who doesn't know what they are doing or as I've come across alot someone who only really knows about classic autism. A good psych will know what they are looking for and will be able to ask the right questions to get that information. For example during my assessment there were many questions that I point blank didn't understand or answered in the wrong way so the Dr expanded on what she was asking or explained it in a different way. Are you taking a member of your family with you who has known you since childhood? That seems to be common practice as they need to get an idea of what you were like as a child to see whether you've had autistic traits throughout your life.

Anyway good luck I hope it goes well for you :)
 
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