Autism Assessment Process for Adults

We will send out a pack of questionnaires by email for you and your informant to complete and return to your clinicians.

Our developmental history session is delivered online and is where a specialist clinician gathers information about your development. This includes your presentation over time, your skills and capacity to manage demand, systematically working through both your early and current experiences including feedback and observations from those who know you best. Some clients will invite an informant to join them in the session who can also share insights.

This is based on the ADI-r assessment, although additional questionnaires and collateral information may also be gathered. The session takes up to 2 hours to complete.

Our observation session is based on The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule–Second Edition (ADOS-2) which is a standardised activity-based assessment which explores a person’s development in key areas of communication skills, social interaction, and imaginative use of materials.

The ADOS-2 is administered online by a specialist clinician who records the session, enabling the wider assessment team to review the information afterwards to support their decision-making. The observation session takes from around 45 minutes to about 1 hour to conduct and completed at the pace that best suits you.

There are many benefits to assessing online, including a reduced change in routine, accessing the appointment in your own sensory environment, the hope being an improved capacity to engage authentically. We can provide support and strategies to help you access your appointment online if this is something you think you may find difficult.

A multi-disciplinary team meeting is when all the clinicians who are involved in your assessment review and discuss all the information from the assessment. The MDT will use the DSM-5 criteria for autism spectrum disorder to determine if there is sufficient evidence from the assessment to meet the minimum criteria for autism or not. Sometimes, at this point, clinicians may request further information from you, to help them reach an outcome.

Following completion of the assessment, there is a multidisciplinary review of all information and evidence gathered. All aspects are considered with clinicians using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5th edition (DSM-5) as diagnostic criteria. One of the assessing clinicians will arrange a feedback appointment with you, which is typically online and will provide a summary of the overall assessment, answer any questions and suggest strategies that may be beneficial.

A comprehensive, detailed assessment report will be shared with you within four weeks of your feedback appointment.