Awareness and understanding of autism are increasing all the time. Some people with autism receive a diagnosis in their childhood. In contrast, other people might not have been able to explore the possibility that they could be autistic until adulthood.
You may find some day-to-day tasks challenging, see the world differently, or need help communicating. You may have read some information about autism that you can identify with. Or perhaps you have a friend or loved one who displays traits associated with autism, and you want to support them. This is where the adult autism assessment comes in.
For many, a diagnosis of autism can be affirming. It can unlock access to further support for you and your family. During an adult autism assessment, we uncover the behaviours and symptoms you experience daily to reach a conclusive diagnosis.
Adult autism assessments are multi-disciplinary and will include therapists and autism Consultants. You can book a self-pay assessment by contacting Provide Wellbeing and booking an appointment with one of our clinicians. We understand you may need to take time off work, so we try to be flexible.
How you approach the conversation about your assessment should feel natural and comfortable to you. Using external resources to guide your terminology or signposting for family and friends will be helpful.
You may wish to broach the topic of an adult autism assessment if your family member, partner or friend displays autistic traits. If that is the case, we advise that you are both in a relaxed environment when you instigate the discussion to prevent your loved one from feeling overwhelmed. Being armed with the resources and information needed to answer questions is key. But ultimately, it is that person's decision whether or not they choose to book an assessment.
On arrival at the clinic, you will be greeted by a team member and shown to the clinic room, where you will meet the rest of the team. We use a flexible assessment approach to ensure that we meet the individual needs of everyone who attends an assessment. Tools may be used, such as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2), which is a standardised assessment, providing a series of contexts which allow the examiner to observe social communication, interaction and interests, behaviours and routines. We recognise that formal, standardised assessments are not always the most appropriate tool for some people, such as when someone is very anxious. Therefore, the examiners adapt their communication and assessment approach to support this. The assessment is mostly conversational based, exploring your own thoughts and feelings about the possible diagnosis, your emotions, social relationships and talking about your special interests, sensory preferences. The information from the assessment is used in conjunction with the information gathered from parents and their place of education, if applicable, to determine whether you meet the criteria for a diagnosis.
With girls and women, we know that autism can present very differently, so often, our assessment style may also differ. Typically, difficulties can be much more subtle, and girls and women have more learned ways of managing the world. So, we need to be more thorough with our examination to break through the mask and discover mirroring behaviours.
If our professionals conclude that you have autism, you will likely have many questions. You may discuss these questions with your clinician, family, friends, GP, or healthcare professional. Or it may also be helpful to meet other people with autism and join support groups. Remember that no two people are the same, so your experience of autism may be very different to other people's.
At Provide Wellbeing, we are here to help start you on your way towards understanding autism and its associated behaviours and to support you in your day-to-day life. Don't hesitate to contact a team member if you need additional support.
Adult autism assessment - £1,900
This price is inclusive of VAT. The adult autism assessment fee includes a multi-disciplinary diagnostic assessment with a multi-disciplinary team of professionals and includes a comprehensive written report with detailed findings and support recommendations.
For full details of our refund and cancellation policy, please visit our Pricing & Payment Terms.
Autism and ADHD can often be very closely linked, so we recommend combined assessments, where appropriate, to reduce the possible stress of attending multiple appointments and in a cost-effective way.
In the combined assessment, we explore both conditions at the same time as we gather more information in one sitting. This assessment style results in a slightly lengthier process, however we do all we can to make it as comfortable as possible.
Find out more in the short video.
