Can One Purpously Influence The Results Of An Assessment?

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Thanks both.

I had an assessment through the NHS in England back in January. I tend to worry about the unknown, so had researched the diagnostic tools/tests in some depth in advance. I then worried I had found out too much and might inadvertantly bias the assessment either way (either by over-Aspieing or knowing some of the things they were looking for and therefore reacting in a more NT kind of way).

In the end the people who did the assessment were really helpful and experienced in doing this sort of assessment. The service was commissioned by the NHS in my county from a local Autism charity, which probably explains why the staff were so good.

The assessment came back with a clear result and nothing that I knew in advance had an impact on the result at all.

As long as it's not an assessment where there is no one to ask I always asked for clarification as I do not know the author's correct interpretation of the question that could have multiple meanings. I also answered each question and included a life experience for each question so they know that I know what they were asking and that I'm not just making up my answer.

^^
In my case I'd have had no choice at all if I'd gone by the NHS route, but I got sick of waiting so I went for a private one. I listed all the reasonably local ones I could find, then looked at their websites and "mission statements" and eliminated those who had anything there that caused me to smell a rat. I ended up with a shortlist of about four. I contacted them all and made my final decision based on their replies to my emails. Criteria included how carefully they listened and answered my questions, and I eliminated anybody who seemed to be trying to push their own agenda onto me. One of them seemed hell bent on testing me for everything in existence, so he was out pretty quickly. Another insisted on phoning me, which suggested he didn't know that much about ASD. Price was obviously also of some importance. Eventually there was only one left who hadn't done anything to put me off. I was still wary but as I didn't see any better alternative, I decided to take a chance and it worked out OK.

Private would be out of the question for me as I've earned very little the last 10 or so years. Most years I have had no income,and the most I have earned in a year this last decade is about 6K when I was up to doing a little more, though less then 2k a year is more usual. Haha. You can see why it is a good idea that I have an assessment. I could do with trying to find a way I can earn money without having issues which set off anxiety, shutdowns etc.
My problem is I look calm on the outside and appear calm... Ummm. Not easy is it.