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How many pages was your written assessment?

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How many pages was your written assessment?
0 (I was told about my diagnosis verbally) 15%  15%  [ 5 ]
1-5 pages 39%  39%  [ 13 ]
6-10 pages 24%  24%  [ 8 ]
11-15 pages 9%  9%  [ 3 ]
16-20 pages 6%  6%  [ 2 ]
21-25 pages 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
More than 25 pages 6%  6%  [ 2 ]
Total votes : 33

StarTrekker
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09 Feb 2017, 6:54 pm

AspieUtah wrote:
ArielsSong wrote:
...The thing I found interesting with mine is that the first few pages were an essay/letter type report. They described me, my history, my reason for asking for diagnosis and outlined why I was diagnosed.

The remaining pages, to me, looked like numbered lists of all of the possible traits that are looked for during a diagnosis. They didn't look like they actually said which traits I'd showed at all. I thought she'd perhaps sent a blank copy and was supposed to have marked off which of the traits I showed. At that time, I didn't realise that my autism was outwardly obvious. I complained to my husband and said that I was upset she'd sent the wrong copy. He pointed out that actually, some numbers in the lists were skipped. That meant that the long list of traits on the pages were all traits that I, personally, had shown....

I liked the essay parts. Having re-read my written assessment yesterday, I read that it stated that I "made occasional attempts to get, maintain, or direct the examiner's attention but these overtures were slightly unusual." "Slightly unusual"? No details were included, so I still don't know what I said or did that was so unusual. Hmm. Still, I like the overall descriptions.


Mine said things like that too, like, "she showed no idiosyncratic language use or echolalia, but would frequently use odd words or phrases, such as, "inexplicable" and "with which I'm unfamiliar"." I still don't know what's so odd about that, they're real words in the English language, people use them.


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AspieUtah
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09 Feb 2017, 7:14 pm

StarTrekker wrote:
AspieUtah wrote:
ArielsSong wrote:
...The thing I found interesting with mine is that the first few pages were an essay/letter type report. They described me, my history, my reason for asking for diagnosis and outlined why I was diagnosed.

The remaining pages, to me, looked like numbered lists of all of the possible traits that are looked for during a diagnosis. They didn't look like they actually said which traits I'd showed at all. I thought she'd perhaps sent a blank copy and was supposed to have marked off which of the traits I showed. At that time, I didn't realise that my autism was outwardly obvious. I complained to my husband and said that I was upset she'd sent the wrong copy. He pointed out that actually, some numbers in the lists were skipped. That meant that the long list of traits on the pages were all traits that I, personally, had shown....

I liked the essay parts. Having re-read my written assessment yesterday, I read that it stated that I "made occasional attempts to get, maintain, or direct the examiner's attention but these overtures were slightly unusual." "Slightly unusual"? No details were included, so I still don't know what I said or did that was so unusual. Hmm. Still, I like the overall descriptions.

Mine said things like that too, like, "she showed no idiosyncratic language use or echolalia, but would frequently use odd words or phrases, such as, "inexplicable" and "with which I'm unfamiliar"." I still don't know what's so odd about that, they're real words in the English language, people use them.

I amn't angry that I was described as "slightly unusual" because it was probably true. I have had friends tell me that my expressions or certain statements were strange. I suspect that is what my diagnosticians meant.

But, I agree with your opinion that certain words have specific meanings. You and I share an appreciation of exactitude, don't we? My written assessment described that my "use of words or phrases tended to be more formal than that of most individuals." So, you won't see me criticizing certain words.


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Diagnosed in 2015 with ASD Level 1 by the University of Utah Health Care Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinic using the ADOS-2 Module 4 assessment instrument [11/30] -- Screened in 2014 with ASD by using the University of Cambridge Autism Research Centre AQ (Adult) [43/50]; EQ-60 for adults [11/80]; FQ [43/135]; SQ (Adult) [130/150] self-reported screening inventories -- Assessed since 1978 with an estimated IQ [≈145] by several clinicians -- Contact on WrongPlanet.net by private message (PM)


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12 Feb 2017, 2:06 am

6 to 10 pages



MentalIllnessObsessed
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12 Feb 2017, 1:29 pm

AspieUtah wrote:
MentalIllnessObsessed wrote:
AspieUtah wrote:
MentalIllnessObsessed wrote:
...overall, they should consider the patient's viewing of themselves and testing of signs more important than other people's viewing of the other. People can't mind read. Testing and how the person sees themselves would give a better view. I'm also not saying that getting other people's opinions on you aren't worth it though, but shouldn't be the most important thing.

I arrived at my assessment armed with stacks of written clinical descriptions about myself and my behaviors, characteristics and comorbids based on known research. My written assessment refers ever so slightly to my "written and verbal account" and "long history" of myself. In fact, my diagnosticians offered to refund a part of my assessment fee beacuse I "had done so much of [their] work." I told them to "pay it forward" to the next family or adult who needed the help in their assessment.

So, yeah, I agree with the idea that adult autists should be trusted with their self-descriptions unless other evidence contradicts them.

For me, I didn't arrive with any papers. Mainly because I was afraid to do so. The whole assessment significantly increased my anxiety and dealing with new people was horrible too.

Many of the AD/HD signs in my report were said to be caused by anxiety. Example, "Difficulties managing anxiety may make it harder for her to "feel in control" and this, thus, could fuel attention concerns". And then when I reported problems with hyperactivity/impulsivity (apparently), they said it was because I wasn't active enough (my mom says I'm not, when normally I walk at least 10000 steps everyday) and anxiety. And then they also said my working memory issues were caused by my anxiety. All of these symptoms are AD/HD symptoms, but apparently all caused by anxiety. I really don't know.

At my first (mis)diagnosis, my diagnostician told me jokingly that "if someone shows up at our clinic for any reason, we always just diagnosis anxiety." Two weeks later, she diagnosed me with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder not the Autism Spectrum Disorder about which I had prepared my evidence. Hmmm. Since then, I have become quite cynical about most private clinicians. My second diagnosis was far more professional. In fact, the diagnosticians at my second diagnosis actually apologized for the previous clinic's list of mistakes.


I'm surprised they would tell you this. If I just diagnosed everyone with anxiety and I told people, I'm sure people would not want to go there unless they feel anxiety is their issue.

I do have anxiety though. I can say that for sure. I just feel there is more going on with me than anxiety. My only concern was the learning disability part being a misdiagnosis, since the limited information on it described. Like I have read that the LD needs to state what area the specific psychological process impacts, and nothing really was stated about that, since all the specific areas (reading, writing, and math) were considered to be in average or higher ranges (two were in very superior ranges or 99 and 99.9). I just thought she may have not said AD/HD due to my parents and teachers not reporting any issues since I doing well in school.

But I did go to a private clinic for my diagnosis, and got it. I was originally concerned that they would say I only had social (pragmatic) communication disorder since I didn't understand her question on sensory processing, so I was afraid I only had one restrictive/repetitive behaviour, which I didn't. It was all fine in the end.



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12 Feb 2017, 1:48 pm

MentalIllnessObsessed wrote:
...I did go to a private clinic for my diagnosis....

I shouldn't have described all private clinics are so underwhelming in their abilities. Of course, they aren't all so. The trouble is that, because private clinics probably can't afford to pursue expensive training on every diagnosis, too many limp by on what is known, ignoring what is unknown. But, because of this fact, I got burned once seeking a diagnosis that was denied to me. I am left wondering how many others fell through the cracks, too.


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Diagnosed in 2015 with ASD Level 1 by the University of Utah Health Care Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinic using the ADOS-2 Module 4 assessment instrument [11/30] -- Screened in 2014 with ASD by using the University of Cambridge Autism Research Centre AQ (Adult) [43/50]; EQ-60 for adults [11/80]; FQ [43/135]; SQ (Adult) [130/150] self-reported screening inventories -- Assessed since 1978 with an estimated IQ [≈145] by several clinicians -- Contact on WrongPlanet.net by private message (PM)


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12 Feb 2017, 10:46 pm

If you mean for my original one, it was verbal- I never saw it. When my cognitive testing was done, I got around several pages for that, once.


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