mostly a repeat of what ike said,but it does depend on the doctor/their experience and speciality and the type of doctor.
am have been diagnosed several times in relation to autism-first time was assessed for it by paeds at a neurology specialist hospital [hope hospital in salford] as a toddler but didnt get diagnosed with it because brain scans were clear of damage-got other very wrong labels instead,was diagnosed with wrong form of autism by a mental illness pysch [one who had only ever worked with mental illness though gp said he was the most expert in autism in manchester] and finally by two autism specialists in the learning disability team,all very different types of assessing.
what goes on in assessment,and how long it takes can depend on whether there are other things going on,how severe they are,specialists access to developmental history etc.
am have seen WPers say some refuse to diagnose if they cannot speak to parents/family which has been a problem for old autists whos parents or family may be dead,ill or gone somewhere.
make sure the doctor is an ASD specialist,not a MH one whos experience is mental illness not ASD,if do not have a 'severe' or 'classic' case of an ASD,it will matter a lot that the specialist has experience with adults with ASD.
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>severely autistic.
>>the residential autist;
http://theresidentialautist.blogspot.co.uk
blogging from the view of an ex institutionalised autism/ID activist now in community care.
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