DD ASD Assessment next week

[TrioG]

Hello

My very nearly 12 year old DD has her ASD Assessment this Tuesday.

Things have escalated recently and as such she hasn’t been able to attend school.

Therefore the assessment will take place at home, with the SENCO also attending from a lone working/safeguarding perspective(safeguarding the assessor from the SEND service not my DD)

Has anyone experienced these arrangements and if so can you let me know what to expect so I can share this with my DD.

The assessor has said that some young people prefer not to have ‘strangers’ in there ‘safe space’ and so may attend school just for the assessment.

Is there any advice you can offer me or my daughter in readiness for the meeting?

Many thanks

Have they actually said assessment not observation? Usually diagnosis is multidisciplinary. As part of the process a specialist teacher might observe in class and during unstructured time
( playtime in Primary) Obviously this isn’t possible. Observing social interaction with peers or attention and listening skills/ sensory needs during lessons is helpful information.
An assessment might be an ADOS ( you can google general info) but these should be done by two trained ADOS assessors usually. This then forms part of the diagnostic process.
Probably best to say they are coming to ask her some things about herself and she just needs to do her best to answer the best she can. Tell her nothing to worry about.

They’ve told me it’s an assessment of need is this different to an Ados?

It sounds like it’s an Educational Psychologist visiting with a view to whether she needs an EHCP. I would speak to your GP and say you want a Right to Choose Autism assessment for her. If you join this Facebook group there is a featured post explaining it all. Basically the NHS pay private companies to do the assessments.
www.facebook.com/share/g/16jBBSnMbT/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Doesn’t sound like they have been very clear with you about the purpose of the visit.
An ADOS is specifically to look at a diagnosis for autism but an assessment of her needs would look more at the whole picture. To look at whether an EHCNA should be requested.
This is something that you or school can request from the LA.

Id ask the SENCO for clarification. Support in school should be based on needs not diagnosis.
If you look for a glossary of SEN terms it will explain what all the initials mean. It can be confusing.