Is it normal for an autism assessment to differ from other reports?

[thelittleroo]

My child was referred for an Autism assessment after multiple professionals recommended it. Following an ADOS assessment they have concluded he is not autistic, which is fine, however most of the observations contradict previous reports.

The report concludes:

• No difficulty with reciprocal communication, yet all other reports say he cannot do this and has limited awareness of the other person as a communication partner

• Good imagination - everything he does is scripted from books

• No sensory needs - detailed extensively in EHCP

• No restricted interests - all the things in the assessment were related to his restricted topics of interest

Is it 'normal' for an assessment to be so different to previous reports and how a child presents in day to day life?

I would raise all the points (and supporting evidence) you mention with the HCPs who assessed.

It isn’t uncommon for assessments to highlight differences compared to how DC are perceived/present in every day life, but what you describe sounds beyond that.

Thank you. The team were very nice and my child was very eager to join them and complete the activities. It just didn't reflect their ability to transfer that behaviour to any other environment.

They are also already in a small, quiet specialist school where most of the children are autistic so the number of 'difficulties' to comment on are already very low (probably where I went wrong)