Top tips for ASD assessment

[Theundecidedmum]

My DD finally has her ASD assessment early next week. It's taken years to get to this point and I'm really anxious for it to go well.

Can people give me top tips on how to manage it, how to prepare and also how to prepare DD(10) for it. She is highly anxious so I think she'll find it very hard and I'm worried I'll be so distracted by that I'll forget everything I'm meant to be saying to the professionals and she won't get a diagnosis.

Don’t try to prepare DD for the appointment beyond explaining you are going. If you prepare her the assessors may not get a true picture. As difficult as it is, the HCPs seeing DD’s true response will be helpful.

For you, make some notes of what you want to say so you don’t forget anything important.

Over the course of the week write down all the little adjustments you make / have made to accommodate your daughter’s needs. The things that are just normal to your family now, so that you hardly notice them. They all add up to make a bigger picture. I kept thinking ‘Is this relevant…?’ But every time I said something like that the assessor scribbled it down. And don’t be afraid to take notes or pictures of things with you if you are worried about forgetting.

I haven’t much help for your daughter, sorry.

Thanks for the comments. These are really helpful.