RTC Autism Assessment

U

user123321

New member
Hello,

I have an appointment with my GP next week about referring me to a RTC provider. In preparation I've been researching different providers.

Something that keeps coming up is the need for an informant. This is concerning me a bit for a few reasons:

- I don't have close friends that I'd feel comfortable asking to be an informant (nor did anyone I could call a friend know me as a child) - plus, I am high masking so I think while they might be able to point out some 'quirks', I don't think they'd be able to speak to my 'symptoms'. I struggle with opening up about my feelings so I tend to keep my worries away from them.

- I do speak to my parents but frankly I don't want to involve them in this assessment. As mentioned I am high masking and try to keep everything hidden from them. We don't have a 'talk openly' relationship - it's not a bad relationship but it's not very open. As mentioned above, being open about my feelings and communicating my struggles is not a strength for me.

In general I have lived my life masking and so the thought of an informant feels impossible and stressful.

I'd love to hear if anyone has worked with a provider that doesn't require an informant, or anyone who has been in my shoes?

Many thanks.
 
It may be hard - but do you have copies of your school reports ? even check with your parents as my dad (who was probably not the best informant to choose for multiple reasons) he did at least save a stack of school reports that we're really helpful for both my Autism and ADHD assessments.

I had an informant for both - but hopefully someone else on here can say if they got a diagnosis without an informant. I hope it should be possible, but will let someone confirm rather that say either way

All the best with your assessment !
 
Chill-E said:
It may be hard - but do you have copies of your school reports ? even check with your parents as my dad (who was probably not the best informant to choose for multiple reasons) he did at least save a stack of school reports that we're really helpful for both my Autism and ADHD assessments.

I had an informant for both - but hopefully someone else on here can say if they got a diagnosis without an informant. I hope it should be possible, but will let someone confirm rather that say either way

All the best with your assessment !
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I'm sure I can get some school reports - however, I was pretty high achieving albeit fairly quiet/shy (a lot of masking) and I went to a not great school where, compared to a lot of the other students, I was no problem whatsoever and because of that I can't see my reports being particularly telling...

Definitely understand that early development is very useful for assessors, but, I can remember a lot of things from then (ie, hating leaving my Mum at nursery, hiding under her skirt (haha), knowing from an early age I had to force myself to look people in the eyes etc).
 
I use AI (ChatGPT) a fair bit - one thing it did really well was identify patterns of my ND behaviour in my school reports - it couldn't scan them - but I just did a simple spreadsheet - date, subject, grade, comments. I'm quite quick at typing. So try that ! and it may see what you don't although some of mine was obvious . Sounds like we had a similar background (crap school) my teachers put all just down to what they considered my attitude (not trying, careless errors) and view of the world, yet I likewise I did alright in exams.

Oh yes - hated being dropped off at nursery too, primary school was OK, secondary school took a lot of adjustment

Keep us posted