Autism Assessment - Part 5: The Face-to-Face Assessment

In the assessment, I was presented with a box full of various toys, and I was invited to “play” with the toys. I thought this was quite weird because I don’t really play with toys anymore, but I went along with it. There was one particular thing with lots of pins in a rectangle, where you could push the pins through to make a pattern or picture. I said that I could possibly do this with my feet. I poked a few pins with my toes. We turned it over, and I said that it sounded like a rainmaker when the pins came out the other side. At first, I thought, “why is she asking me to root through a toy box?” After a few seconds, I realised that it was all part of the assessment.

I was asked to pick out three items from another box and make up a story with the items I picked. I looked at the items and picked out a car, an umbrella or parasol and a sponge. I made up a story about a day out at the beach, and then coming home and having a wash. I was also asked to look at a picture and say what I saw.

At one point during the assessment, I was also asked to make up another story using a picture book. At first, I was able to do it, but as we went through the book, the pictures got busier and busier, and I struggled with that. It was confusing because the pictures didn’t seem to follow a storyline and jumped from one setting to another. I got upset about this for some reason. I think I got upset because in my head, I should be able to do it, but I just couldn’t, and I was staring at it for ages trying to figure it out.

I was also asked about my friends and the difference between knowing someone and being a friend to them. I know what a friend is, but I kind of struggled to explain it. This bothered me a lot because I have friends and I should be able to explain it.

I was asked what annoyed me, and I said that people not putting things back in the right places and people not bothering to get to know me annoyed me, along with other things.

I had to put together a pattern using black and pink cut-out shapes. I tried to make an even shape. My mum was in the assessment with me, and I had to tell my mum where to place the shapes and which way around I wanted them because I couldn’t physically do it myself. Once I had done that, I was asked what the pattern looked like. It didn’t look like anything to me, so I said that it just looked like a pattern; nothing in particular. That was the end of the assessment.

At the end of the assessment, I asked if I could have an idea of whether I could be Autistic or not, but she said that she wasn't allowed to say anything.

I asked two of my friends what might happen next, and they said that after the phone call, all the people involved with my assessments would come together to discuss their findings, and then I would hopefully have a diagnosis.