What to expect: Adults

Once we have completed an initial screen and it is agreed that an autism or a combined autism and ADHD assessment is appropriate, we will proceed with a diagnostic assessment, which includes the following:

• Review of any available documentary evidence (e.g., school reports).
• Gathering detailed information from an informant about a person’s history (e.g., parent, sibling, partner or friends).
• Administration of the CAT-Q.
• A clinical interview with a parent/carer or informant (ADI-R or 3DI).
• An observational assessment in clinic (ADOS-2), jointly undertaken by a clinical psychologist and a speech and language therapist.
• Multi-disciplinary team discussion to review the information alongside the DSM-V diagnostic criteria.
• Immediate feedback with a discussion of the assessment outcome.
• A comprehensive report.
• A post-assessment consultation to discuss the outcome of the assessment further.

Combined ASD/ADHD assessments include the following additional components:

• Evidence-based measures to consider whether diagnostic ADHD criteria are met using the ACE+ interview and the QbCheck.
• Where possible corroborative evidence is obtained via an informant (e.g., a family member or partner).