Adult Autism Assessment Preparation Checklist

🧠 1. Self-Reflection Before the Appointment

✅ Reflect on why you’re seeking an assessment:

• Self-understanding?
• Access to supports (e.g., NDIS)?
• Validating lifelong struggles?
• Planning better health, work, or relationships?

✅ Write down a few sentences about what diagnosis would mean to you (optional, but can ground you emotionally).

📚 2. Gather Personal History Evidence

✅ Childhood Development

• Early communication patterns (speaking early/late, echolalia, literal thinking?)
• Play behaviors (prefer solitary play? repetitive play?)
• Sensory traits (picky eater? hated tags, loud noises?)

✅ Education and Schooling

• Struggles with group work, classroom overwhelm, bullying?
• Special interests that were intense and absorbing?
• Issues with executive functioning (organization, deadlines)?

✅ Social History

• Difficulties forming/maintaining friendships?
• Masking behaviors (copying others, mimicking social scripts)?
• Preference for online/text-based communication?

✅ Employment History

• Burnout from work environments?
• Struggles with change, sensory overload at work?
• Need for routine and predictability?

✅ Daily Life Functioning

• Emotional regulation challenges (meltdowns, shutdowns)?
• Rigid routines, difficulty adapting?
• Sensory sensitivities (noise, light, clothing, smells)?

✅ Mental Health History

• Anxiety, depression, OCD traits, PTSD?
• History of being misunderstood by therapists or misdiagnosed?

📝 3. Complete Any Self-Assessment Tools (Optional but Helpful)

✅ Autism Quotient (AQ)
✅ RAADS-R (Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale – Revised)
✅ CAT-Q (Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire)

(Bring your scores or reflections if you like, but not mandatory.)

👤 4. Prepare a Timeline or Written Summary

✅ Prepare a simple life timeline or bullet points highlighting:

• Childhood examples
• Adolescent examples
• Adult examples
  that show consistent autistic patterns across life stages.

✅ Keep it simple, concrete, and real (e.g., “I covered my ears at birthday parties because noise hurt” not just “I was sensitive”).

🧘‍♀️ 5. Prepare for Sensory and Emotional Comfort During the Appointment

✅ Bring:

• Noise-canceling headphones if waiting rooms are noisy
• Fidget tool or soothing object
• A written sheet to hand to the assessor if verbal expression becomes hard
• Water, snacks (especially if sensory-safe foods help calm)

✅ Practice self-kindness: It’s okay to get overwhelmed, shutdown, stim, or need breaks during the process.

🗣 6. Know What to Say and Ask

✅ Explain if you mask heavily — describe the exhaustion that follows social interaction.

✅ If needed, tell them upfront:

• “I find talking about myself difficult.”
• “I may need time to think before answering.”

✅ Bring questions you want to ask, like:

• “How will you ensure this assessment considers masked autism?”
• “How will trauma history be differentiated from autistic traits?”

🛡 7. Know Your Rights

• You don’t have to answer anything that feels invasive or irrelevant.
• You can ask for a sensory-friendly environment or breaks during long assessments.
• You are allowed to bring a support person (friend, family, advocate) with you.

🌟 Bonus Tip: Create a “Strengths and Needs” Summary

✅ Highlight both your struggles and your strengths.
For example:

• Strength: Strong pattern recognition
• Need: Struggles adapting to unexpected changes

This shows your full picture — not just deficits.

🧩 Summary of What to Bring:

✅ Personal timeline or bullet points
✅ Any self-assessment questionnaires
✅ Comfort items (headphones, fidgets)
✅ List of key struggles + examples
✅ List of questions you want to ask
✅ Optional support person