Getting Diagnosed with Autism & ADHD? here’s what you need to know.
Are you considering going through a formal Autism or ADHD assessment? We’ve put together a short list of things to consider before booking your first session to make sure you get the best care and assessment possible - especially if you’re seeking diagnosis for the purpose of accessing supports like Centrelink, or NDIS.
Who Can Diagnose Autism & ADHD?
In Australia, there are three types of Allied Health professionals who can diagnose Autism and ADHD, they are:
Pediatricians
Clinical Psychologists
Psychiatrists
As always, there are caveats to consider - for example, a Pediatrician can only work with minors under the age of 18, and not all Psychologists or Psychiatrists are trained in performing Autism and ADHD assessments.
Finding the Right Psychologist/Psychiatrist
Finding a Psychologist or Psychiatrist can be overwhelming, and waitlists can be endless - but for the right match, it’s entirely worthwhile. Before you book an assessment, it’s important to check the following about the Psychologist/Psychiatrist:
Are they experienced in assessing Autism and ADHD?
Are they licensed to manage and prescribe ADHD medication, if appropriate for you?
Are they inclusive?
Are they experienced and aware of how Autism and ADHD present differently in women?
Are they experienced and willing to provide you with a formal diagnostic report suitable for Centrelink/NDIS purposes?
Inclusion is critical - within the neurodivergent community, there is a higher likelihood that many of us identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and also have other intersections such as chronic illness, our financial circumstances, family circumstances etc. that impact on us every day - and working with a Psychologist or Psychiatrist who understands how these intersections meet is important when they undertake an assessment with you.
Preparing for the Assessment
Ahead of your first session with a clinician, we strongly encourage you to create a list of the reasons why you believe you may have Autism and/or ADHD. This list can be a short or long as you like, but it will give your clinician some solid information to work with heading into the assessment. You can also undertake pre-screening assessments for free, and save the results to send to your clinician.
For Autism, these are psychometric tests, and you can complete them for free and save your results as a PDF document on the embraceautism.org website:
AQ-10
AQ
EQ - Empathy Quotient
SQ - Systemizing Quotient
RAADS-R
The Aspie Quiz
CAT-Q - Camoflauging Autism Traits Quotiant
RBQ-2A - Repetitive Behaviours Questionnaire
For ADHD, there are a few quizzes available via the ADDitutde online magazine for people with ADD/ADHD that can be useful in providing to your assessing clinician:
Why Does a Formal Diagnosis Matter?
It’s important to know that Centrelink and NDIS will require formal diagnostic reports if you intend to access their systems for financial or disability support. This does not mean self-diagnosis is invalid or to be dismissed - we’ll get to this in more detail in our next blog post, but for now, we hope you found this post useful, and wish you all the best with your assessment!