A conversation that looks at your whole life.
Royal College of Psychiatrists Interview Guide for the Diagnostic Assessment of Adults with Autism
This is a structured interview in which a psychologist talks to you in depth about your life from your early years to the present to understand whether autism fits your experience. The Royal College of Psychiatrists interview guide gives your psychologist a set of questions and prompts to follow. It is a guide for the conversation, and your psychologist adapts it to you.
What the questionnaire looks at.
Your early years
How you were as a young child, including how you played, how you made friends, and what school was like for you.
Social relationships
How you make and keep friendships and relationships, and how you manage social situations at work, in study, and at home.
Communication
How you talk and listen, how you use gestures and tone of voice, and how you understand humor and unspoken meaning.
Interests, routines, and sensory experiences
Strong interests, the routines that matter to you, and how sounds, lights, textures, or touch affect you.
How do you manage day-to-day?
Daily life at home, at work, or at study, and how much effort it takes. Your psychologist is interested in how you manage outside the clinic as well as in the room.
Other people's views
If you are comfortable with it, someone who knows you well, such as a parent, partner, or friend, may be asked to share what they have noticed.
Note: Are you unsure whether this is the right assessment? A short conversation with our team is a good place to start. We will recommend the right option for your situation.
Why this assessment may be recommended
You have often felt different from other people and want to understand why.
You would like to talk through your whole life story with someone who understands autism in adults.
You have had help for anxiety or low mood, and you wonder whether autism may be part of the picture.
A child or family member has been diagnosed with autism, and you recognize some of the same patterns in yourself.
You have learned to cope and blend in, and you want an assessment that asks about the effort behind that.
You would like clarity about your strengths and the support that may suit you.
How the assessment works.
- 1Step 1
A conversation first
You meet a psychologist to talk about your concerns and your history and to decide together whether this assessment suits you.
- 2Step 2
The questionnaire
Before or along with the interview, you complete a questionnaire about your own experiences, which gives your psychologist a starting point.
- 3Step 3
The interview
Your psychologist uses the interview guide to talk to you in more depth about your childhood, your relationships, your interests, and your daily life. This is usually spread across several sessions.
- 4Step 4
Review and feedback
Your psychologist considers everything together with your history. You then have a complimentary feedback session of about 1 hour where your report is explained in plain language and next steps are discussed.
Confidential and clinically guided
Your assessment is carried out with professionalism, dignity, and confidentiality. Your psychologist explains what they find in plain language, and you can ask questions at any point.
Please note: The interview guide helps your psychologist gather information and organize it. It is a guide, and your psychologist uses their clinical judgement to decide what the information means. It cannot diagnose on its own. A diagnosis is a clinical decision made after looking at the full picture, including your history and your day-to-day life.
Things people ask
No. It is a conversation. The most helpful thing you can do is answer as honestly and as fully as you can.
No preparation is needed. It may help to think about what school and friendships were like for you and about what everyday life is like now. If someone who knew you as a child is willing to share their memories, you can tell your psychologist.
Autism is understood by looking at your whole life, from early childhood to now. Spreading the conversation across several sessions gives you time to think and to remember.
Autism is present from early life, even when it is first recognized much later. Your psychologist needs to understand both your early years and your life now.
If you are comfortable with it, someone who knows you well may be asked to share what they have noticed. Your psychologist talks this through with you first.
Many adults develop ways of coping that can make differences less visible to other people. Your psychologist knows this and asks how much effort everyday situations take, as well as how things look from the outside.
The questionnaire is a list of statements that you rate yourself. The interview is a conversation in which your psychologist asks about your life and follows up on what you say. Each adds something the other cannot.
Your psychologist talks through your report with you. Support depends on your needs and may include understanding your strengths, practical strategies for communication, sensory experiences, and daily routines, and therapy where it may help.
Your results are kept confidential with the standard exceptions required by law, such as a risk of serious harm to yourself or someone else. We talk with you about who will receive them before anything is shared.
Want to arrange an assessment, or just ask a question?
Our care coordinator will talk you through what to expect confidentially.
If you need urgent help: Are you in immediate distress? Please call iCall 9152987821 for immediate support.