Hartman Davida - The Adult Autism Assessment Handbook

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THE ADULT
AUTISM
ASSESSMENT
HANDBOOK

A Neurodiversity-Affirmative Approach

Davida Hartman, Tara ODonnell-Killen,
Jessica K. Doyle, Dr Maeve Kavanagh,
Dr Anna Day and Dr Juliana Azevedo

First published in Great Britain in 2023 by Jessica Kingsley Publishers

An imprint of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

An Hachette Company

Copyright Davida Hartman, Tara ODonnell-Killen, Jessica K. Doyle, Dr Maeve Kavanagh, Dr Anna Day and Dr Juliana Azevedo 2023

The right of Davida Hartman, Tara ODonnell-Killen, Jessica K. Doyle, Dr Maeve Kavanagh, Dr Anna Day and Dr Juliana Azevedo to be identified as the Authors of the Work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Tweet on page 64 is reproduced with kind permission from Damian Milton.

Quote on page 187 is reproduced from WrenAves 2022 with kind permission from the author.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

This book was typeset in accordance with accessible principles, but it does contain a high volume of text and information in order to be fully comprehensive. It is also available as an eBook, where text can be resized or converted to speech using text-to-speech software.

All pages marked with can be downloaded at https://library.jkp.com/redeem for personal use with this programme, but may not be reproduced for any other purposes without the permission of the publisher.

Content warning: This book mentions mental health, anxiety, abuse and trauma.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library and the Library of Congress

ISBN 978 1 83997 166 2

eISBN 978 1 83997 167 9

Jessica Kingsley Publishers policy is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

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www.jkp.com

This book is dedicated to the Autistic people who have chosen to work with us in The Adult Autism Practice and Thriving Autistic. We are grateful to them for honouring and trusting us with their stories.

It is also dedicated to the wider Autistic community: those who have shared their stories and found connection on social media, the advocates who have borne the brunt of the prejudice against Autistic people as they push for basic human rights and demand that our voices are the ones leading the conversation about us, the Autistics who remain in institutions around the globe, punished by a world that seeks to extinguish that which it does not understand, Autistics who hold multiple marginalized identities and have exponentially greater barriers and prejudices to navigate, Autistic parents who daily navigate outside pressure to force their children to conform to neurotypical societal norms, and the Autistic clinicians, practitioners and researchers who work tirelessly and bare their soul daily, all for the greater good of protecting and promoting the rights and wellbeing of the Autistic community.

Thank you to our families and those precious to us: Max, Ely, Juno and Alex, Martina, William and Rona. Gavin, Oisn, Ray, Lucas, Sam, Aoife, Aideen, Keelin and Hughie. Jim (Dad), Sin, Beth, Fred, Emmet, ET, Thrse, Astro and Owli. Barry, Ben, Maisie, Vera, Barry, Kieran and Karen. Daisy, Flower, Teddy and Peanut. Celso, Regina, Julia, Mateus, Tatiana, Fabiana and Rodrigo. Thank you to Philomena, Kieron and the entire Adult Autism Practice team. Thank you to Alice, Ann, Claire, Dana, Jasper, Jennie, Nic, Rajita, Teri, Vauna and the entire Thriving Autistic team. Thank you to Shelley Carr for her helpful insights. Thank you to Olatunde Spence and Elaine McGreevy. Thank you to our editor Amy Lankester-Owen and the entire publishing team at Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Our writing team is a mixed group of Autistic, otherwise neurodivergent and neurotypical professionals working together within the wider Adult Autism Practice and Thriving Autistic teams. We are psychologists, an assistant psychologist/Autistic researcher, friends and colleagues who have come together with the shared purpose of, and passion for, supporting Autistic people to live their best lives, recognizing that for them to do so there are significant societal changes that need to be made in relation to how we understand and assess Autistic neurology. We have all seen first hand in our work the enormous, positive benefits that correct identification of being Autistic brings, as well as the life-changing benefits of having been assessed through a Neuro-Affirmative framework, and we are passionate about sharing this knowledge and learning with our wider colleagues.

The Adult Autism Practice is a private company specializing in remote adult autism assessment (which includes as standard post-assessment support delivered by the team at Thriving Autistic). It is a multidisciplinary team of Autistic, otherwise neurodivergent and neurotypical professionals (psychologists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists) who work together to provide timely, respectful, collaborative, LGBTQIA+ and Neuro-Affirmative adult autism assessments where strengths are emphasized and passions and differences celebrated. It is part of The Adult Autism Practices mission to continue to employ and be shaped by Autistic professionals and the Autistic community.

Davida Hartman (one of the authors of this book) founded the Practice in 2020 to fill the huge gap in services that were, and continue to be, present. Tara ODonnell-Killen and Dr Maeve Kavanagh (also authors of this book) have been involved with the Practice from its inception, and have been vital collaborators, influencing how the Practice has been shaped thus far. As well as comprehensive adult autism assessments, The Adult Autism Practice also provides consultations for clients who are unsure if they want to go ahead with a full assessment but would like to talk it all through with someone. The team is a mix of Irish and UK-based professionals, and because the assessments are remote, they see clients worldwide (apart from Canada and the USA).