Diagnosis rights (18+)

Click icon and scroll down to the heading Diagnosis for adults for an outline how the Autism act 2009, led to the development of an autism strategy and guidelines for the support of people with autism by local authorities and NHS professionals.     

The sequence is illustrated by this series of boxes:

1. Click the Autism act box for a couple of key extracts from the act.     It orders the production of a strategy document.
2. Click the Autism act box to view the act.     The first thing it does is to order the production of a strategy document.
3. The Autism strategy, 2010, refers to the development of NICE guidelines.     Click strategy box for a few key extracts from the document.^updated 
4. The Autism strategy, 2010, refers to the development of NICE guidelines.     Click strategy box to view the document.     See also selected extracts.^updated
5. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, NICE, produced guidelines (CG142) in 2012 and updated them to clarify referral for diagnosis of adults in 2021.      Click the Nice guidelines box for their own overview.
6. Either navigate to Identification & assessment, or click the box above to jump to the NICE guidelines on referring for diagnosis.     First, it sets out criteria for considering an assessment,     Then:
   a. For the more mildly affected, they say, If a person scores 6 or above on the AQ-10, or autism looks possible, offer a comprehensive assessment for autism.     So it seems reasonable to think that a score of 6 should be enough on its own.
   b. For the more significantly affected, they recommend a brief assessment of patterns of behaviour.      They suggest that a family member, partner or carer may be a source of information.
7. Click the Identification & assessment box for the Nice guidelines on referring for diagnosis.      First, it sets out criteria for considering an assessment,      Then:
   a. For the more mildly affected, they say, If a person scores 6 or above on the AQ-10, or autism looks possible based on clinical judgement (taking into account any past history provided), offer a comprehensive assessment for autism.      So it seems reasonable to think that a score of 6 should be enough on its own.
   b. For the more significantly affected, they recommend a brief assessment of patterns of behaviour.      They suggest that a family member, partner or carer may be a useful source of information.

See also

Our page about the government Autism strategy might provide some helpful background information.^new