Autism diagnosis as a social process.
Publication Date
2022-02Journal Title
Autism
ISSN
1362-3613
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Volume
26
Issue
2
Pages
488-498
Language
en
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Hayes, J., Ford, T., McCabe, R., & Russell, G. (2022). Autism diagnosis as a social process.. Autism, 26 (2), 488-498. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613211030392
Abstract
When a child or adult is referred for an autism diagnosis, clinicians from different backgrounds work together to make a diagnostic decision. A few studies have asked clinicians in interview how they feel about diagnosis and what the challenges are. We interviewed clinicians in child and adult assessment services in England, and from different professional backgrounds, about the challenges of autism diagnosis and the factors that might influence the assessment process. We found that there were a number of challenges in autism diagnosis, especially when someone coming for diagnosis was considered to be near the diagnostic threshold. Clinicians told us that making a diagnosis was like creating a 'narrative': looking at many different factors that told a story about a person, rather than just looking at the results of diagnostic tests. Clinicians do not always agree with the results of those tests and have to use their specialist clinical judgement to make decisions. Clinicians were concerned about the amount of time people have to wait for an autism assessment, and the resulting pressure on the assessment process. The findings of this work can help us to understand how diagnosis happens and consider ways in which it can be improved for adults, children and families coming for assessment, as well as clinicians.
Keywords
Original Articles, autism spectrum disorders, diagnosis, health services, policy, qualitative research
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (G108/625)
Identifiers
10.1177_13623613211030392
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613211030392
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/333658
Rights
Licence:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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