Assessing around neurodiversity

Social workers in the late 2020s, more than ever, work with autistic or otherwise neurodivergent children and adults, primarily driven (Russell et al. 2022; Underwood et al. 2022) by increased diagnoses for adults, women, and girls, many of whom are contentiously described as ‘high-functioning’ (needing less or no care in adulthood because of their neurodivergence). Likewise, diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) showed a substantial increase in the past decade, with much higher numbers, especially among adults (McKechnie et al. 2023).

This is despite the difficulties associated with obtaining a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), both due to the waiting time for a clinical assessment, which can be over two years for a first appointment (Lang 2024), and due to the ‘deficit-based and distressing’ nature of the assessment for many who experience it (Wilson et al. 2023).