Adult Autism Assessments Calgary was created to provide clear, reliable information about autism in adulthood and to help adults understand what a comprehensive autism assessment involves.
The site focuses specifically on adult autism, including signs that may be recognized later in life, masking and camouflaging, autism in women, sensory differences, autistic burnout, overlapping conditions, and the process of seeking an assessment.
Our goal is to provide information that is clinically informed, accessible, and useful without suggesting that every person who recognizes autistic characteristics is necessarily autistic.
In Association With Solasta Counselling
Adult Autism Assessments Calgary is a specialized adult autism information and assessment service operated in association with Solasta Counselling, a Calgary-based psychology practice.
Clinical autism assessments promoted through this website are provided through Solasta Counselling by qualified psychology professionals. Appointments, informed consent, clinical records, assessment reports, billing, and the provision of psychological services are managed through Solasta Counselling.
This website provides a focused home for information about adult autism and adult autism assessment. It is not intended to represent a separate psychology clinic or an independent clinical provider.
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Our Approach to Adult Autism Assessment
Adult autism assessment is rarely as simple as administering a questionnaire or determining whether someone displays a particular set of behaviours.
Adults often arrive for assessment with complicated histories. Some have previously been diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, OCD, depression, trauma-related conditions, or other concerns. Others have spent years developing strategies for navigating social situations and may be very effective at masking or compensating for areas of difficulty.
A comprehensive assessment therefore considers the broader picture.
This may include developmental history, social communication, relationships, routines and interests, sensory experiences, repetitive behaviours, masking, executive functioning, mental health, everyday functioning, and possible alternative or coexisting explanations.
Where appropriate, information from someone who knew the individual earlier in life may also contribute to understanding the developmental picture.
Assessment Tools and Clinical Judgment
Depending on the individual and the referral question, an adult autism assessment may draw upon clinical interviews, developmental history, behavioural observation, standardized questionnaires, collateral information, and established autism assessment instruments.
Tools may include measures such as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2) and other standardized measures selected according to the person’s circumstances.
No individual test determines whether someone is autistic.
Assessment findings are interpreted together with developmental history, current functioning, clinical observation, other available information, and consideration of alternative explanations.
Looking Beyond Autism
A careful autism assessment should be capable of reaching the conclusion that autism is not the best explanation for someone’s experiences.
ADHD, anxiety, OCD, depression, trauma, personality characteristics, other neurodevelopmental differences, and life experiences can sometimes produce characteristics that overlap with autism. Autism can also coexist with many of these conditions.
The purpose of assessment is therefore not to confirm a diagnosis someone has already decided upon. It is to develop the most accurate and useful understanding possible.
About Solasta Counselling
Solasta Counselling is a Calgary psychology practice providing counselling and psychological assessment services.
Adult autism assessments are conducted through Solasta Counselling, which provides the clinical and administrative infrastructure associated with the assessment service.
Adults interested in assessment can begin with a free 20-minute assessment consultation to ask questions, discuss whether an assessment may be appropriate, and learn more about the process.
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About the Clinical Team
Assessments are completed by psychology professionals with training and experience relevant to adult psychological and autism assessment.
Clinical work is supported by established assessment methods, professional standards, current research, and consideration of the individual rather than reliance on any single questionnaire or test score.
Scott McKirdy, Registered Psychologist, is Operations Director and Co-Owner of Solasta Counselling and contributes to the development and clinical oversight of the adult autism assessment service and the educational information provided on this website.
About This Website
The educational material on Adult Autism Assessments Calgary is intended to provide general information about autism and psychological assessment. It is not a substitute for individualized psychological or medical advice and should not be used to diagnose autism or another condition.
Where research and professional guidance continue to evolve, we aim to reflect that uncertainty rather than present emerging ideas as established fact.
Information on this website is periodically reviewed and updated to maintain its clinical relevance and accuracy.