Assessment too short?

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I'll have my assessment in January, and today I wrote an email asking how long it will take, because I have to plan how I will get there (and how I get back again). Well I got an answer saying that it shouldn't take longer than an hour and a half. Which shocked me, because - isn't that awfully short? I've always read about assessments lasting up to 5 hours. I'm afraid they'll just ask me a few questions, look at me and say "nope you can talk so you're not autistic".

My understanding is that there is usually an initial assesment which is what this sounds like followed by 2-3 further sessions to perform more tests and interview parents etc if they suspect you meet the criteria.

Not really that short. My first "proper" diagnosis was an hour appointment. Less than half way through the psychiatrist was already convinced I have aspergers.
Not sure he would have wanted to have me talking at him for 5 hours;-$
That said, I am now still waiting for another appointment where my diagnosis will be confirmed. That's apparently how it's done in my corner of England.

My doctor (who referred me to them) said that this is only one assessment with no kind of follow-up program. My parents live in another country so no interviews with them. bnky, what happened in your first short appointment, if you don't mind telling me?

One of mine was 2 hours and the other was 3 hours.

Firstly I was surprised that I wasn't given any of those screening tests to complete ( they were later sent to me by the place where I'll be going for confirmation. He had a report from my GP, as well as the report I had written (saying why I thought I should be referred to him) that i had given to my GP. He asked me about my problems and how I go about doing things. He also asked me about my history, relationships and collections.
I think most of the appointment was actually spent talking about what I wanted to talk about... as opposed to actually answering his questions:-$ He seemed to spent a lot of time trying to get me back on track... Although maybe that isn't that unusual for this sort of assessment?

Mine took about 5hrs..very long time i saw two consultants and a nurse that gave me loads of questions to answer..and my mum had to anwer loads too...a long and drawn out affair....with the results given right after ....not very good...AS OCD and Depression all in one go!.....and after all this What! .....nothing no help for As in my area...only Mental health who don't really know how to deal with the problem in the right way.

they said there wasn't any help for it in my area as well. My mums basically my carer.
My assessment lasted 8 hours altogether, but I went in for 2-3 hours at a time for an appointment because I get tired. My doctor didn't do jack all until I basically demanded to see someone and went into angry mode. It was the psychologist that helped me. I had these forms about when i was a kid to fill in with my mum and essentially went through the same questions at the assessment but talking instead of writing.

My initial assessment was an hour to determine if a proper assessment was necessary...once they decided it was, they originally scheduled me for one six hour appointment, another three-ish hour appointment and then a final appointment to go over the results and their diagnosis. Once I showed up for the first six hour appointment, the psychologist said they'd looked over all the tests and determined a lot of them weren't meant for and were unlikely to be effective for someone older than 18 so that we'd only actually have the one six hour appointment (which actually only lasted 5.5 hours). Only about an hour and a half of that was ASD specific testing and questions where as the rest was just some sort of broad intelligence and/or visual learning tests and two 150-300 question 'personality' tests. Then they gave my Mom a very long questionnaire replete with some essay questions to fill out and mail them. So overall, I think an Asperger's diagnosis can be done in around an hour or an hour and a half if it's very obvious.

Mine was two hours. A lot depends on how much info the evaluator has to go on. They can take a lot longer if they don't feel there's enough to go on in that short a time. I had a lot of background already written up, and a father willing to give an interview, so in reality there was much more than just that two hours worth of info for her to draw conclusions from.

This is just your first appointment. I wouldn't necessarily expect a final call based only on that. They may want to see you again, or they may have more to go on, but you'd know more about that than I.

If this is anything like mine, and looks like others here were similar, your first psych assessment isn't focused neuropsych testing. Think of it more as a broader screening for a variety of possibilities. The psychiatrist conducting your interview will refer you for neuropsych testing and diagnostic clarification if they believe such is warranted for you. That is when the lengthy testing happens.

I had an appointment meeting the Adult Autism team which took an hour, another appointment with a speech and language therapist and an occupational therapist which took an hour, then an IQ test which took two hours, and then another appointment with some of the team which took an hour. Then I had an observation with the speech and language therapist which took an hour. Then my mum will be meeting them to answer some questions which should take two or three hours. I'm seeing the speech and language therapist again soon, which should take another hour, and then I'm not sure if I'll have any more appointments after that until I met the person who will be diagnosing me.

I had an initial about 1-2 hour appointment where he determined a full assessment was necessary. The full assessment took another 4.5 hours on top of the background information he already had from the first appointment. I was diagnosed by a neuropsychologist

Well I hope that my appointment too is only to give a first impression. I'm planning to get a diagnosis for ADHD too and was wondering whether I could do that in the same assessment.

I had an hour intake interview

An hour ADOS (maybe more, can't remember).

And an hour discussing results.

I was diagnosed after 2 hours or maybe even a little less. I had a complete assessment with the ADIR and the ADOS, and that is how long it took for us to complete it.