My DD is 20 months old. Today we had an appointment with a paediatric nurse (following a referral from HV) as I raised concerns my DD barely speaks, doesn't point and has limited eye contact. Nurse agreed from observation that there are red flags for autism and has referred us to a specialist for assessment, but the waiting time is 6 months, just for this assessment. I know there is a limited window to make a real difference in my DD's future with early intervention if autism is diagnosed and I'm terrified we are losing that opportunity with such a long waiting time. Can anyone with experience give some advice please?
(1) is it worth getting a private diagnosis - could we use that in NHS to get appointments for therapy? Or would we need a NHS diagnosis and so the waiting list is unavoidable? How much would a private assessment cost, roughly?
(2) Following a diagnosis, what interventions are available on NHS? Is there much support/ therapy etc? We live in Scotland but keen to know of any UK experiences.
(3) What can I do at home to help my DD learn to communicate?
Any advice anyone can give would be great.
Please or to access all these features
Please
or
to access all these features
Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.
Behaviour/development
Potential autism diagnosis - help
3 replies
Ditto22 · 14/02/2020 22:53
OP posts:
Please create an account
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.