Getting A Diagnosis

[RubyLux]

Our 2 year old son is on the waiting list for an ASD diagnosis. He's seen an NHS paediatrician, an NHS SALT and a private child psychologist. All have agreed that he most likely is on the autistic spectrum. So it's just waiting another year to get his appointment with the NHS specialist for an official diagnosis.

My wife wants him to get a private assessment for a diagnosis. Apparently, this costs a couple of thousand. Is that right? We can't afford that. 😕 Is it really worth doing? Can you still get all the help and support in school and with benefits with a private diagnosis? I always thought you had to get NHS.

Thanks for any guidance on this.

[Hehx3]

Hi, my son has a nhs diagnosis, I have tried this year to add some of goals from my private SLT to his EHCP and I was told private assesments are difficult to put into the plan. Hope that gives you something.

[Thekidsarefightingagain]

We've recently seen Daphne Keen for a diagnosis for our son and as she is also a very well respected NHS consultant we've had no problem having her diagnosis accepted. She charged under 1k and was brilliant. Read everything very thoroughly, fantastic report and treated us as the experts of our child.

We had no choice though as DS had already been in the system for 4 years with no diagnosis.

[RubyLux]

Thank you both - very helpful.