Could my friend have munchausens?

Of course it doesn’t speak for the whole of the Uk, I am aware of that.

I’m responding to posters who say schools etc are always contacted even for a private diagnosis when in my experience that isn’t the case. This is not about diagnosis rates but about who evidence is collected from.

The expansion of the definition of ASD means that a lot more people can be diagnosed. However diagnosis itself doesn't tend to help much, mainstream schools are not equipped to support ASD kids.
However as ASD presents in such different ways and everyone has a different personality and different home circumstances just being autistic didn't prevent a lot of students doing well in the mainstream secondary school where I worked as Sendco until this year.
Also I worked with some awesome mainstream teachers who really understood ASD but what they could do in a classroom with 25 or even 30 kids is very limited. Especially in a school which was not completely on top of every detail. Changes to the timetable and lines ups and staff absence were out of my control and impossible for many Send students to deal with on some days.
Lots of people refused to believe that schools cant support all send children but the ask is simply impossible.

I live in a well off area where people can afford it. As a result 7 children in my dc class of 28 (that im aware of. There may be more!) have autism or adhd diagnoses or both.

What happened in my eldest dc class was a parent found a provider who would diagnose anyone, and recommended them to lots of other parents.

Not many people have 3x £3k spare to do that and there’s zero incentive to do so.

We don't have a 1% diagnosis rate.

Where you are in Wales does not speak for the as a whole and it differs to data across the UK where it is recognised that autism and adhd are under diagnosed.

The answer and what is being looked at is to ease the huge NHS wait lists. Then parents( mostly mothers), women and girls won’t have their diagnoses pulled apart.

Im sorry but it absolutely is possible to pay for the diagnosis you want. My friend went through 3 providers before one (the most expensive) gave her DC an autism diagnosis. The first 3 said no....

She has no cancer or autism expertise! And no the majority can in no way be diagnosed with autism.🙄Not least because our 1% diagnosis rate (a more accurate estimation is 3%) illustrates how it is under diagnosed in his country.

The numbers are increasing, without any knowledge of where I am or my working experience you have no idea about the numbers I see.

I’m not saying we disagree with the diagnosis in most cases but the lack of input from schools is alarming.

She's got research experience and has researched well. Her points about the expansion of the DSM are very valid and point to a potential future where the majority can be diagnosed with autism. The difficulties faced by the severe non verbal autistic community are dismissed by those on the borderline of diagnosis and able to function. A diagnosis doesn't come without possible consequences later on either. For some it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

Probably. It's particularly popular with the single mums on the council estate where I work. It's like a club.

And yes I see far more parents pushing against the diagnosis road as they don’t want a diagnosis on their children’s records or the stigma that comes with it.

The numbers are going to be small as not many people can afford the ££££ that private diagnosis costs.

Complete rubbish. The Age of Diagnosis has been hugely criticised not least because the author has no autism or cancer expertise.

Ironically those pupils at school very likely to gave ASD have parents who don’t want to know. Yet a small number of parents see issues at home which aren’t seen at school so school becomes the enemy as staff can only report on what they see in school.

I’m in Wales and we do not have RtoC so parents either have children sitting on the NHS waiting list for up to 3 years (current timescales) or they go private if they can afford it.

My role involves going into schools for advice and strategies and we unfortunately do have pupils diagnosed with no school input. It absolutely does happen here.

A private autism diagnosis costs £3K,to avoid that most would go through right to choose and providers under RtoC have to follow NICE guidelines which include gathering info from schools.

I’ve not come across diagnoses where a child just rocks up with no input from school where I work.Providers typically ask teachers to fill out standardised developmental and behavioural questionnaires (like a school-specific observation form).

Children often mask at school so autism can be less obvious and seen in a school setting particularly in busy classes of 30 other children.

Same.

It's quite scary. Parents know what to say to tick the boxes now.

More people need to read The Age of Diagnosis to understand what is happening.

A doctor whether paid private or not is not going to diagnose autism unless it is present.

Naïve.

Schools and Drs etc are not always contacted when a family goes for a private diagnosis. Our local NHS ND team have outsourced to a private company to reduce waiting times and in those cases there is evidence from school and home as the information is already held by the ND team.

I know of many cases where a child has come back to school with a private diagnosis where school have had absolutely no input, it has all been based on parental information. I heard of 1 this week now with a dual diagnosis and school see no evidence, especially the ADHD side of the diagnosis.

I don’t think this friend even exists, it’s just another attempt to slate parents of children with autism.

Private diagnosis they still speak to the GP and school etc. You're a terrible, horrible friend for even posting this. Shame on you.

And yes re medical misogyny which is rearing its ugly head again. Part of the reasons autism and adhd numbers have risen is due to the diagnostic process recognising how both present in women. Since that the witch hunts have started.

Or is she taking some of the pressure off the NHS so people who can't afford it don't have to wait as long?

My ex thinks I have fabricated my ds autism to claim benefits. I have managed to convince every teacher ds ever had, 3 educational psychologists, 2 sencos, a gp, local council sen team, specialists at the child development centre, faked my way through an ehcp and then blagged him into specialist provision. We all know how easy it is to get into sen schools.

Many people look at sen parents and feel jealous that they get extra help. Perhaps look into adopting a child with sen if you think its such a gravy train? Actually dont.

DLA doesn't need a diagnosis its based on care needs

Did you know women were once regularly accused of munchousan by proxy simply because the drs didnt agree with what they were saying about their own children? I was when I had the audacity to tell a dr my daughter had a UTI he refused to test her I refused to leave unless he did so he agreed and put a note in my daughters medical records that I "needed watching" for signs he then didn't have the sample dip tested he sent it off to the lab who told my Dr it was positive for uti they assumed out of hours dr was just sending it for confirmation and he had already given her antibiotics because no-one would send an 18 month old home in pain right? I rang a few days later (my own dr this time) begging for help as she was worse took two lots of antibiotics to clear it turns out she has a physical internal deformity that makes her prone to UTI that message he put on her records cannot be erased either all because a dr didn't like being "told" what was wrong with "his" patient

Accusations like that about someone are spiteful and nasty