Private autism assessment

[lightandshade]

Hi,

Has anyone payed for a private autism assessment for their DC ?

I'm looking to go private for my DD aged 9 till now she has had no formal diagnosis but has received support from school, doctor and school are in agreement that she shows signs of being on the spectrum.

Until covid she coped well but since all support has stopped and she is struggling.

Looking at a couple of years for a formal NHS assessment.

My only concern is that if we pay privately it won't be worth anything ? Did your local authority, school etc take a private diagnosis seriously?

Thanks

@Malteser71
Interesting. I assume ther is a different route for kids who have obvious issues before school age? Do you think the referral route in your area is to stop you being overwhelmed with referrals and long waiting lists? Or is that a standard referral route and we are the odd ones out?

Geneticsbunny it’s not standard policy to only allow SENCO referrals, it would be interesting to know where it is. In some areas some HCPs incorrectly claim they cannot refer or it is better coming from school -there are posts on MN where GPs/HV/children’s services have told posters they can’t refer only school can yet it turns out they can.

We used The Owl Centre. Their diagnosis/report was accepted by the local authority to support an ehcp, and an nhs paediatrician signed it off to complete the diagnosis.

If it is NICE compliant then it should be accepted.

Complicated really. Mainly senco. Referrals from
Certain HCPs yes - OT for example.

If preschool, still has to be nursery.

If not in educational setting (increasingly the case) then can technically self refer with assistance from HV or GP nurse

We've recently had a private autism assessment for our dd (15). It was at a centre which does nhs and private assessments. We went private as I knew how long it would take on the NHS. We haven't had the full report yet, just the immediate diagnosis which I have shared with school - there was no hint from them of not accepting it. They asked to have the full report as soon as it was ready.

My son was assessed for ASD and ADHD privately, the report was accepted by the school, council and NHS.

I know a child assessed by the same private clinic and she didn’t get a diagnosis- it’s not a case where f paying means you’ll get a diagnosis, the child was actually later diagnosed by the NHS dr.

So many useful reply's, I'm very great full.

I'm currently down looking at two centres but I'm needing more info from them,

One says they NICE guidelines and the assessment it's self seems very thorough including a visit to observe DD in her school setting.

They other is an over flow for the NHS and using NHS doctors.

So am I right in thinking I need to now make sure the first uses NHS doctors and the second follows NICE ?

Based on what you’ve written I would choose the NHS overflow as I can not see how anyone would be able to state the assessment isn’t valid.
Is there a big cost difference between the two?

Around £500 difference with the over flow being the cheaper one.

That's what I was thinking to it's such a scary choice to make.

That’s a big difference!
Are you a member of any local autism Facebook groups? You may be able to find people who have personal experience of the centres. That’s how I have found most of my professionals.

Nhs overflow is an interesting concept!

Is this basically where they pay some of the cost? It’s very weird to call it NHS but ask you to pay.

That’s a proper two tier system, feels wrong