Thankyou all for your replies.
@CadyEastman THANKYOU I hadn't realised I had put her name so huge thankyou.
And yes I am SO frustrated. I even pointed out that the older sister has some quite serious MH problems now due to autism but "behaves" in school and is succeeding.
It was such a frustrating converstation although perhaps her hands are tied but what she is allowed to refer on and obviously their time and energy are taken up with those presenting with more of a "problem" in school.
I did mention that it was one of their teachers that recognised this and raised it with us at parents evening (we've long had our suspicions...) and got back that as only 1 teacher sees it this isn't enough for referral ...etc etc. I was told about self management and did I know many "high functioning" autistic girls present really well in school (and therefore didn't need SEN support). To this I felt like banging my head on the brick wall - as yes that was exactly the issue - she presents well in school so how do we pursue diagnosis?
@OneRingToRuleThemAll I'm wondering now. I did ask about prices last summer and its just so expensive. I'm also not sure whether it is autism or adhd or both. Curious you say you were in a similar position? What happend in your case?
@Justyouwaitandseeagain Literally just had the feedback conversation with the pastoral head who was feeding back from their investigation in school in order to tell me their feedback. Was very explicitly saying I wanted an autism assessment and we went round in circles. I dont think they can refer and in our area the GPs refer back to the school to refer .
The school said they cant diagnose (!) and I said yes, that's why I want a referral. Arggggg.
Yes I think capturing her thoughts will be helpful if we do go private.
@longdistanceclaraclara :( This is all so wrong. Why are our girls being let down like this. Its well known they are often maskers (I know there are boys who are and some girls have behavioural issues etc... but its a common issue and underdiagnosis of girls
@MsAwesomeDragon I am pretty sure the procedure locally is to refer via school as it is supposed to be seen in the school setting. I've heard GPs just refer back to the school. I didn't realise this was everywhere. Theres only 1 teacher who would say she sees signs which is part of the problem. BUt hteyre not trained to truly SEE the issues.
At parents evening anotehr teacher told us she was bright/sparkly/ thinks outside the box/inventive ideas but sometimes struggles with groupwork and negotiating friendshiips. Yup.....
Really sorry about your DD. It's all not right.
@itsnotyouagain - yup they have acknowledged her evidence but said as its only in one subject and not across the board they can deal with it within the subject . And if that's enough to deal with it in the subject then theres not enough need for further support.
They were saying she has to have evidence of further support needs to refer.