To want to sue the NHS for not diagnosing Autism

[HufflePuffllePuff]

DC had full assessment at age 11, told did not have ASD. Assessment was a 2 years to wait, should have been referred earlier but school negligent and wouldn't refer.

Later reassessed at age 17 (after another 2 year wait) and told clearly does have ASD.

That they didn't get a diagnosis at age 11 (just started secondary school) has had a massive impact on education and has led to where we are now. No qualifications, no skills, no hope of a job, debilitating mental health issues, no living skills, spends most of the day in bed, won't go out due to social anxiety.

Now I can understand that in some people ASD is diagnosed late as it hasn't been picked up on.

This was though.

I knew from around age 2 but HV fobbed me off. GP said school must refer when issues started immediately after they started. School refused to refer until they were 9 because they decided he was immature and naughty.

Full assessment was done at age 11 but was told they 'didn't meet criteria' and why did I want a label anyway <side eye>. At 17, doc said he was very surprised at previous conclusion.

3 year time limit to sue is very close.

Would you?

I think you’ve been failed by the whole system but the schools have been at fault as much as the NHS. Unbelievably, teachers do not get regular training about ASD, or even challenging behaviour. It is changing in some schools but I think it is really slow. I think the school sound at fault here. The reports they sent in to the pediatrician, probably did not accurately reflect his behaviour, which then affected his diagnosis.

No. Leave the NHS alone.

What are you hoping to achieve by suing? What outcome would you want?
Money? Punishment? Validation? "No one else to go through this "?
Then ask yourself will it be worth it?

The limitation period is 3 years from date of incident or when you could reasonably have known as an adult. It only starts to run at age 18 and then the 3 year period expires on their 21st birthday. Looks like you are saying school and gp failed your son. Sorry a diagnosis wasn't made earlier and I hope things get better for you all.

In an ideal world.. then yes she would be sueing for money, validation and a better system. Money to make up for what her child has missed out on, validation that she was actually fighting for a just cause and the system should change…
We live in a rubbish world that even this suggestion is met with contempt!

No.

You’d have to sue for “loss” to can’t prove financial loss. To be blunt, you can’t prove that with a diagnosis, outcomes would have been better. There is no real support post diagnosis in this country which is why outcomes even with are poor.

I had a nasty accident in 2013 broke two spinal bones also my femur.they left my spinal fractures and concentrated on my femur but was rushed for a spinal op wen I lost control of my bladder etc. i didn't sue the NHS but I did from the place where I had my accident.

Just good money after bad.

3-4 years is a lot considering an adolescent brain develops almost rapidly over this period. So although other mothers have been telling you otherwise, you have every right to sue the NHS. If your son's autism had been recognised sooner, he would've had access to the appropriate recourses and thus would not suffer from the issues he struggles with today. The NHS are terrible and they've always diagnosed kids that have been outwardly aggressive.

*By the last sentence I meant that many children are flagged up if they purportedly display aggressive behaviour, in the classroom

So you want money?, if this was genuine, the first thing would be to seek legal advice

From an actual reliable legal source

I knew my child was autistic, so decided to home ed them, as my first thought was 'Are they happy in a school setting, are they meeting his needs?' the answer was no no no, there just isn't the funding, and we found for us that CAHMS was useless, honestly not worth the wait at all, and so we decided on home ed so we could focus our attention on their needs.
I'm sorry for how things have turned out for you, but really feel you'd be better off putting your time and energy into supporting your kid.

Lo has autism, diagnosis took almost 5 years as they kept saying they weren't sure, that he didn't fit enough criteria at that time and to come back next year for reassessment. It was so frustrating as he is very obviously autistic, and i felt like he was missing out on additional support that he would get with a diagnosis. They also wouldn't test for anything else while this 5 year assessment went on, so now we are on a long waiting list for ADHD assessment which his paediatrician believes he also has. However the diagnosis has made little difference, I really thought that being diagnosed would lead to some kind of treatment/therapy that would improve things for him. You get your diagnosis and that's pretty much it, there is very little input from the ASD services, at least where I live. Completely understand your frustration, however having a diagnosis will likely not have changed the issues your child has had, it would just explain them.

Ah sorry just read your other posts, it's awful what your son went through, and your right having a diagnosis likely would have protected him from how he was treated by the school.

I feel for you. Why not have half an hour with a solicitor to find out if a lawsuit is likely to achieve what you want.

I get where you are coming from. My son has recently been diagnosed with Autism (and they have suggested an ADHD assessment as well and have put him on the waiting list). He is 21.
School was a nightmare from day one. He had an ADHD assessment at 5, they said he definitely met the criteria, but as he was adopted and had a grim early life, they decided it was Attachment.

I did request a re-diagnosis over the following years as school got worse and worse. But he was just naughty, apparently.
Eventually I home schooled for 4 years.

Then he went to College and it all went wrong again. He started self harming and suffering from panic attacks and couldn't cope. I again raised the issue of a re-diagnosis, but college wasn't interested. I eventually removed him from college after a particularly nasty self harm incident that meant an overnight stay.
It was this incident though that set in motion the train of events that resulted in his recent diagnosis. It was an NHS doctor who said he presents as text-book autistic, and she couldn't believe he had reached the age he had with no diagnosis. She wrote a letter to CAMHS.
So here we are at 21, a lovely young man, recently diagnosed with autism, no qualifications and no job and takes meds for high levels of anxiety which means he only leaves the house if one of us goes with him. I couldn't work because he needed so much time from me, so it has affected our income, savings and life choices.

I have been seriously considering suing the LEA and/or Adoption services for lack of support.

I probably won't - as others have said, the time and resources to do so will be draining. I think we need to take the diagnosis as a positive going forward and look for a different route through life.

He says he is who he is because of his experiences and he wouldn't want to be any other way. Not sure I agree, but he is definitely an individual 😁

Why do you let him stay in bed all day?

laziness is not autism.

Bloody hell OP.... this is disgraceful of his primary school and what a useless Hv! Very old school :-(
I'm not sure if this was an option for you but did you ever consider to take him privately for diagnosis ? The years it took initially might have been able to save to do it privately? Not having a go... I'm sure you've considered your options. I'm just from experience saying that to get anything like this done unfortunately you have to go private as nhs is not great and schools don't want to refer as it impacts their budgets ... our school told me that point blank. I hope you get the help you need and special college your son needs - and that he rebuilds his life and look forward to a great future. I'm so sorry for your experience but start to look ahead - even if you do sue. Honestly if you do ...take them all on. Hugs x

Again with the autism ignorance.

You didn't have to wait to get him support for those issues and he didn't necessarily need a diagnosis to get support for them, especially since you knew he likely had it.

It's not as if support is magically given after diagnosis anyway.

Everyone involved has a part to play, including you OP.

Why do these threads about autism always bring out the worst in some people?

You'd have to prove their life outcomes would have been different had the label been given sooner. I don't think you can do that. Provision is so bad for autistic children so if they had label or not would make little if any difference.