To ask for your recommendations for West Midlands/Warwickshire ADHD/ASD assessors

[HelpMePlease1981]

For a child, I think we need to go private . I can’t find combined for less than £3k. I need ASD and ADHD. ADHD runs in both our families and I’m cousins have Autism diagnosis,

I am so very very very tired and I’m carrying this alone as DH too has his own issues OCD/Anxiety/health anxiety and panic attacks.

I just need help and I feel a diagnosis would help for my DD aged 9. This evening she’s refusing to go to sleep like every evening, we’ve had a violent outburst, I’ve had a door slammed into my hand and I’ve been pushed and slapped. I’ve now left her playing in her room. I’m dreading the impact of going back to school. The homework and sports clubs. Please help if you have experience. I’m waiting on the NHS just been told it’s a long list my GP will call me on 20th Sept to discuss the form I filled in online in August.

We use ADHD center. It's all online so location isn't relevant. Not sure if that works for a 9 year old. Mine is a late teen,

I would find out if a diagnosis from any private assessors is likely to be accepted for what you need before you pay out. Are you hoping for medication if she has ADHD?

The Right To Choose pathway is also available for children. This is private providers that hold NHS contracts (anywhere in England), admittedly there are far fewer options for children than adults but still likely to be much shorter than local NHS service. It's funded by the NHS therefore should have less hassle with it being accepted as a valid diagnosis than private route, There's more info on ADHDuk and it's the same process for Autism.
I've only experience of the adult RTC route so I'm not sure how things may differ the
Child Right To Choose Support group on Facebook may have more up to date info and usually hear of any new RTC providers first.

It's not unusual for GP's to not understand RTC to suggest it and can therefore give incorrect information to patients or confuse it with an Individual Funding Request. It's also surprisingly common for practices to fail in sending the referrals off to where patient requested or are forgotten about completely.

Thank you so much. I’ve been reading into the private ones and they all talk about how to advocate with the local authority etc - so yes it’s a bit of a minefield. Thanks for the above options I will look into this.

We used Enhancing Futures in Rugby for our DD's combined Autism and ADHD assessment earlier this year. Gold standard NICE guideline assessment. Extremely thorough, welcoming and generally a great experience in what can be a stressful process. Cost was within your budget.

Not sure if this counts as Midlands but we used The Gloucestershire Autism Centre. Would definitely recommend. (They also screen for ADHD).

They provided really useful support after the diagnosis, in terms of coming up with strategies to help my child at home and school.