Have you heard of an autism assessment being done this way?

[Purpleturtle46]

I have suspected my daughter (8) might have ASD for a couple of years. Struggled to get anywhere initially as she masks at school so they weren't supporting a referral. She has been attending speech and language therapy for the last few months and her speech and language therapist asked if she could refer her. I agreed and we filled in the referral form together a couple of months ago.

Today my daughter had her usual speech and language appointment and at the end the S&L therapist dropped the bomb that she had been given a diagnosis. She said the report is currently being written and she will arrange an appointment with me to discuss it. I couldn't ask any questions as I didn't want to discuss it in front of my daughter and she also caught me totally off guard.

I have never heard of an autism diagnosis being done in this way and was gearing up for a 2 year wait for diagnosis. She said the meeting was with her team leader and the ND lead I think but the conversation was a bit of a blur. I would have thought she would need to have seen a specialist for a specific autism assessment but apparently that's not the case and from the information I have given and the S&L therapist has given that is enough?

Has anyone had a similar experience that can confirm this is correct, it all feels a bit strange?Please be kind as I am a bit overwhelmed.

My friend is a speech and language therapist and I’m not aware they have the ability to officially diagnose? Could be wrong.

I agree with this whether or not she is qualified to diagnose, she definitely went about things in a very poor way. There are generally processes in place to make sure information is provided in a clear way with the opportunity to ask questions and understand the assessment process.

Is this NHS?

It doesn't sound right at all I've never heard of a diagnosis being made by just a SLT, yes they contribute but as part of the MDT

As others have said look up NICE guidelines

I would phone up on Monday request to speak to her or her manager to clarify what has happened here and ask for a full and thorough MDT assessment prior to diagnosis being given

It's life long isn't it and so important for you to be fully aware and involved every step of the way as to what's going to happen

What are the other speech and language needs the SLT is supporting with?

No, I know - I was just casting around for possible other professionals who may have been involved!

Seconding what @Babythreei said about gold standard assessment. The way the assessment is conducted can vary, but all of the separate elements have to be there, parent/s need to be interviewed about early development and there should be 2 or more professionals involved.

The diagnosis isn't about looking for a tick list of symptoms to match up, it's also considering, and ruling out, other causes for the behaviours and challenges the person or child is struggling with.

It doesn't mean of course that the diagnosis is wrong. It is possible that the information you have provided to the SALT, together with their direct observations of your child means that the criteria for diagnosis have been met. If they are a good service, the report will include information on how the diagnostic outcome was reached and I hope this puts your mind at rest and provides some further explanation. In the meantime, do look at the charities and support organisations, there may be support local to you.

I would just be cautious re this diagnosis in terms of how useful it will be going forward. It may not be accepted by certain authorities, organisations. We ran into this problem several times with diagnoses, once with an asd diagnosis and once with a mld diagnoses. They were deemed not to have been done by the right people. NHS, adult social care, EHC people, DWP might not accept a SALT diagnosis imo.

Has your daughter seen any other professionals?
It could be they have all had suspicions? Where my LO goes for SLT, it's a centre where they do diagnosis and all the professionals work from, so they might have all been observing and linking in behind the scenes?

We had slt, ot, psychologist, physiotherapist and in addition to the barrage of tests, a home visit and a school visit, It wasn’t an obvious case, but they were extremely thorough.

It was probably a complete assessment of need in addition to the diagnostic piece. Maybe that’s just happening in a different order for you op?

My nephew (9) is has been under SLT, has been for years. He had a myriad of difficulties, a language processing disorder, very reluctant learner and has been through the mill waiting for a diagnosis. Luckily my sister is amazing and fought hard while she was applying for an ehcp and got one without a diagnosis as his problems were so obvious. He’s in a special unit now and can barely read or right due to having VPD but oddly is a maths whiz. Anyway, he was on A pathway but the drs couldn’t agree . She got a phone call last week saying that he’s going to be diagnosed with autism in 20 weeks by phone call 🤷🏼‍♀️😂. They don’t need/want to see him and will just go on the slt /orthoptics/mums evidence. That’s it. Very odd. When my son was diagnosed 15 years ago it was two school supervisions, 6 Camhs appointments and 2 assessments by a ed psych and paediatrician.

So I had the meeting with the S&L therapist to go over the report and she has an autism diagnosis.

The report was almost 100% information I had given them with a little input from the S&L therapist and a little from observations and conversations she had had with school, however these were done as part of a S&L assessment before autism was even on the table.

So on one hand glad she hasn't had a battle years of a waiting list, but on the other hand absolutely baffled by the process!

Hi. My friend is a specialist SLT in this area. She frequently diagnoses children following an assessment with her.

I have never heard of it done this way. For context both my daughter and I have an autism diagnosis and for mine I went through initial assessment followed by a 2.5hr in person assessment. They also interviewed one of my oldest friends and my mum for around 2hrs each to build up a picture. It was also pretty similar for my daughter who was 7 at the time.

That is not ok in anyway.

Firstly, before ANY assessment, there needs to be inormed consent. You and your daughter would both need to consent to assessment and understand the full implications, before assessment takes place.

You can and should make a complaint to the HCPC as you have not given any informed consent.

And no... Autism assessments are NOT done in this way.