What does having an ASD diagnosis achieve?

[Eminybob]

We have just submitted a CAMHS referral form via the school for 7yo DS. The teacher suspects ASD as DS struggles socially, and it affects his behaviour at school as he suffers from anger issues and lashing out at other children.

But what will a diagnosis actually mean practically in terms of helping DS? Will we be given more support to deal with his behaviour? What happens next?

What happens next is probably that you sit on a very long waiting list What happens when you get to the top depends on how local help is organised. We eventually got to see a paediatritian, who talked to me separately and then did lots of tests with DS, followed by a referral to a clinical psychologist and then a speech and language therapist. Though every parent I've met followed a slightly different path!

As for what we got, that also varies. The school made an "emergency case for support" to the LA and DS had extra support from a 1-to-1 TA. (That was rare and we were very lucky, it might be even rarer now because resources are even more stretched) Over the years DS got referred to social skills groups and behaviour groups (though I had to find out about them and ask for referrals!) and I also got a referral to a specialist parenting group. I also joined the Autistic Society "Early Bird" group, and we had access to an ASC specific playscheme. Different support came from school, social services, charity, and NHS. Joined up it is not! And honestly there is no single route through this.

If you head over to the MN Special Needs boards you'll find other parents who have been through it or are going through it now. It's been different for every one of us!

Yes, unfortunately waiting lists are very long. It's great that your school have referred you guys though.

So practically you should benefit from things such as OT sensory or motor skills assessments. Speech and language assessments. And if anything is picked up you should receive interventions and support.

Depending on your area you might have things like SENAS who can offer support with social and communication difficulties. He might be able to access support in school for groups that address these kind of things.

Your SENCO should provide more information about what's available.

Depending on the needs assessed, you might be able to apply for an EHCP or even a place on a specialist unit.

The most important thing that a diagnosis will achieve (as far as I have learned from listening to autistic adults) is the validation and self-acceptance that your son will gain from having an explanation as to why he is different and why he finds some things harder than his peers.

I think this is priceless in terms of having an identity and being able to make sense of who he is.

Again, depending on needs you might also be entitled to DLA which can help fund for any services that are lacking in your area.

For instance in our area we don't have an OT service so I pay for a private OT with the DLA money xxx

Thank you for the replies, they are very helpful.
I am expecting a long wait, and have been told that as DSs behaviour isn’t as extreme as other cases, we are probably going to be bottom of the list in terms of priority.

The most interesting thing for me is being able to access social skills and behavioural groups for ds. I think this could be exactly what he needs.