Autism assessment and school

[SlushMountain]

How long did everyone’s school take to fill out the autism assessment form? My sons school haven’t filled it out yet and it’s been 3 weeks, does this sound right as the company keep emailing me asking them to do it and im not sure what to do? (Secondary if it makes a difference)

DD1 - a few weeks
DD2 - 6 months and counting...
Same school. The only thing you can do is talk to the school about it, or in my case, my DD2 keeps emailing whenever I get an email about it.

Weve spoken about it 3 times

Three weeks doesn't sound particularly unusual, especially in a secondary school where the form may need input from several teachers or the SENCO. That said, if the assessment company is already chasing them, I'd probably send a polite email to the SENCO or whoever is responsible just to check they have everything they need.
Some schools turn them around within a week or two, while others can take several weeks depending on workload and staffing.
Hopefully it's just sitting in a queue rather than being overlooked, but I don't think there's any harm in giving the school a gentle nudge.

Thanks yes secondary, I posted on another group and most people told me their school took 24 hours to fill it in! So thats why I was confused

I’m a SENCO. I now am filling in forms weekly throughout the year but in the summer term everyone tries to get in a diagnosis ‘for September’ so at the moment I have had about three lots on the go. For each schild there are at least 3 forms. If I know the pupil, ie, teach them, then I can just get them done along with the HOY but quite often that isn’t the case so I have to find a couple of teachers whose opinion I trust to fill them in with me which means finding them in a free then getting pastoral stuff as well. The quickest I’ve got them done is a day, more usual it is a week. Bear in mind that SENCOS are hugely busy atm and they may have sent the forms to another member of staff to do. I also generally always send them back to the company as best practice rather than back to parents. I think as it has been three weeks then a kindly meant email just as a gentle reminder.

oh and CAMHS always send forms out on a Saturday and during school holidays including August and then send stroppy reminders.

How are people trying to get a diagnosis in summer for September? It’s not that quick we’ve waited 14 months and others wait years?

They could have been waiting 4-5 years 14 months is extremely quick.

The post I was responding to claimed people were trying to get a diagnosis in the summer for September…. “but in the summer term everyone tries to get in a diagnosis ‘for September’”

Not as quick as 3 months not sure why you are quoting me it’s the senco that claimed people try to get a diagnosis in June for September 🤷‍♀️ that’s why I asked how that works exactly when the waiting list is years long.

Just to clarify - those paying privately can speed up the process although even then there is a waitlist but sometimes it is possible to jump in a cancelled slot too. Good luck to anyone still waiting. Ive got one pupil I referred two years ago to CAMHS still waiting and another I referred got seen within six months. All depends on the boroughs.

Three weeks does seem a bit long, but schools can sometimes take time with these forms. It may be worth politely contacting the SENCO or school office for an update. Hopefully, they complete it soon so the assessment process is not delayed further.