Private occupational therapist

[sbog]

Recently, I encountered a lady from the NHS who was completely inaccurate in her report, saying things that were incorrect.
She also pretends that my child , who has autistic traits, could engage with her during her first visits to the nursery. She also assumed that since my child wasn't interested in making drawings or coloring, these are things to do when my child starts primary school. What is the function of a therapist? I believe that it's crucial to engage kids in activities that they find interesting and discover ways to increase their enthusiasm for certain activities.
My intention is to work with a private occupational therapist. Nursery told me that they will not allow to a private ot to attend in as they have mainly cooperated with the NHS.
Has anyone ever dealt with a private occupational therapist?
Many thanks

Yes for a dyspraxia diagnosis. She was booked through the Purple House Clinic in Glasgow.

But this was for a much older teenager, I'm really not sure about the protocols of getting access to non-NHS staff into nurseries etc.

How was your experience with them?

In my experience, most OT you will be able to get is private. Our DC got one physio session after hip op. No OT offered, not enough physio offered.

Anecdotally, if anyone says ‘traits’ you are facing diff diagnosis from ASD at this point. Based on experience of friends.

We were fairly clear about what we wanted. DS had been assessed for dyspraxia aged about 7, the NHS wouldn't offer a formal diagnosis because he didn't tick any other boxes at that stage. All through secondary school he was allowed to do his exams on a laptop without any formal diagnosis of difficulties. When he got to Uni we started hitting brick walls with no diagnosis, no special arrangements. To be fair, since the time of the first assessment when he was very small we had noticed so many other factors which were not apparent at the time like lack of organisation, took three times as long as younger siblings to ride a bike, learn to swim, couldn't tie his shoelaces until he was about 12.

Purple House were really the only option (or other private OT) as he sort of fell into the gap between child services which stop at 18, and adult services which are almost non-existent. We had a three hour session at the offices in the centre of Glasgow which I attended too and he had all sorts of tests and questionnaires.

He has subsequently been back to them to discuss ADHD (without the hyperactivity bit) and saw a consultant psychiatrist. They are professional and thorough and don't just diagnose over a 20 minute zoom consultation. They were recommended to me by a friend who is a child psychologist who should know what she's talking about.

I am waiting for an ASD diagnosis but I need to wait one year. Pediatrician has recommended SLT and OT for my child. I don't know if for the OT would be enough to observe my child at home and make a plans as nursery they don't allow her to be in. Nursery is the place where she may have a big picture regarding my child needs.

Did nursery give you any good reason why they don’t accept a private OT visit? Assume that’s an adult that has the relevant certs for working with children, and OTs do usually want to see them in nursery/school to make sure things are optimised there. Any chance of moving nursery to a more supportive one?