Low cost ADHD/ASD assessment/diagnosis - does it exist?

[PlopSofa]

Double whammy - both of my kids' schools have got in touch to ask that they be assessed for ADHD/ASD.

The prices are frightening. £2000+ for a diagnosis.

Can anyone recommend a lower cost way of doing this.

NHS is 2 years long plus.

So it needs to be private but I'm cowering at having to pay £4000 in one go.

We are based in London and can travel outside, if it would mean cheaper fees.

DD looks like medication for ADHD would help her as she's really hit a buffer at this point in terms of concentration and focus, so we do need it urgently for her.

Who has spare change of £4000 in their back pocket? This is insane.

We used these people:

psymplicity.com/latest-pricing/

They were good. We then had a private prescription from them. My daughter's then GP agreed to shared care once she was on a stable dose.

The private prescriptions were about 80 each.

She is now with a different gp who does not do shared care so we are paying for private prescriptions again

I'd say that's about average unfortunately.

Just a word of warning, whoever you use make sure they follow nice guidelines. Sometimes the cheaper options don't which may cause issues with any potential diagnosis being accepted by others.

Sorry to be a pedantic arse (but am going to plough on anyway), you are paying for an assessment, not a diagnosis. On assessment they may find that your children do not have ADHD or are not Autistic.

It is a huge amount of money either way. I hope you are able to find the best possible way to support your children.

Have you children been referred yet? You don’t know how long it’ll actually take until you’re in the process. It’s different depending on where you live. Where I am it’s around 4 months (for early years) on the NHS.

£4000 is reasonable IMO, and I’m not particularly wealthy. You could try and get your children on the wait list for a referral and in the meantime try and save up? If they’re still young you have some time.

without a diagnoses schools now can apply for things like inclusion funding or funding for SEN.

Where I am it’s around 4 months (for early years) on the NHS.

So not relevant to the OP then since OP’s DC are obviously not in the early years because the poster has posted in secondary education.

I mentioned early years because that’s what my DC is, but I’m not entirely sure if the wait times are across different ages. There stupendous numbers of early years getting referrals, but in my area I think the wait times are just shorter. I am not in a very populated area of the country.

…but thanks for clarifying something I already knew.

Then why bother mentioning the wait times for early years on a thread about significantly older DC.

Are you on England? If so do right to choose, we got the diagnosis within 9 months (and didn't have to pay).

Oh and if you go private you might find your GP might not accept the diagnosis, so check that before paying anything.

Right to choose isn’t accepting any more referrals where we are in London.

Right to choose. If you're prepared to travel you can go anywhere. There's a Facebook group with all the info. ADHD bit harder than ASD. Most places are quicker than an NHS wait

That's actually the cheapest I've ever seen for combined ASD/ADHD.

If they are assessed as having ADHD and you medicate, you need to budget around £250 every 6 months for the follow-up appointments and the meds are around £100 a prescription until you can move to shared care.

DD's psychiatrist wanted confirmation of shared care agreement from GP before he would take her on.

Right to choose isn’t accepting any more referrals where we are in London.

What do you mean "right to choose aren't accepting"? I found a clinic that was accepting (ADHD charity websites list them) and you travel to where they do accept, that's the point. I just went to my GP and they wrote a letter to the clinic I chose.

That's a lot of money to find. I paid £650 for a dyslexia assessment for my DS2 but that was back in 2012 and the school said he wouldn't be assessed by their ed psych until 2017 as he wasn't "high priority." My DS3 just got referred for ADHD assessment and it's currently a two year nine month wait but I'm hoping it will be less than that as they are making efforts to shorten the waiting list in our area.

In my kids' school they don't need a diagnosis to get SEND support. They have two SEND groups, one for children with EHCPs and one for any other children with additional needs. Obviously your DD wouldn't be able to get ADHD medication without a diagnosis but why can't the schools support them both while you wait for the NHS referral?

@Octavia64 do they follow the NICE guidelines? I wasn’t able to find it on the page. I’m actually looking for myself to get adult assessments done.

You can access Right To Choose. Try asking to be referred to Psychiatry UK, you get assessed online within about 6 months.

This is a direct quote from our GP in the last week. The advice was either go private or try and be redirected through CAHMS.

@Tiredalwaystired well I'd be asking again, it makes no sense for your GP to block RtC, the only people who can block are the clinics offering to take patients when they're full, what pressure is there on your Dr when you go externally? Unless they're refusing to engage with the paperwork, if that's the case, I'd be finding a new GP.

Where have you got the £2k quote - I was quoted £3k for a combined assessment.

@Tiredalwaystired also remember that you can go to private clinics if they accept RtC, NHS accepts their diagnosis, perhaps the GP means there are no NHS providers locally doing it? (Not that it matters, the whole point is that you're not restricted to local). I recommend looking at this website and going back to your GP: adhduk.co.uk/right-to-choose/

Thankyou - but laughing at the idea of finding a new GP! I feel lucky to have one at all!

Thankyou - but laughing at the idea of finding a new GP! I feel lucky to have one at all!

Sorry I didn't realise it was like that with GPs, people always seem to flit around GPs here! Dentists, however!

Going through the assessment now. I'm paying £1200 in North Somerset with no waiting list as she's just opened in a new location.

A few things to consider

1. You shouldn't need a diagnosis to get support. Prioritise the support
2. Coping strategies are often as important as a diagnosis. There is nothing stopping you from getting this now.
3. If you go private and do get a diagnosis then you face the hurdle of the NHS recognising it.
4. I've actually had a conversation with my GP about recognising a diagnosis and the implications of it. They are better than some and do allow transfer of care so you don't have to pay for the drugs privately. HOWEVER you still have to go back to the private doctor once per year for a confirmation of the drugs being appropriate etc etc.

This for me is an issue. You would be setting your kids up for life for being caught between the NHS and private care. It's more appointments and it's potentially still expensive and they will have to bare the cost of this in the long run.

The NHS route doesn't have this pitfall.

It's really not just the £4000 outlay you need to consider here. It's also the ££ for drugs if your GP won't do transfer of care and even if they do, that doesn't mean you still aren't held hostage to a situation of having to go back to the private doctor as per the situation my GP has. It's potentially not just an initial outlay but an ongoing financial commitment.

You need to establish what the situation would be for you before making a decision.

@JingsMahBucket

I'm not sure if they follow nice guidelines or not.

I filled in what felt like six million forms and we had a joint interview and then my DD had an individual interview.

Her diagnosis has been accepted by the NHS and she also had DSA while she was at uni.

We are in the process of applying for PIP for her.