No experience either, but managed to find this via google.
There's a link on the lefthandside that says:
"If, after an initial assessment, it seems that there are only moderate or low risks to a person?s independence, we will still provide information and advice on other possible sources of help. We also fund many local voluntary organisations to provide services that can make a real difference to someone?s daily life."
It seems they have a multidisciplinary assessment team. Which basically means that several specialists (eg paediatrician, child psychologist, speech and language therapist and occupational therapist) will all be involved in some part of the assessment process.
My ds, who is roughly the same age as yours, is expected to reach the top of the waiting list for his multi-dip assessment in April 2011 which will be approximately 18 months since we were initially referred. Waiting lists vary greatly from area to area though.
In our case that was far too long to wait. We went to our gp for a referral to a paediatrician, who gave us a verbal diagnosis of Aspergers last January. Since then I have managed to get support from the Educational Psychology Service and Specialist Schools Inclusion Team (there should be one in your area), but it hasn't been easy and I've had to fight all the way along.
Are you in touch with the school's SENCO (Special Needs Education Coordinator)? If not, I would arrange a meeting asap, to see what the school could and should be doing to help your ds. In our case the school told me that the inclusion team wouldn't get involved until ds had a formal diagnosis. I rang them myself and was told categorically that that wasn't true and I could get my gp to refer him to them.