There seems to be a lot written in this forum about diagnosis, and it seems to be a long, difficult and painful journey for many. We are just at the start of this. It looks very much as if our 22 month old son has autism, and are just starting to have these experiences of doctors telling us they don't even think about referring anybody to anybody before 3 years and so on. We have fought, and got a referal for a hearing and speech test and an appointment with a community paediatrician (whatever that means) but it won't be for a few months - and these are crucial months when intervention could actually help.
Could somebody give us an entry level overview of the process to get a diagnosis? What will the paediatrician do for us, what will happen next and how long does a diagnosis take? If it is a very long time, or if they fight back because he is under 3, can this be speeded up by going to a private paediatrician? What would be the overall cost of this?
Is it important to get a paediatrician with clout who others will listen to? We were told it was, and tried to get an appointment with Gillian Baird, but our GP said that there have been recent changes to the NHS and she could only request a paediatrician from our area, and was no longer allowed to refer to a specialist outside the area that we ask for...
We are watching the situation detereorate every day, and all we are getting from doctors and health visitors are delaying tactics and disinterest... If we understand the process better, perhaps we will be able to make more progress....?