Is it worth getting a private OT assessment?

[AnnikaHansen]

DS2 is 4 and has a dx of ASD. DS1 also has ASD and failed spectacularly at ms. He's now happy and settled in an excellent ss, and we want DS2 in the same school, so are preparing to apply for an EHCP (or the nursery are).

DS2 currently attends a 50/50 ms/sn nursery. We have reports from them, his paediatrician and speech therapist. At the moment in our area, OT for children with ASD is so backed up that we can't even request a referral until April, and it would likely be many more months before he would get an appointment.

Found out this morning that we could get a private OT assessment done in March. The price point is tough for us, but we could borrow the money from DM and pay her back in instalments.

But it would obviously stretch us a bit. So I'm really asking if it's worth it! Is an OT report a particularly helpful thing to have? Also, I've heard that private dxes are sometimes overlooked in EHCP cases, is this the same for private OT?

Any insight into this would be great. Very worried at the moment. Thanks :)

If you apply for an EHCP, you are entitled to ask the LA to consult specific professionals, so I would strongly suggest you do so. If they can't get an OT report through the NHS they should instruct a private one.

It's true to say that some LAs do ignore private assessments, though the Code of Practice makes it clear that they are supposed to consider all the evidence available. I suspect it might be worth keeping the money back in case you have to go to a tribunal either to get an assessment or to get proper support in school, because the tribunal doesn't ignore private reports.

I paid for a private OT assessment for DS1 and it was well worth it

I would contact SOS SEN as they can recommend OTs that are used in battles with LAs etc and talk to you about timings

My private OT was a local one and not ignored by the LA at all
The consultant also based his dyspraxia diagnosis on it without NHS evidence too

I got a private one too, it was interesting and showed a lot of physical areas that I hadn't been aware of. But it was a 'cheap and quick' one, I wouldn't have paid a lot.

I got a private one for DS1, although we also had one from the NHS OT. The main reason I did was that the LA were refusing to put in his statement that he needed weekly OT. I got a really good report from the private OT explaining why he needed it, and to be fair to the NHS OT (who was brilliant) she agreed that he did need it, but it couldn't be provided by the NHS. I then got weekly private OT funded for a year before he started at school (when he got it on site). I agree that you need to use someone who is experienced in writing reports for this purpose. I can thoroughly recommend the practice we used.