Advice please...NHS or Private assessment for ASD? or both?

[strawberryswirl]

Hi

Can i have some advice please

We have been given an oppotunity of going to private assessment and diagnosis ASD consultants in our area, obviously at a cost. It has a waiting list of 6 weeks. Or sticking with the NHS...which i have no idea at presant of the time scale.

If you could please tell me what you would do/would have done knowing the experiences you have been through. I would be really grateful. Also Can you let me know roughly how long you were on the nhs waiting list or if you still are. Do any of you know how long the process takes with the nhs too, as the private assessment will be with 3 specialists and take one or two days.

My daughter is 23 months and was referred on the 9th of this month to the nhs pediatricians by my HV.

thanks
xx

well i have done both.
the nhs one took nearly 2 years for a dx, the private one we waited 4 weeks for an appointment with a specialist.
the only thing with a private one is that the LEA will more than likely refuse to accept the dx if not on nhs paper.

we got more info and advice from the private psych.

Strawberry , we are still on the NHS list, NHS list till first SALT and assessment appointment is currently 10 months in my area of the country. Not sure how long it will take for any diagnosis once we have had the first appointment. I would ask your HV or phone up and find out what your NHS list wait would be, as it varies a lot from area to area, then make up your mind based on that. Jenk has a point, that you will have to go down the NHS route anyway in terms of getting help with education.

could I ask you both how much the private route would be, as I may end up going down that route?

if you are concerned about your child's speech, I have found the Hanen book "It takes two to talk" very good, (www.hanen.org, an organisation specialising in helping children with speech delay), also your local SALT department or Surestart centre may run Hanen courses (usually 9 weeks of an afternoon a week)

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Thanks for your replies jenks1 and mummytosteven!

Tobysmumkent ....im guessing you live in kent? if so perhapes it will be a similar experience for me, we live in the maidstone area.

I have done alot of thinking and decided that we will probably stick with the nhs referal for dd and probably think about doing the private assessment along side the nhs if only to enhance the nhs referral.

Mummytosteven the cost of private assessment is around the £1000 mark but this is only one consultants...i havent looked at any others yet.

Thanks again for your replies xx

/faints at the £1k price tag...

a private SALT assessment/report is much cheaper, would be £150 max. of course not a diagnosis, as SALT's aren't qualified to diagnose ASD, but they can assess language understanding etc and give you a programme to work through with your child to help language along. (been down that route)

haha yes i nearly fainted when i saw it too...but with all what i have read about early diagnosis being the most important thing, it got me thinking... thats why my head feels like its going to explode!

We went to see a SaLT at a local drop-in clinic on thursday dd cried most of the way through it....but after the lady seeing her and after me telling her my concerns she said from her piont of view it looks as if dd is showing signs of asd...but the SaLT cant say directly but she refered dd aswell hopefully to speed it up. xx

local drop-in clinic for SALT. I have to confess to gatecrashing a young mums group last year, as that was meant to have a visiting SALT (it didn't, it was for one week only, and after a few weeks they chucked me out!).

haha the drop-in clinic isnt weekly and it was packed ....we waited 2 hours to her and it was 26 degrees outside!! so hot!

i forgot to say that the private assessment and diagnoisis consultants involves 3 specialists a Consultant Developmental Paediatrician specialising in the Autism Spectrum including Asperger Syndrome and other co-existing developmental problems. and a Speech and Language Therapist and a Consultant Clinical Psychologist. So its not just a SaLT.xx

2 hours still sounds rather better than a ten month wait - and that's AFTER the HV finally agrees to refer you (we don't have open referrals in Liverpool ).

spose given all those health pros, £1K isn't that unreasonable then...

the drop in clinic was only a 15 min session...i ill still have to wait months for a proper assessment cos first i have to see a ped (that could take weeks and then she refers us to a SaLT ( could take months)but if it take too long i wil go private as you said its about 150 poounds (my pound button doesnt work on this laptop my dh is using my decient laptop.

ah. ok, I will start sounding more sympathetic then, 15 minutes isn't really time to get anything done other than an onward referral.

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Hi electra

Do you have a list of private development paed in the kent area? websites or email would be great.

As ive only found one and it would be good to compare.

Thanks xx

/hijack - electra - did you ever post out "More than words" as I haven't received it? No problem at all if you have decided to give it to someone else, just thought i should let you know in case it had been sent.

oh absolutely no prob, it's very kind of you to send it out at all, didn't want to nag, but equally didn't want it being lost in the post. am starting Hanen course on Friday at Children's Centre . Unfortunately it's "You make the difference", i.e. not specifically for children who already HAVE problems, but it's about the one thing that's readily available and FREE, so I'm grabbing it with both hands and feet!

electra thats th eone i had already so i will probabaly go with them.x

Like others, we did both.... and found both invaluable. Private (Gilly Baird) because she was taken very seriously by NHS and because she really told us what to do! As she told us to do an ABA program it also helped with getting LEA funding for our program. NHS because it is essential to be in the state system, not just for statementing, but for regular monitoring, check ups, health issues. We found that having a good ongoing relationship with our NHS Paediatrician helped us immensely over the last 10 years and into the future. That won't happen with a private Paed although GB has always been approachable and will speak on the phone, prob give us an appt if we asked.
NHS took 10 months (that was 10 years ago) and that was a cancellation.