Diagnosis, waiting lists and going private??

[Peaches2018]

Hi everyone,

Since my son turned 15 months old (he's now 28 months old) I saw him change before my eyes, his behaviour, babbling and everything else.
I started telling the health visitor, his speech and language therapist he eventually got and the nursery he's now finally in.

We had an telephone appointment with a paediatrician from child development centre a couple of weeks ago and due to all failed development tests, his speech and his behaviour he was loosely diagnosed as being on the Autistic spectrum and being very developmentally delayed. We already saw that coming and it was no surprise to us. But we now got told they might see him in the Jack clinic at the end of next year since they don't diagnose toddlers before 3 years of age.

We wanted to get him more help and support earlier on and not wait a year or more due also to Covid and the waiting lists. Has anyone gone private or is anyone going private even with Covid around? Is anyone seeing anyone face to face albeit socially distanced? Or are more things done by video calls and over the phone? Our nursery said they would accept a diagnosis as long as an official team of experts give that diagnosis. Or is it such a hassle at the moment and should we wait for another year or longer for our son to be seen?
Thanks a lot

It depends, what would you need a diagnose for at the moment? what you be able to access with a diagnosis that you would not otherwise be able to access? .... just wondering as a lot of the support out there, including access to extra support in nurseries and schools is based on the needs of the child and not in what diagnosis they have (unless it's a specialised sen nursery/school).

I'd tend to agree with @AladdinMum. While the limbo is horrible, the diagnosis doesn't necessarily bring much more support than you get anyway.

Does the nursery have any SLT or OT access? That kind of support might be worth pursuing first (i.e. focusing on his specific needs rather than the Dx itself for now)?