Private autism assessment

[lightandshade]

Hi,

Has anyone payed for a private autism assessment for their DC ?

I'm looking to go private for my DD aged 9 till now she has had no formal diagnosis but has received support from school, doctor and school are in agreement that she shows signs of being on the spectrum.

Until covid she coped well but since all support has stopped and she is struggling.

Looking at a couple of years for a formal NHS assessment.

My only concern is that if we pay privately it won't be worth anything ? Did your local authority, school etc take a private diagnosis seriously?

Thanks

Schools and LAs who claim they don’t accept private diagnoses are acting unlawfully.

People are more likely to view a potential diagnosis as robust if you use someone who also does NHS work.

Having said that support is needs based, not diagnosis based, so a diagnosis doesn’t mean more support. If DD needs more support in school you can apply for an EHCNA. What support are you hoping to get?

I'm autistic and thought my daughter was so on her 2nd birthday we took her to be assessed. She didn't receive a diagnosis as the assessor felt she was too sociable on the day.

The assessor's daughter was also autistic and it took 3 assessments for her to receive a diagnosis as like my daughter in front of the assessor she changed and was a different person on assessment day - she was also too young to really articulate how she felt. This is a common problem and the place we used do re-assess for free so you may want to look into this when deciding who to use.

I have a private ADHD diagnosis and it has been accepted by the gov and my GP, who has taken over prescribing my medication. If someone wants to put barriers in place and be awkward they will always find a way, hence, the issues some people have faced.

As others have said what support do you think your daughter needs and how will an assessment help?

After receiving my diagnosis I found I had minimal communication issues with other autistics. I am direct and honest in my communication and prefer this from other people yet I kept ending up with colleagues who were the opposite and wouldn't tackle a situation and instead preferred to complain about people behind their backs. I've now changed jobs and spend all day working with autistic professionals and am so much happier.

With this in mind, can the support your daughter needs come from a diagnosis or is this something you'd need to organise as a family? Such as attending social activities designed for young people who identify as autistic.

HMG I would be worried if those you are paying to assess cannot spot masking.