You may have read my other thread. This probably doesnt just refer to Asperger's but other conditions too.
I have learnt that the route for diagnosis in my city is a tertiary service. That is, you go to your GP, your GP refers you to the Psychiatrist who covers your area of the city, then this Psychiatrist refers you to the Asperger's Service. I thought this was long winded, but I let my GP make the referral.
In the meantime, a senior lecturer in AS at the university offered to do the preliminary work for diagnosing my daughter and pass her on to a consultant privately at a much reduced rate. The time scale of this is less, Ive heard from another AS mother that the Lecturer is a very personable chap and he diagnosed her son. He comes to your home and its much less daunting. Great I thought.
Until today. I had tried to speak to the admin person at the AS service earlier in the week and left a message. She got back to me. I told her about the above. She said the lecturer concerned was not a clinician and couldnt make a diagnosis. I pointed out that he was passing us on to a clinician who was an NHS consultant who worked for her service and she said she didnt think that arrangement existed. She also said we would have to have a diagnosis on the NHS if we wanted to access support and services for our daughter. Is this true?