Autism assessment uk

[ToriLynn]

Hello,
Our health visitor has discussed with us about putting in a referral for our 2 year old DS to be assessed for autism. I have seen the signs myself so agree with her. However I have no clue what to expect from the assessment, can anyone that's been through it give me any in sights into what to expect?

Thanks

My 2 year old DD was referred by the GP last year (around March or April) and was seen only a few months later by a Paediatrician in our local Children’s Health Centre.

It was really laid back and very chilled. It took close to 2 hours and the Paediatrician went through a generic form and asked loads of questions about DD. She wanted to know about her eating, sleeping, socialising, communication and things like that. DD spent the whole time being herself which meant lining cars up against the wall over and over again. She would also spin around non stop and I remember the Paediatrician watching her a lot and writing notes.

They then moved on and started interacting with DD. If I remember correctly, it included reading a book to DD and trying to get her to interact/point to objects in the book. DD didn’t care and would just try to turn over every page. The Paediatrician would try to hold DD’s attention to have a conversation with her and see how she responded. DD is non verbal and under SALT so I don’t think the Paediatrician thought she’d get much out of DD anyway.

By the end of it, she said that she’s very sure that DD is on the spectrum for Autism and placed her on the waiting list to be officially diagnosed. It was much more relaxed than I thought it would be. It felt like a place to talk about my concerns with a professional in depth so hopefully you have a similar experience

This was pretty much our experience - eight month wait to see the community pead and we’ve been told it’s at least two years to get the official diagnosis.

@BlueMonday1977 we were told the waiting time in our area was roughly 14-16 months but I’m guessing it’ll be around 2 years too tbh

Tbf im only doing it as a box ticking exercise - I don’t think anything actually changes?

What are the signs in your little one if you don’t mind me asking ?

From what I’ve gathered, no, it doesn’t change much at all. I know some special schools close to me will only accept children if they have an official diagnosis but that’s the only difference that I’ve noticed. It seems that we’re all meant to keep on trodding along whether they’re diagnosed or not!