@Mummytothearkbuilder can I ask what impact your dd's difficulties have on your daily life and which strategies you're using to manage them?
Reason I'm asking is that I live in your area and our 7yo dd just had a GDA and has been referred for further assessments (ASD/ ADHD). We can't afford private at the moment, but when I started looking about 18 months ago, I had similar views - minefield and I was frightened off by media reports of false diagnoses etc. Plus, we weren't really sure which route to try first because dd seems to straddle both ASD and ADHD, with symptoms often conflicting.
The impact her difficulties have on our lives is very variable. She has no obvious learning difficulties and is at a mainstream school. The impact varies from relatively minor tactile sensitivity/ control issues (worse when anxious) , focusing on items of clothing feeling wrong, to 6 weeks off school due to school avoidance where she was unable to get dressed or leave the house at all, for anything.
We're just relieved she's now getting somewhere, and our views have finally come to something (doctor agreed ND present). We've done a whole heap of research, got her an EHCP in place and are managing her symptoms well currently, aided by better understanding of her and the school finally believing us (she masks really, really effectively and the senco refuted anything was wrong until we finally got an Ed Psych to observe her).
What I'm saying is, that if you decide to wait instead of going private, for whatever reason, I'm more than happy to share some info and some of the things that we've found work, depending on the kind of things your dd finds particularly difficult and have the biggest impact on your family. You may well be on top of things anyway, and managing fine in the circumstances, but if you feel you could do with some practical ideas, please dm me. We've exhausted pretty much most avenues before getting to this stage!