finally been reffered!

hi 

so my son is 17 months old, and yesterday we spoke with doctors to refer him to a pedestrian. which they are doing. but they are saying it will take till he is 4 to be diagnosed is this true? if so is there any other way to have him diagnosed as we are not prepared to wait that long. as he needs support. we are already struggling with his head banging and melt downs.

worried parent x

  • thank you so much. means a lot not easy when they so little. fact my little one is only 17 months is more scary for me x

  • The senior therapist Nancy gave me all the referral information originally and she was very quick to give me a call. Her e-mail is nancy@blueskyautism.com . I think there is also a generic organization email online but this should put you in direct contact with them more quickly.

  • that is great we have discussed the fact that we would need to pay to get him help. as banging his head daily and multiple times we can keep doing. not fair to my little. if you got email would be great hun x

  • It is very subsidized and about 1/4 of the price of expensive ABA services we looked at. Would you like me to put you in touch? The therapists there are fantastic and always very quick to call back or answer emails.

  • sorry is it a paying service or can the child be referred? we happy either way but was just wondering. x

  • thank you so much. Today is the first day in good few he been really settled and happy. but guarantee later or tomorrow things will turn again as this is how we live daily. I have no support from family or partner as they don't think he has autism but I am 99.9% sure he has. and I am not the only one my friend says the same he son 19 with autism. he has 13 signs that I know of always looking for more help for him. so thank you so much for replying x

  • Hi,

    I was struggling with exact same thing. My sons melt downs were bordering on dangerous where he would throw himself to the ground and could last over 45 minutes sometimes. We have not yet received a formal diagnoses but are sure our son has autism. At 2.5 he had no words. Our GP referred us to Blue Sky Autism organization and they have done miracles for our family. He has already learned over 30 words and can follow simple instructions. With these words alone his frustration is already reduced; he has tantrums less than 3 times a day now and they never last over 15 minutes. I'm not sure if this helps but blue sky really has been brilliant with us and for our son.

  • Hi gem938,

    Sorry to hear you are struggling with your son.  There seem to be a number of issues in your original post, so I am going to post a few different links in the hope that you find something helpful there.

    Since you have a referral, I am going to put the links that are most relevant at the top but also add other links for general information (might be helpful for professionals, explaining autism to families and friends).

    Helpline

    Our Autism Helpline team can provide you with information and advice on your issue. You can call them on 0808 800 4104 (Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm, Friday 9am to 3pm).  ***Please note that the Helpline is experiencing a high volume of calls and it may take a couple of attempts before you get through to speak to an advisor***

    Childhood diagnosis of Autism

    You may like to have a read of the National Autism Plan for Children to see what you are likely to expect and what you can ask during the assessment. Please scroll down to the bottom of the page and go to page 3 on summary report, page 11 for full report for the Essential Components for a complete multi agency assessment: http://www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/children/national-plan-children.aspx

    Information about the formal diagnostic assessment. You may find it useful to have a look at the following link for further information about diagnosis and the benefits of getting one: http://www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/children.aspx

    It might also be useful to pass on information about autism to health professionals when seeking a diagnosis. The following page includes information for a range of health professionals: http://www.autism.org.uk/Working-with/Health.aspx

    You may also want to look at our section that provides advice for parents, relatives and carers of people with autism: http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/parents-relatives-and-carers.aspx

    You may like to read our General information about autismhttp://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/autism-and-asperger-syndrome-an-introduction/what-is-autism.aspx

    Parent to Parent Service

    You may like to contact our Parent to Parent service who offers emotional support to parents and carers of children or adults with autism. This service is confidential and run by trained parent volunteers who are all parents themselves of a child or adult with autism .

    You contact the team on 0808 800 4106. Please leave a message and the team will call you back as soon as possible at a time that suits you, including evenings and weekends. Alternatively you can use contact the team via web form: http://www.autism.org.uk/services/community/family-support/parent-to-parent/enquiry.aspx

    Hope these help,

    Nicky-Mod