Waiting for a diagnosis

NAS24016 said:

but have now been told that he can only have 2 more sessions unless we insist on him receiving more

Treatment should be based on clinical indications rather than on your wishes. If his mental health is substantially better then he can be discharged from their care but not otherwise. What does his GP have to say about the situation?

"Reasonable adjustments" are relevant to either someone with a long term mental health issue (e.g. depression) or for a disability like autism. He should be getting reasonable adjustments for his autism e.g. should be excused from noisy, crowded situations like school assemblies, should be getting appropriate teaching such as more one-to one or small group teaching. If he was being taught and socialised in situations and environments that suit a child with autism then I would expect his mental health problems to decline and possibly be resolved.

Thank you for your reply. Our problem is that we live in a very rural area and my son wants to maintain his friendships at his current school. At the moment he does not go out very often and his only consistent friendships are those he has at school so he doesn't want to change schools. We have tried to put the positives to him about changing to a different school but he doesn't like change and is therefore against this. We are hoping that with an EHC plan we could get him to a different school that would be able to help him to manage his anxiety and stress on a part-time basis so that he could still maintain his friendships at his current school. It is all such a long winded process and he feels under pressure because he is about to start in year 11 and his GCSEs. So pleased to hear that you are now in a happier place in your work environment, gives us hope that my son will eventually find peace and happiness within himself. 

NAS24016 said:

School have been an absolute nightmare, retraumatising him and not making reasonable adjustments for his mental health

It is often better, in my opinion, to move a child to a different school rather than trying to have him cope with a school that may simply be unable to understand the needs of a child with autism. Some mainstream schools really understand autism, but some are frankly toxic to autistic kids.

PTSD is a mental illness that many people with ASD can suffer from. ASD, itself, is not a mental illness but is a condition that leads people into situations which traumatise and "maladjust" them. PTSD, and some other MH disorders, can be dealt with and resolved given the right therapy but the subject will always be left with the underlying autism which, when all other consequential issues have been resolved, is a fairly invisible condition.

A private diagnosis can be obtained but it won't change the ability of the school to handle him. When I was diagnosed I was told that the environment, that I found myself in, was the key factor in determining how well I could cope. I was in a bad work environment at the time and I was on the verge of a breakdown. I have now changed jobs and am able to cope 1000X better with life than I could before.

Hi Julie thank you for your response. It definitely is a long long journey with highs and lows along the way and sooooo stressful. Just when you think things are starting to improve wham something happens and puts you straight back to square one. It has all been a big learning curve for me. My son doesn't have contact with his birth father due to domestic violence so I am unsure as to autism on his paternal side but looking back feel his father displayed some symptoms. There is no autism in my family so it has been as I said, a big learning curve. Luckily my partner is very supportive and understanding with my son and they have a good relationship. What happens during diagnosis? We have already filled in a form and sent that back but I just wondered if it just consists of talking to my son?

Hello my name is julie and my 15 yr daughter was diagnosed in October of last year i really sympathise with you it has taken me about 5 years of fighting to get to this point,  at 1St the school was telling me they had concerns about her and made me feel like I was doing somthing wrong,  I have a twin brother who also has autism so I recognised some of the signs but getting the school to refer me was difficult I think they thought I was trying to take the easy way out, my daughter was also self harming since 10 yrs old so that was focused on,  anyway secondary school proved difficult and finally some one listen it did take about 18 months from start to finish but it was worth it,  i wldnt really recommend a private diagnosis as it isant really recognised only NHS,  since diagnosis my daughter has tried to commit suicide 3 times because she doesn't understand the world around her and see no point in being here so I completely understand how your feeling,  we are back at camhs well we have to wait a month for that appointment!!  So the fight continues but my advice to you is to make as much  noise as you can and keep making it, and keep taking to other people for advice it will help and make you feel like your not on your own,  which your not,  I wish you all the luck in the future