Private referal

In my case I was suffering at work, and the GP told me there was no way I would get a diagnosis and that even if I could it would take in excess of two years.

I looked for a local psychologist on the NAS website who did autism diagnosis, and contacted him.  In all it took about six weeks to get the diagnosis, it could have been less.  I was sent a list of 'prompt' questions to help me write a 'potted history', if this had not indicated autism was a strong possibility I was told that the process would stop and I would be only charged about a third of the cost.  I then had my 'interview' (for want of a better word), and autism was confirmed.  I don't think the psychologist had too much difficulty in confirming the diagnosis!

It was a mixture of relief and trying to come to terms with the diagnosis.  It was a relief to know that I finally could say with certainty what had caused so many problems.  Coming to terms with the diagnosis was a little more difficult, probably the other side of the coin, in that I kept wondering what might have been - probably pointless as we cannot change the past however much we want to.  It opened doors to help, to getting adjustments at work and was money well spent.  And don't believe the stories you may here about a private diagnosis not being accepted.  Providing it is done by a psychologist/psychiatrist competent and qualified to do the diagnosis there is no problem whatsover. However, if the diagnosis is done by the next door neighbour who knows someone who has an autistic friend, and has no qualification ... well it would be surprising if the diagnosis was acceptable!  The psychologist I used regularly diagnosed for the NHS, and I would imagine this is the case with most private assessors.

You have your reasons for believing that you are most probably autistic.  These are important things to bring up to your assessor.  Things like social contact, overloading of sensory stimuli, how you cope with change, communication misunderstandings, delayed comprehension, literal understanding are all important to mention with examples you can think of.    And on initial contact with my psychologist he indicated he would endeavour to get to the bottom of any problems I had if autism was not diagnosed and suggest what the problem might be.

The cost was around seven hundred pounds all in, and the saving of time was well worth the expense. (it would have been about two hundred pounds if my original 'history' essay had led him to believe that autism was not indicated)  I am convinced I would not have a job if I had not been diagnosed - I had been sent to occupational health who refused to countenance any problems at all and that there was no reason at all for any adjustments at work.  This changed entirely on my diagnosis.

In my case I was suffering at work, and the GP told me there was no way I would get a diagnosis and that even if I could it would take in excess of two years.

I looked for a local psychologist on the NAS website who did autism diagnosis, and contacted him.  In all it took about six weeks to get the diagnosis, it could have been less.  I was sent a list of 'prompt' questions to help me write a 'potted history', if this had not indicated autism was a strong possibility I was told that the process would stop and I would be only charged about a third of the cost.  I then had my 'interview' (for want of a better word), and autism was confirmed.  I don't think the psychologist had too much difficulty in confirming the diagnosis!

It was a mixture of relief and trying to come to terms with the diagnosis.  It was a relief to know that I finally could say with certainty what had caused so many problems.  Coming to terms with the diagnosis was a little more difficult, probably the other side of the coin, in that I kept wondering what might have been - probably pointless as we cannot change the past however much we want to.  It opened doors to help, to getting adjustments at work and was money well spent.  And don't believe the stories you may here about a private diagnosis not being accepted.  Providing it is done by a psychologist/psychiatrist competent and qualified to do the diagnosis there is no problem whatsover. However, if the diagnosis is done by the next door neighbour who knows someone who has an autistic friend, and has no qualification ... well it would be surprising if the diagnosis was acceptable!  The psychologist I used regularly diagnosed for the NHS, and I would imagine this is the case with most private assessors.

You have your reasons for believing that you are most probably autistic.  These are important things to bring up to your assessor.  Things like social contact, overloading of sensory stimuli, how you cope with change, communication misunderstandings, delayed comprehension, literal understanding are all important to mention with examples you can think of.    And on initial contact with my psychologist he indicated he would endeavour to get to the bottom of any problems I had if autism was not diagnosed and suggest what the problem might be.

The cost was around seven hundred pounds all in, and the saving of time was well worth the expense. (it would have been about two hundred pounds if my original 'history' essay had led him to believe that autism was not indicated)  I am convinced I would not have a job if I had not been diagnosed - I had been sent to occupational health who refused to countenance any problems at all and that there was no reason at all for any adjustments at work.  This changed entirely on my diagnosis.