Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi everyone - looking for a bit of advice here.
I have been on the NHS waiting list for an ASD assessment for about 11 months (Scotland). During this time, the opportunity arose to have a free independent assessment through my university. I agreed to that, and was subsequently diagnosed ASD in October. It was based on a 3 hour interview with a clinical psychologist, and I received a 6 page report detailing her opinion, plus some signposting, e.g. details of my local autism charity.
As far as I know, I'm still sitting on the NHS waiting list. Do you think I still push for an NHS diagnosis even though I've now had an independent consultation? I'm curious if there are any differences between an independent and NHS diagnosis, e.g. in the assessment procedure, or type(s) of support offered. Also I'm not sure if my independent psychology report is valid proof should I ever want to register as disabled / claim anything, etc?
Lastly, I'd also like to know if an NHS assessment can identify a combination of conditions such as ASD, ADHD and dyspraxia. When I met the psychologist, she said there is a possibility I also have dyspraxia, but she wasn't able to make that diagnosis.
Does anyone have any thoughts or experience on this stuff? Any input would be much appreciated,
Tintal
Thanks for the input, all. I have gone into my GP and handed in a copy of my diagnosis. He said he'd put it on my file and has also sent it onto psychiatry to see if they want to do anything further. I doubt I'll hear anything from them.
On a related note - staff at my local one-stop-shop are to be trained to carry out autism assessments. This is a new initiative in the area aimed at relieving the current NHS autism referral back log.
This is good news and will potentially prevent adults getting stuck in the mental health system, simply because of the way it’s currently set up for funding and organisation purposes etc and the one stop shops are the first port of call for mental health problems, so they’ll be catching people earlier on.
This is really great news. Thanks for sharing. I used to work in mental health and positive changes like this are always welcome although the current system is still deeply embedded in the old model of treating ill health but it is trying really hard to move into the new recovery model.
The transition over to the new model of recovery is going to take time though, and a lot more money, patience and innovation to make it a success.
We’re very lucky in this country, to have the systems we have and we’re fortunate that the chemical kosh era is no longer financially sustainable so the nhs is getting more imaginative in its approach to wellbeing.
The system is of course built on ill health and no matter how much they do, towards working toward more of a health model, it is still up to each individual to take responsibility, where he can, for his own health and wellbeing but the food and drug industries are still pushing hard to grab people’s custom, and this is where I see autism as another benefit. I’m not swayed by popular opinion and advertising etc and so seek more reliable sources of knowledge and information.