Published on 12, July, 2020
It may not seem like a long time but I was referred to BASS for an ASD diagnosis in mid February of this year and got the processing paperwork and screening questionnaire in mid march. Its now been almost 8 months and I have heard nothing in regards to my first appointment. Anyone have any experience with the service and can tell me how long they waited?
I'm having my first triage appointment after about eight months of not hearing back -- turns out they sent the initial form to my uni's post office when I was in-between accommodation but I didn't hear back from them even after I got them to re-send the form via email.
It took a bit of badgering on my part to get this appointment. I had to email after about three months to check if they'd received my emailed form and then they eventually replied with a time and date for a triage appointment.
I couldn't make it due to classes so I emailed back with my available times and days to which they didn't respond until I emailed a second time. Finally I managed to get my appointment for this Tuesday.
Honestly, I'm not looking forward to the wait or the constant checking up I'll have to do if they decide to progress my diagnosis further. It's really quite ridiculous how badly most cases seem to be handled.
Oh, I’ve only just seen this reply. Could I ask how your triage appt went? I have mine in less than a week
It went well, I was seen by two men (one autism specialist and the other a psychologist who was sort of in the background).
It lasted about fifty minutes and they asked questions along the lines of 'why do you feel that autism is a possible diagnosis for you?', 'what difficulties do you experience on a daily basis' etc and I answered as best I could. Before they get into the austism related questions they have to ask some things about your mental health that could be a bit uncomfortable, but it's just a formality.
They were very clear about the two possible outcomes of the session being either my case would be taken forwards or it would be concluded that I wasn't autistic and that would be that.
Once I'd talked to them for a while, they then turned their cameras and mics off for about a minute to discuss, and returned to say they would be taking my case further. Which basically means that I'm now on the waiting list for a more in depth screening process (should be about a nine month wait or so).
It was a bit nerve-wracking beforehand, but ultimately it was fine and went quite quickly!
I hope this answers your question? Good luck for your appointment, I hope it goes well!
BASS clearly have no idea that some people that identify as autistic have major reservations about phone calls, using the phone, using tech, "making a nuisance of themselves". BASS, as I said below, are total waste of time, don't keep up with the current (female) presentation of autism and never diagnose.