Adult private diagnosis

I was diagnosed ADHD aged 58 last year. I was also diagnosed ASD this week and I went through the NHS 'Right to Choose' referral scheme using Psychiatry UK - they have a hugely informative website which includes template letter for GP referral. As far as I know there are only a couple of UK areas who won't use this 'shared care' scheme, I believe this is listed on the P-UK site.

As far as school reports go, I was lucky that I had some old primary school ones of my own, as both parents are long dead and my brother wouldn't have a clue where to start speaking about how I was growing up as he had his own issues at the time.

So my daughter - aged 27 filled in the 'informant report' section which they said at the time of my assessment was probably much better information than, say, ageing parents who might dispute the whole neurodiverse thing out of hand.

I hope that helps. The waiting times at P-UK are also very much shorter than waiting times with the NHS.

Debs

For me it was approximately 6 hours with Sara and 45 mins with Dr Pravin, but I know of others who only needed 3 hours with Sara. I guess it depends on how much you have to say and how obvious your traits are. Sara is very in tune with struggles of autism, so I am sure that she would be able to break up any session into small, manageable chunks. You could just send her an email and explain your worries and I'm sure she could come up with a strategy. Don't feel like there is any obligation if you contact Sara. She will explain the process to you and then it's up to you whether you go down that diagnosis route or choose a different route. Having now gone through the whole process, I still have no reservations in recommending the diagnosis service that Sara and Dr Pravin provide. Let me know if you have any further questions.

Hi Craig. 

I am looking into a diagnosis of autism and was wondering how long your sessions typically last?

One if the things that is holding me back from seeking a diagnosis is the intensity of the sessions and questions that will be asked. Having had a quick look on the website you linked im interested in pursuing a diagnosis this way, any information would be appreciated.

Thanks, Jamie 

Hi Demiboy94,

I have some good news for you

You can get the nhs to pay for your diagnostic appointment using the Right to Choose Scheme through a private clinic.

As far as I know there's only one company doing this so far. They're called Psychiatry UK and they do all diagnostic appointments online.

They also do ADHD assessments. 

This only applies to people living in England, sorry Scotland and Wales.

I only found out about this a couple of days ago through this Facebook group 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/righttochoosesupport/?ref=share

There are people in the group who have been diagnosed by them already but the waiting lists are starting to get longer.

Still nothing compared to the nhs waiting list, I waited over 3 years for mine.

You can ask your GP to refer you or you can self refer

This is the link to the website, it explains everything in a lot more detail on there.

https://psychiatry-uk.com/right-to-choose-asd/

I hope it all goes well

I forgot to add that I don't live in Shropshire, so this is all being done via video call.

Hi Demiboy94,

It might be worth getting in touch with Sara Heath at Shropshire Autonomy regarding an adult private diagnosis.

https://www.shropshireautonomy.co.uk/ 

She is an autism specialist who provides a pre-diagnosis service at a very reasonable rate. If she assesses that there is enough evidence to support a medical diagnosis, she will refer you to a doctor that she works in partnership with for a full medical diagnosis that is recognised by the NHS.  

Because Sara does most of the leg work prior to the medical referral, it means that the assessment costs should fall within your budget.

I am part way through the process at the moment (i.e. I have been assessed by Sara and am waiting to see the doctor at the end of the month) and I am more than happy with my experience so far. Depending on her and the doctor's availability, the process could only take two to three months.  

Sara has previously been recommended by others within the community (which is how I found out about her), so a quick search should hopefully allow you to find other posts that support my recommendation.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need any further information.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Hi Demiboy94, if you're looking into getting a private diagnosis, it is important the professional you see has experience of autism spectrum disorders. You can find details of diagnostic services on our Autism Services Directory in the Assessment and diagnosis section: https://www.autism.org.uk/directory.

Hope this helps your search.

Best wishes,

Anna Mod

Not true. Taken verbatim from the NICE guidelines for the assessment of ASD, "Diagnostic assessment, which in the UK uses ICD-10, is often within a multi-disciplinary team but at a minimum is by a qualified clinician, usually a clinical psychologist, psychiatrist or neurologist." From the document: Autism Recognition, referral, diagnosis and management of adults on the autism spectrum, National Clinical Guideline Number 142, p. 25.

There is no official requirement for a team approach, though the NHS often uses teams for diagnosis.

I was diagnosed privately by a consultant psychiatrist, who is also the clinical director of an NHS closed psychiatric facility and has specialisms in adult and child autism. It cost £900, last year.

I can't recommend Adult Autism enough. It is an Irish based practice but assess people based in Ireland, UK, and across Europe. Their psychologists are both Ireland and UK based and their diagnoses are recognised by the NHS. The cost of assessment is €850 and can be done over zoom.

https://www.adultautism.ie/faqs

.....unless, of course, you are just advertising yourselves ?

Incredibly useful and succinct piece of knowledge you have kindly written down there!

Thank you for sharing.

Thanks I guess private isn't happening 

Hi to conduct a credible autism assessment (that meets NICE Guidance) there are quite a few considerations that need to be taken into account. There needs to be a number of professionals involved. The professionals need to have different specific trainings and the assessment therefore takes at least a day, overall face to face time with the client and/or with other professionals, with a detailed report to accompany the assessment. Some assessments maybe more time consuming due to their complexity, especially if there are other mental health issues. Therefore assessments costs at least £1500, sometimes you can get it for less, if a clinical psychologist will do it, but they really need to have had other assessments accepted by the local authority etc before I would suggest that you went with them. Space 2B You Mental Health Support Services do autism assessments online so you don't need to go to them and they don't have a waiting list. They charge £1500 per assessment and they do adult and child assessments. 

Thanks . My dyscalculia diagnosis was about £600 do just assumed an ASD diagnosis would be around the same price 

Regardless of where you go, an adult assessment is at least £1000. I believe mine was around £1600. 
You should be allowed to pay in installments if that’s easier to manage.

Do a specific search for consultants who work in your area for the NHS, as some work privately too. Also check Bupa. Look for someone who deals with autism in adults, or who has autism as their interest. This is easier than doing a Google search for ‘adult autism assessments’.