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Sara Heath Assessment

NAS80814

 Hi

So I'm all booked in with autonomy plus for the 12th of September with Sara Heath. 

I have asked my parents to pull together a document detailing my child hood as I dont recall it so I'm hoping this will fill in some gaps. 

My brain tends to turn to mush when asked questions about myself so Sara has put some topics for me to think about pre assessment. 

I plan to update this thread post assesment as It may help others if they are on the fence about going privately, I will say so far I have found the interactions quick , professional and very helpful.  

I'm anxious as hell about it but hopefully I get some answers. 

Thanks 

Parents

  • Hi

    So assessment all done , over 3 hours long we chatted and in the end I'm being referred onto Dr Pravin for an official diagnosis sometime in November. 

    The bombshell part is she thinks ADHD may be present also which I had absolutely no idea about. 

    Still trying to process everything so more to come

    Thanks 

  • in reply to NAS80814

    Have thought long and hard about whether to post this, but here goes. What are your thoughts on how the autonomy plus assessment compares to the NHS multi disciplinary approach? As professional as Sara is, its my understanding that she can't give an official diagnosis of autism, that's where doctor Pravin comes in. 

    The cynical and negative part of my brain is giving me doubts about the process. Is it a case of Dr Pravin doing a thorough assessment or is it a quick meeting online to rubber stamp the pre diagnosis findings. 

    I don't quite understand how the process works. Is the first stage with Sara designed to filter out people who aren't autistic?  Is it purely an information gathering process? Or an assessment... The pre bit would suggest not. 

    It seems to me that people are taking the opinions from the pre assessment as fact, feel free to correct me if thats not how it is. 

    I don't want to make anyone feel bad, as I know how certainty in this matter is so important. That's why I really want to get others thoughts on this, perhaps I'm in the denial phase, but if I'm going to accept that I am Autistic I want to have full confidence in the robustness of the assessment process. 

    I would be really interested to hear the thoughts of the posters on here that have used the service. 

    Has anyone else had these doubts? Is everyone else fully confident in the process? If yes, what makes you confident in it? 

    Hope I haven't come across as really negative, I'm just having a lot of doubts, and feel like I need certainty. 

  • in reply to LostGUY

    I think it's described as a non medical information gathering process based on her experiences and if deemed necessary all the notes are passed to Dr Pravin for review and then a official diagnosis. 

    Cost was a massive consideration for me , I simply could not afford the costs of some other services, there was a few mentions on the forum about her and the process and the fact it was a currently practicing DR dealing with autism that also strengthed the case for using the service. 

    I had some knowledge regarding autism because I have children with autism but my knowledge about ADHD is poor so when she suggested that in our discussion I was quite shocked but after reviewing ADHD information it seems to now ring true which maybe goes someway to validate her opinion. 

    I obviously can't speak for the whole process as I haven't saw Dr Pravin yet, until your post I was fairly certain in my diagnosis being accurate but you do raise good points. 

Reply
  • in reply to LostGUY

    I think it's described as a non medical information gathering process based on her experiences and if deemed necessary all the notes are passed to Dr Pravin for review and then a official diagnosis. 

    Cost was a massive consideration for me , I simply could not afford the costs of some other services, there was a few mentions on the forum about her and the process and the fact it was a currently practicing DR dealing with autism that also strengthed the case for using the service. 

    I had some knowledge regarding autism because I have children with autism but my knowledge about ADHD is poor so when she suggested that in our discussion I was quite shocked but after reviewing ADHD information it seems to now ring true which maybe goes someway to validate her opinion. 

    I obviously can't speak for the whole process as I haven't saw Dr Pravin yet, until your post I was fairly certain in my diagnosis being accurate but you do raise good points. 

Children
  • in reply to NAS80814

    Thanks so much for your reply. I really hope I haven't made you doubt things, that was never my intention, if I have i opologise for that. 

    NAS80814 said:
    currently practicing DR dealing with autism that also strengthed the case for using

    I agree this is a massive reassuring fact. 

    I believe I have got a lot of negative feelings and doubts around the whole process. I never once considered autism  throughout my life, so think it has knocked me sideways. All the doubts and confusion needed to be got out of my head. I feel a bit better reading your reply , so thankyou, once again, hope my negative thinking hasn't left you with doubts.