Private Assessment

Hiya hope you don't mind me asking Was the report accepted by your GP as a diagnosis? I have been looking at two but need to make sure it's accepted as a diagnosis. Thankyou

Hi! I went private for my assessment and I chose a place called The Adult Autism Practice. They're an Irish practice who do online assessments through Zoom (I know you'd prefer face to face) but the process was very straightforward and I couldn't recommend them enough! They have psychiatrists from the UK and you get to choose from the available psychiatrists at that time. It doesn't say anywhere on their site that Cardiff isn't an area they can't provide the service too. I can comment the link if you want to have a look 

Yeah it is I'm not thrilled about it. Probably costs less to do the ADOS-2 and ADI-R training myself and find out that way.

thats a bit expensive for anything to be fair. 
id rather not be diagnosed in that case and buy a fully kitted out highest spec gaming pc for that instead lol

Thank you. Yes I have definitely taken your advice and asked these questions of the providers I have been in contact with so far. My research of at least 5 different providers so far found that around £2,000 is the going rate. All five different providers quoted me amounts within the £2,000-£2,200 pound range. 

For me if I see all five providers charging roughly the same amount and have similar processes that adds to the reliability/validity and credibility of them. 

Thank you everyone who has responded to this post. I'm really grateful for the suggestions that you have provided. I will add these to my research. 

I'm currently looking at three possible options from an original total of 5 that I found as well - MIND Professionals, Autside and The Autism Service. They all charge around the £2,000 mark. I ruled out two of them because of location and suitability. 

Autside came with the recommendation of an individual working with NAS Cymru. 

There are two ways to look at it I suppose. One way is to say yes it is expensive but I can afford it myself if I need to but also £2,000 means you are more likely to be getting what you paid for. Therefore, I got to weigh these up.

Also if all three different providers charge around the same amount for an autism assessment it increases the appear reliability of the service. Without going into lots of detail all of them use the same diagnostic tools and all offer face to face at least for one appointment. 

If anyone has any experience of the providers mentioned I'd be grateful for any feedback. 

I have been asking lots of questions of each of them. This has ranged from whether the clinicians/practitioners are qualified and registered with a professional body to asking about the diagnostic tools that they use. 

Thanks, as it happens there's a provider right on our doorstep. On the website they say they're accepted by the NHS but my son is going to call his GP tomorrow just to make sure. It's certainly not cheap but they look thorough. 

If its a psychiatrist/psychologist with all the credentials they will get accepted by the NHS - you need an assessment and that will be one less number on the waiting lists by going private, you are just accelerating the diagnosis process. I was worried if my GP would accept it too but he did, no questions and now its on my medical records. 

This is really useful advice. I've got my 23 year old son into the referral system here in Oxfordshire to find the wait list is..... THREE YEARS. We both had to read that several times to take it in. I've been recommended an alternative online service under Right to Choose but they seem to be overwhelmed too. I worry about paying for a service which won't be accepted by the NHS. 

I had my assessment with Claire Jack, an ADOS 2 practitioner a month ago. It cost £750 https://www.autism-assessment-online.com/blank-page

I felt that she really understood me and the detailed report that she followed up with has been very enlightening and so helpful. 

I’m really glad I contacted her. 

Just to echo this post I've booked my 21 Yr old daughter to see Sara as was recommended by many on here. She also offers online assessment if you don't want to travel and the process and costs seemed so much better then places closer to me.

Shropshire Autonomy is a good place to start, I found Sara on this forum through recommendations of others using her service, I made the 2 hour drive from where I live to meet her, she has a wealth of experience and works with a psychiatrist who works for the NHS, straight up none of the fancy over priced packages, treated like an adult and the psychiatrist report is accepted by the GP if diagnosed. I was on a NHS waiting list but I didn’t have the patience or want to be assessed using the ADOS mod 4 test being an adult who is a working professional and educated at university level, didn’t think describing a story about frogs was going to tell them anything about the autism considering I have written dissertations….and the NHS don’t give you a choice on their assessment methods as far as I’m aware. 

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

Hope it helps. 

I’d always suggest checking credentials, seeing if they specialise in ASD and try to speak to people that have been. You can sometimes get better regional responses by posting on local ASD Facebook groups. I would always recommend an in person assessment, that is made up of many factors, tests, questionnaires, observation and reasoning etc, that highlights your strengths as well as the deficits. Cost wise. This can range from £900 to £2000, so be sure to find a service and detailed assessment that reflects the cost. You can also expect a wait time for the better organisations, so if someone says they can see you in a week or two, don’t use them!