Published on 12, July, 2020
My son had a video autism assessment today with Psychiatry UK through NHS Right To Choose and the people assessing him said he does have a lot of autistic traits but not enough to "cross the threshold". The appointment lasted for less than 30 minutes. Does anyone know whether their decision can be challenged or whether he is entitled to a second opinion elsewhere. Advice please.
Were there any written materials to complete beforehand?
For example, questionnaires and the RAADS-R?
That is what I had for my online assessment along with two 45 minute to an hour interviews.
If the assessment was mainly done via the written work this could be why the conclusion was reached although half an hour is inadequate.
My son filled in a questionnaire, he is 25, and I did too. Just checked with him about the timings and he said they spent about 10 minutes explaining about the assessment, asked him questions for about 15 minutes, and took 5 minutes to make a decision, so 30 minutes total.
You would have been paying for 2 hours of the clinician's time. This includes reading through the written submissions. It helps to look at the diagnostic criteria beforehand (available online) so that the written material covers all the necessary criteria. It sounds like the information provided missed out on some aspect of the criteria. The common stumbling blocks are 'evidence of traits from early childhood' and the 'impact that autistic traits have on everyday life'.