Private diagnosis for ASD

Hi Carole,

I wholeheartedly recommend SEIK Psychiatry based on London - outstanding and caring practitioners, they were absolutely wonderful. I got back in touch recently for help with SFE funding for distance learning and they sent out a letter for me the very next day, without charge. As well as being lovely people and incredibly professional they are also considerably cheaper than the other diagnosis services suggested in this chat. Getting a diagnosis of ASD this year transformed the way I see myself and revolutionised the way I relate to the world and the people around me, I am so glad to have finally taken the plunge :))

Hi There is an organisation Shropshire Autonomy that does cheaper assessments usually around £500. They are NHS recognised. 

Thank you so much for your replies always good to hear different perspectives!  I'll check out the Purple House Clinic as that's exactly my dilemma of spending so much - what if the results of the tests are that it's not ASD! I like that they charge a smaller fee for an initial assessment then take it from there.

Hello Carol,

I went privately after decades of problems, NHS misdiagnoses, anxiety, several addictions to prescribed meds (and subsequent withdrawals)  and the general ongoing social catastrophy of my childhood, adulthood and rapidly approaching old age. 

Since diagnosis, I have spent three years getting to know and understand myself better by reading the right books, meeting people here on the forum, and generally seeing life through my newly informed eyes.

I'm very happy that I went private, but oh how I wish I'd done it a few decades earlier.

Ben

It’s certainly true that there is no concrete benefit -  no treatment or post diagnostic support.

But I needed the certainty that I wasn’t imagining it and my assessors did explain a lot about what I told them I was experiencing - I learned a lot in the process and felt validated and understood for the first time ever. I’ve also been worrying about my ability to keep working, at least at the same level, for some time and it gave me some comfort to be able to inform my employer that I have a disability, which may make it trickier for them to sack me if it ever came to that.

But I could easily afford the private service. I realise I’m lucky in that respect.

Hi Carole.
That is a lot of Money to spend on a Diagnosis.
If you DO come back on the Spectrum and get a formal diagnosis,then that's it....
You will have an answer but after that ??.....Nothing happens.
You get a follow up appointment and then you are on your own.
There are no benefits to being diagnosed.
Be carefful with your Money.
Best wishes.

Hi Carole. I used the Purple House Clinic in Glasgow, which I discovered on the NAS directory and which was geographically convenient for me.

They did an initial 2 hour interview with me for a cost of £250, the idea being there would be no further charge if they didn’t think I was likely to be autistic. That was around a month after my initial contact with them.

I then had a series of appointments with them over the following 4 weeks and got my results about 2-3 weeks after that.

They told me in advance who would be doing the assessment so I checked them out and their qualifications were extensive and impressive, and they also work for the NHS, so I was satisfied they knew what they were doing.

The assessment itself was extremely thorough - more so than many assessments I’ve read about on here.

The total cost, including the initial interview, was £2100 though. Worth it for me, but still expensive for most people.