Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, first time on here. Our doctors suspect that our 19 year old daughter has autism. We’ve been told that the waiting list for NHS autism diagnosis is 4 years. I’m willing to pay for an assessment, can anybody recommend a private autism diagnosis group? Thanks, David
Hi Davey and welcome to the community!
One issue to be aware of when considering using a private assessment provider is whether your daughter's GP, local authority (and perhaps others) will recognise the diagnosis. The NAS advises:
"some people may experience difficulties with having their non-NHS diagnosis accepted by local authority and NHS health services; before deciding to go ahead with a non-NHS diagnosis, it is a good idea to check whether this will be accepted in your area."
From: NAS - How to request an autism assessment - Can I have a private assessment?
As some other members here have suggested, following the Right to Choose pathway from NHS England can still result in a much quicker assessment than going / staying on an NHS waiting list.
In order to be available via this pathway, private providers must already be providing the same service to the NHS somewhere in England (ie compared with being private only).
There are now quite a few of these NHS-approved providers to choose from for autism assessments.
More information here:
NAS - What is Right to Choose?
Example list of providers