Hertfordshire recommendations for private adult autism assessment

I sympathise with your position. I never even considered my GP, I just wanted something quick I could control.

Besides GP interactions never seen to go well. I think I am always too poker faced or rationalise things, plus 4 years ago when in a complete state I was so incoherent I think they had no idea what to make of it.

I have issues asking for help, which is what the GP feels like, whereas if I pay for things it feels different as I am paying for a service and am in control. Formal business interactions feel very different. This seems to be a separate problem.

There will be forms though. Questionnaires. These can be hard to answer depending on your age. Questions about my childhood were hard to answer when I'm 56, for example. But they have to ask. You have to allow some time to think about it. 

Hi Bunny, thanks for the welcome :)

And thanks for all that information along with the links that's very kind of you. To be honest I've hit a bit of a mental wall where I just need it to be done as quickly as possible without any hassle/ confusing forms or processes to follow.  Its quite hard to even get an appointment with my local GP for example. 

Thanks Stuart for your thorough reply :) and sorry to hear about your struggles

Some good advice in there, ill be sure to check the accreditations for the ones I'm looking at.  Ultimately I want something that I can show to an employer should I need to have any reasonable adjustments.  Id definitely want as much face to face as possible. 

I'd consider whether you want to physically attend or do online. Most seem to do stuff online too, in which case as long as you have a good internet connection and somewhere private you can use anyone.

I also considered their accreditation and the cost/duration.

I didn't pick the cheapest and checked accreditations and whether they followed NICE guidelines. I'm also in the south and prices seem less elsewhere. But I view it as a.one-time deal and I want it to be conclusive and unchallengeable. I also wanted it all done face to face.

Mine will require 6 hrs of discussions with me plus 2 informant interviews. They are thorough. They do not understand how some of the places seem to do it with a 90 min call and satisfy all the requirements. Perhaps mine will be negative, which will be awkward. I want to know what is stopping me sleeping, why I have depressive episodes, why I was so confused for so long and why certain things seem to have traumatised me. Since the path forward will be quite different depending on the outcome, I need to be sure.

If you are interested I am using these people near Reading, https://www.joinpsychology.co.uk

They also specialise in how autism presents in women and are familiar with trauma.

They can do an initial 90 min session and tell you if it is worth proceeding. Cost comes off if you proceed. Saves you money if you are not sure. They don't always say yes to make money either if it is obvious you won't meet the criteria.

Othere may do similar.

Hi jimmy and welcome to the community!

As you live in England, rather than paying privately, you might like to ask your GP about referring you for assessment using the Right to Choose (RTC) pathway, which you are entitled to use if you wish.

In England (only), this enables access to certain, approved, private autism assessment providers who typically have much shorter waiting lists than the NHS, but with your referral and assessment still fully funded by the NHS. 

Using RTC would also ensure that a diagnosis (if one is given), will be recognised as being credible and equivalent to one carried out by the NHS itself, including due to it having been carried out in accordance with NICE guidelines.

I was on an NHS waiting list for two years before I learned about RTC and switched to it (on the recommendation of an NHS psychiatrist). My assessment and diagnosis (I chose to use Psychiatry UK and had a very good experience with them) then followed around just four months later.

Some examples of RTC providers are listed here, along with some further explanation.

More information:

NAS - How to request an autism assessment