after assesment

Don't give up!  Ask for a 2nd opinion via the GP.

Most CAMHS are utterly useless when it comes to assessing for ASC as they are more used to dealing with mental health issues.

The very same thing happened to my 12yo and she is due to go out-of-area for reassessment which I pushed for after CAMHS let us down in the same way.

I know damned well she has Asperger's, ASC children frequently mask behaviour at school (there is a stickied post on the forum about this) and let it all out at home.  CAMHS are incompetent if they think you can be a part-time autistic.

My daughter missed the scoring by 2-3 points on the ADOS-2 as well.  Do you know  why?  Because it is only 77% clinically reliable in high-functioning autism cases as it was researched on classic autism cases!  Here is the proof: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2864898/

CAMHS frequently treat ASC assessment like a tick-box exercise and if the numbers don't match up on the clinical tool they don't diagnose.  They do not understand it's a spectrum and they do not have any expertise or experience to know what a high-functioning child looks like so they rely on the ADOS completely - which NAS and all credible instruction says not to*.  Clinical tools are optional, they aren't even an essential part of the ASC assessment process, and they are meant to be used in conjunction with a full history and they are meant to listen to the parents!  We are experts in our own children.

There are also alternative clinical tools and in tricky cases where the child masks well, they should use more in-depth ones and consider referring onwards if they are at all unsure.

I have heard of people getting told "your child doesn't have a problem at school so they don't need a diagnosis" !! How is that CAMHS (a mental health service) if they fail to recognise that a child may behave at school but be dying inside and wreak havoc on their family to release their feelings about school.

They should have the humility to recognise their lack of expertise and refer to a specialist centre rather than just failing to diagnose.

I've also heard of quite a few people being told by CAMHS "some autistic traits but not enough for a diagnosis".  What tripe!  Like I said it's a spectrum!!!

*http://www.autism.org.uk/About-autism/Autism-and-Asperger-syndrome-an-introduction/Gender-and-autism/Women-and-girls-on-the-autism-spectrum.aspx

The difficulties in the diagnosis of girls and women arise if clinicians continue to use the narrow definitions set out in the International Classification Systems. It cannot be stressed enough that diagnosis and full assessment of needs cannot be carried out by following a checklist. Proper assessment takes time and detailed evaluation is necessary to enable a clinician to systematically collect information which not only provides a diagnostic label, but more importantly, a detailed profile of the person.

(although this is about females the message is the same regarding how assessments should be conducted).

Don't give up!  Ask for a 2nd opinion via the GP.

Most CAMHS are utterly useless when it comes to assessing for ASC as they are more used to dealing with mental health issues.

The very same thing happened to my 12yo and she is due to go out-of-area for reassessment which I pushed for after CAMHS let us down in the same way.

I know damned well she has Asperger's, ASC children frequently mask behaviour at school (there is a stickied post on the forum about this) and let it all out at home.  CAMHS are incompetent if they think you can be a part-time autistic.

My daughter missed the scoring by 2-3 points on the ADOS-2 as well.  Do you know  why?  Because it is only 77% clinically reliable in high-functioning autism cases as it was researched on classic autism cases!  Here is the proof: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2864898/

CAMHS frequently treat ASC assessment like a tick-box exercise and if the numbers don't match up on the clinical tool they don't diagnose.  They do not understand it's a spectrum and they do not have any expertise or experience to know what a high-functioning child looks like so they rely on the ADOS completely - which NAS and all credible instruction says not to*.  Clinical tools are optional, they aren't even an essential part of the ASC assessment process, and they are meant to be used in conjunction with a full history and they are meant to listen to the parents!  We are experts in our own children.

There are also alternative clinical tools and in tricky cases where the child masks well, they should use more in-depth ones and consider referring onwards if they are at all unsure.

I have heard of people getting told "your child doesn't have a problem at school so they don't need a diagnosis" !! How is that CAMHS (a mental health service) if they fail to recognise that a child may behave at school but be dying inside and wreak havoc on their family to release their feelings about school.

They should have the humility to recognise their lack of expertise and refer to a specialist centre rather than just failing to diagnose.

I've also heard of quite a few people being told by CAMHS "some autistic traits but not enough for a diagnosis".  What tripe!  Like I said it's a spectrum!!!

*http://www.autism.org.uk/About-autism/Autism-and-Asperger-syndrome-an-introduction/Gender-and-autism/Women-and-girls-on-the-autism-spectrum.aspx

The difficulties in the diagnosis of girls and women arise if clinicians continue to use the narrow definitions set out in the International Classification Systems. It cannot be stressed enough that diagnosis and full assessment of needs cannot be carried out by following a checklist. Proper assessment takes time and detailed evaluation is necessary to enable a clinician to systematically collect information which not only provides a diagnostic label, but more importantly, a detailed profile of the person.

(although this is about females the message is the same regarding how assessments should be conducted).