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Non-UK resident seeking assessment and diagnosis

MarinaTs

Hello, I don't live in England, but i am thinking of travelling to London in a few weeks with my sister (31yo) to seek help for her. She was tested for autism a few years ago, but results came back negative. I, and the rest of her family are not so convinced. Where we live there is very little support and services provided for this or any similar disorder. 

What I would like to know is, if we are in London for one week, what would our options be, in particular as non-residents? I would like to have her tested, and don't mind paying for this to be done..though preferably not through the nose! Can anyone recommend anyone or suggest a route to follow? I have been reading on here that a private diagnosis can be a combo of over-priced, sometimes unreliable and unacceptable as an official diagnosis when, for example, applying for benefit. Since the latter is not applicable to my sister as we live outside the UK, and since we don't have the luxury of time, is a private diagnosis not our only option? 

Thank you for your help

  • Thank you for your reply. I will take a look at the priory group.

    I think she may be on the spectrum because, from my limited knowledge, she displays many common traits: completely nocturnal lifestyle (possibly due in part to a desire to avoid over-contact with others), inability to interpret the more subtle parts of a conversation, anxiety or anger when her routine is broken without 2-3 days notice, hypersensitive to sounds that others often don't hear, has no friendships..the list goes on.

    She is a very, very difficult person to live with(she lives with my parents), and her condition (though, unfortunately she does not accept she has one) is and has been one cause for much heartache and fractures within our family for many years. I have quit one of my jobs to become her 'mentor' and autism is kind of where i'm starting. In a way i am hoping that she is on the spectrum, then at least after so many years we can begin following some kind of strategy.

  • Former Member
    Former Member

    Hi and welcome.

    A private diagnosis can be obtained from a reputable establishment such as http://www.priorygroup.com/

    Also, some NHS specialists would offer a private consultation if you do not meet the NHS residence criteria.

    As a resident of the UK you might expect to wait up to 12 months for a consultation. I was offered this option but chose the private route as I did not have time to wait. 

    There are regular complaints on this site about the inadequacy of NHS mental health provision. I think it would be fair to point out that health tourism is a sensitive topic to UK residents who are often in long queues for a very over-stretched NHS that struggles to keep up with the demand for UK residents.

    There is also not a great deal of support here if you do get a diagnosis. Mental health does not get a sensible share of the NHS budget in my opinion.

    Do you mind me asking why you think she is on the spectrum? If she was properly tested before then why do you think that a new test would be different?