• Replies 3 replies
  • Subscribers 25 subscribers
  • Views 1074 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Any advice on private diagnosis?

frogger

Hi, my son is two and has been identified by a paediatrician as being on the autistic spectrum.  He is waiting for his NHS diagnosis, but will be a year away due to waiting lists in our area.  The NAS helpline suggested private diagnosis and recommended someone.  We will still go through the NHS diagnosis, but I don't want to waste a year when a diagnosis could help my son access some of the services he can't at the moment.  For example, he gets speech therapy in a group of children and he hates it so much, he either bangs his head repeatedly on the floor or hits me and/or the other parents.  I think with a diagnosis, I could ask for one to one ST, which is what he needs.

I wondered if anyone here had taken a child though a private diagnosis and what they thought of it?  Is there anything I should take into account before I go down this path?

After lots of thought, heatache, periods of denial, my husband and I are feel pretty sure our son has autism.  We both want to plough our energies into helping him.  He doesn't have any words and has trouble understanding what we say.  I would like to use picture exchange cards with him, but have looked on line and don't know which to choose.  I can't get over how much they are charging for some bits of card with pictures on - I feel I've got to get it right first time cos to pay that much twice will do me in!!

Any advice on private diagnosis or PECS much appreciated! 

  • Does anyone know where to go to get a private asessment please? Our OT has strongly advised we have an ADOS asessment but the local NHS list is 20 months long. I dont want to wait this long before his education is managed accordingly

  • Hi Frogger,

    I realise you posted this quite a while ago now but I thought I'd just give you a quick reply.

    My son was 3 in November. We paid and had him privately diagnosed because I wanted to make sure he got into an appropriate pre-school. We also went on the waiting list for NHS and he was diagnosed by the NHS today. We paid £350 for an assessment during which he was diagnosed and we then found him a SEN pre school. For us, it was worth every penny as it means he didn't get sent to a pre-school where he would have been completely lost and have ended up being moved. Like you also say, it means that we can get him some appropriate SALT whilst waiting for NHS. As a parent it also saves months of waiting for that appointment to come through and all the questions you ask yourself over and over.

    The only negative (other than the money!) is that we personally found it a complete whirlwind. After reading online about people struggling to get their child diagnosed etc we weren't prepared for the speed. I went to the GP on the Monday, on the Friday of the same week we had a diagnosis.

    We don't use PECS, but parents I know who do use it make their own. Not only is it cheaper, you can get very specific with things like foods creating a bigger choice and more communication.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Hello frogger

    About your PECS question - you would probably be best speaking to your son's speech therapist about that to see what they advise. My daughter uses PECS to communicate - we use a mixture of photos and also symbols from a couple of different software packages depending on what suits best. I don't think it should matter exactly which you use so long as you stick to the same thing for each item. Here's some website info about using picture symbols:

    http://www.autism.org.uk/en-gb/living-with-autism/approaches-therapies-and-interventions/skills-based-interventions/picture-symbols-for-professionals-and-students.aspx

    On the final page of that is a list of resource contacts - I see at least one of them you can print out yourself free of charge. I just make them myself, you can get laminators quite cheaply.

    Good luck with it all.

    Sandra - mod