8yo with Aspergers Sydrome?

Hi

This is my first time here so please be gentle!  My 8yo son has had difficulties we first noticed when he was 1.  At his 36 months check the health visitor did a referral to CAMHS and he was assessed by a nursery nurse and paediatrician.  They said to give him time and they would reassess him when he had settled in at school.

Time passed and his Reception teacher referred him back to CAMHS, by this time Covid lockdowns were hitting.  He saw an occupational therapist who said that he had problems crossing his midline (he struggles with shirt buttons, writing and anything that he needs both hands).  They recommended an autism assessment and that took years, we finally got a’verdict’ in December 22 saying that they couldn’t find evidence of autism and they were discharging him.  We were quite surprised at this as he is quite anxious, gets very cross with his sisters and he is completely obsessed with Tipping Point (he watches it on tv, on repeat on digital channels, he has 3 of the board games, he plays it on his tablet and even watches other people play it on YouTube!).

Randomly this morning I opened my internet browser and there was an article about Asperger’s Syndrome and I am convinced that is what he has.  It wasn’t as obvious when he was first referred, but now he is older he ticks nearly all the boxes.

How do I go about getting him diagnosed with Asperger’s?  Should I go back to CAMHS or give up on them (they took 4 years to decide that he wasn’t on the spectrum!)?  How do I go about getting a private diagnosis?  Any help really appreciated, thanks for reading my essay!