Published on 12, July, 2020
Good evening My name is debbie I have 16 yr old daughter who has been declining since she turned 13 years old. We have been under Camhs for the last year without much progress. It has come to light with sessions my daughter has with a mutual friend who is a Senco that he feels she is autistic. We met and the more questions I answered the more he is convinced. I would like to know what the diagnosis process will be with camhs? They have been so far unhelpful and have never really looked into my daughter and her issues and just gave her medication which hasn't helped at all. I am worried that they will not listen to me when I ask them to test her? At present she is in a PRU as her secondary school felt it wasn't a safe environment for her. The PRU is like a prison and are totally ignoring me at present. With GCSE exams fast approaching and her being so far behind I am pretty desperate for advice. Has anyone else been through this before?
Hi Debbie,
I have a 12 year old girl that has only just been diagnosed and it has presented many challanges. However my persistance is beginning to pay off. So my advise:
Get a referral to a Paediatric Consultant and get a diagnosis asap.
Once you have a diagnosis have a local multi agency group meeting at the school with SENCo and set out a plan to support your daughter. Then apply for an Education Health Care plan. Get the communication and autistic team (CAT) involved. Occupational therapy, CAMHS, SENCo etc to do reports.
Read your LA strategies for SEN support in and out of school.
Contact the support networks within your LA and get a family support worker.
Those things will create a wave of actions, information and support.
I am still battling, but am in the middle of an EHC plan assessment and it's my persistance and shere bloody mindness that is beginning the process of us as a family and my child to get the support she needs.