I had a frustrating conversation yesterday with my local NHS mental health clinic who did my initial ASD referral.
I got my assessment result through just before Christmas and it said that I was indeed autistic. I ended up going through the right to choose option as I'd been on the NHS waiting list for about 3 years with no apparent end in sight. I was calling to ask the clinic about any support or guidance that they offered to autistic people and what they said surprised me, apparently they don't recognise most autism diagnosis from most non-nhs providers.
The person I spoke to seemed to imply that if I wanted a proper assessment and diagnosis I'd have to go back into the NHS waiting list (which is now 8 years ISH).
If you are assessed by a NHS approved provider. who uses the recognised diagnosis criteria you would think you'd end up with a valid excepted diagnosis. If this is actually the case, what is the actual point of having an assessment under right to choose.
Sorry, rant over.
