Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
I have a wonderful 13yr old who I've suspected as having autism for years. I've been telling professionals for about the last 8years that my child is "different" I have finally had my asd referral accepted and am now waiting for an assessment. I have been waiting for so long that I have been doing some research into autism and have been reading a book on understanding PDA and feel that my child fits this better than aspergers etc. I was wondering how long it usually takes to go through the first assessment process by all accounts I'm waiting for the Dr to present my daughter to the panel. As you can probably tell this is my first time using this forum and I'm not very good using computers. Any advice is welcome as I'm a single mum and am fed up with being told I'm a bad parent and I'm "mistaken" etc.
Thank you for reading
Hi Welcome to the forum,
It's good to hear that at least your doctor is presenting this at the panel meeting, cases are presented and are either rejected, more information requested then considered and accepted/rejected or referral is accepted and you will get an initial appointment this still doesn't guarantee that you will get an assessment.
It is an uphill battle and these services are not easily accessible. Have you started implementing strategies at home like time tables, safe areas for him to decompress?
We are still arguing for our daughters 3Rd referral but making changes and proceeding at home like she already has diagnosis is helping
To be fair I've been treating her at home for years sometimes without even realising it ! As I said I've been trying to get her assessed for about 8/9 years now but because she has other health issues it's been very difficult to get people to agree she has another problem my paediatric Dr has told me directly she does not believe she has it ! My concern is that her school are struggling to cope with her behaviour which is getting worse and I need help now because my usual tricks aren't working aswell as they used too as she is getting older. CAMHS have refused me twice already I'm getting fed up with people telling me it's my parenting that is the problem even when I've been told by both parenting courses that I have passed that it's fine !!