Published on 12, July, 2020
The start of my youngest daughter's assessment process for Autism by CADU (Child Assessment and Development Unit) has come around a lot quicker than I expected it to. We had a letter this morning explaining that she will be visited at home by a Paediatric Nurse Specialist next Tuesday morning. She'll also have to have the ADOS assessment at CADU; Be assessed at her Nursery by one of the professionals involved and a Multidisciplinary Team assessment at CADU, all on different dates. I'm relieved that we're finally getting closer to getting an actual specific diagnosis for her rather than the interim diagnosis of Global Developmental Delay. I've said to a few people before that although I think there is also some rare genetic disorder involved too, she's definitely 'on the spectrum', she's got too many of the same traits as myself not to be on the spectrum. Having her helps me to understand my own quirks better. Hopefully the assessment process goes well for her!
Good luck Kitsun. Is this the first diagnosis for your child? I had never even heard of CADU although we are just starting the process for our 2 year old son. Is this a private diagnosis?
Thank You! If positive then it would be the first proper diagnosis for my youngest, she's also 2. She does already have the interim diagnosis of Global Developmental Delay though, it's just a case of working out what's causing it. Due to her presenting symptoms and my own Autism they referred her for Autism assessment, she's also having genetic testing done when she gets to the top of the list! CADU is the Child Assessment and Development Unit in my area, it may go by different names in different areas. This is an NHS assessment. How far through the process have you got with your 2 year old son?
We've literally just visited a health visitor who has referred us to have a diagnosis. We've been told a 2 year wait.
Is there anything we can do to be more proactive?
2 years!! That's a long wait! If your son has delayed speech then maybe ask your Health visitor to refer him to the Speech and Language Therapists (SALT), I know that in many areas including mine SALT won't actually give them any input until they're 3! But they can assess before the age of 3 and you would also (hopefully) get offered pre-SALT short courses that are run at many children's centres and he'd be on the waiting list. Maybe also call the helpline on this website to see if they can offer any helpful advice?
https://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/about-us/contact-us.aspx