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15 year old son with severe anxiety not attending school, possible autism / ADHD - help to know where to start for tests

NAS80054

Hi Im hoping someone might read this and hopefully give me some in site as to what to do next.

My son has struggled with attending school since starting high school, he struggles to make friends, has severe anxiety about school but is happy to go out skateboarding and does seem to be able to be social with people whilst doing this.

I  had to go private to get him tested for various things and it was suggested he could have traits of autism / ADHD. Since the pandemic I have not managed to get him properly diagnosed as it was thought by school and doctors that he was just depressed. School are letting him do a reduced timetable but are not pushing him to go in so he's attending less and less. He has been referred to CAMHS but again this takes months and he is almost year 11. 

We are a single parent family and his dad has not been a part of his or his brothers life for a number of years now so this could also have something to do with it. He has severe issues with his dad abandoning him.

Does anyone have any thoughts as to where I go next? There are tests out there for Autism but Im not sure it is definitive that it is Autism. Clinical Partners do a test for mental health and also Autism, does  anyone have any experience of them or any other similar companies that could help. I am paying for this myself rather than through the NHS so any advice anyone could give would be greatly appreciated. My son has done so much research himself that he is convinced it is only anxiety and not Autism.

My brother was diagnosed as Autistic in late adulthood I don't want my son to have the same struggles that he has had.

Parents

  • Hi, We have been through a very similar route with our daughter who is 16 and in year 11. NHS waiting times are just so long and it’s heart breaking to watch your child be so unhappy. We had a general assessment with Clinical Partners who diagnosed generalised anxiety disorder and it was done via zoom. I wouldn’t recommend Clinical Partners as it is impossible to get hold of them by phone and the after care is shocking. We ended up making a complaint and receiving compensation. The most important thing with the Autism assessment is that it is done face to face. We have had an autism assessment and there are a couple of places local to us that I would recommend. We are on the Oxford/Bucks boarder. 
    My daughter was also convinced she was not autistic and initially found it hard to accept but slowly she is finding out and learning more about herself. This has not really had any impact on her anxiety and depression yet but we have also started DBT which she is finding useful.

  • in reply to NAS79333

    Thank for your reply we are in Leeds unfortunately not close to you, and like you I had already made the decision it needed to be done face to face, Im still trying to find someone to help, fingers crossed for all of us.  I will look into DBT maybe that will help him.

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