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still waiting for assessment

NAS96348

Hi, does anyone have an idea roughly how long I’ll be waiting for an autism assessment? I have already been waiting 17 months and it is negatively affecting my mental health not knowing if I will have a diagnosis or not. I can’t really afford to go private at the moment and I could do with having a diagnosis this year before I finish uni. 

For context: I am a 21 year old female with anxiety, depression, a history of an eating disorder and suspected POTS. 

  • Depends where you live. After a four year wait, Mum.and I moced area and they fast-tracked me so I was seen after four and a half years. 

    Best thing if ones mental health is taking a turn, is to get in tough with your autism team to ask if they have drop in days where you can talk. They are really helpful I have found and without them I would not have survived. 

    Only been to one since I moved as these days one has to be on facebook to find the dates and locations and I am not on there so I moss them. They have sent me a sheet for the months open days but they sent me last months dates which made me chuckle! (How can I go back in time?)

    Bur these open days (Drop in centres?) are for autistics AND those waiting for assessment, along with the families of autistic people, so ask to go to see them. 

  • Hi and welcome to the community!

    Unfortunately, waiting times for autism assessments vary across the UK. In my area - and, from what I've seen from others' posts here - most or all other NHS diagnostic services also don't provide estimates.

    If you're in England, then you might like to talk to your GP about switching your referral to the Right to Choose (RTC) pathway. RTC enables you to use an NHS-approved private provider of your choice, which could result in a significantly shorter waiting time.

    My experience of waiting was similar to yours. Upon realising that I might be autistic, I initially felt relief. However, the longer that I waited on the NHS waiting list, the worse my mental health became. After two years, I was referred to an NHS psychiatrist for medication that the GP's couldn't prescribe. He told me about RTC. I switched pathways and was assessed and diagnosed within just a few months.  

    You can find more information about RTC here:

    NAS - What is 'Right to Choose'?

    This website (for example) lists some RTC providers along with website links:

    Memorial Medical Centre - ADHD and ASD assessment – Right To Choose

  • in reply to aeldron

    Also, to be fair, if you are looking to get a diagnosis it's probably because you are in the spectrum. Non-autistic people don't go wondering "I think I might be autistic, I should probably get a diagnosis." If you got to that point, I'd assume you've done your research and it resonated with you. 

    I understand what you said about the wait affecting your mental health. I went through the same prices myself but I only had to wait for 4 months, and it was torture. 

    Get in touch with Problem Shared as I mentioned, and also take a look at some resources on YouTube, these channels helped me a lot: 

    - Paul Micallef's channel Autism from the Inside

    - channel "I'm autistic, now what?" run by a British woman called Megan 

    - Orion Kelly - That Autistic Guy

  • It can be a very long wait if you are young through the NHS. 

    If you are fortunate enough to have access to private medical health, like AXA, it can be a lot quicker.

    I recommend you do it via https://www.problemshared.net/ even if you're going via NHS, they will give you some handy templates that you can take to your GP to speed up the process. 

    I hope this helps. Good luck!