Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi everyone
I am new to this site but wondered if anyone has any helpful information. My 15 yr old son is currently waiting to see the community Paediatrician for diagnosis, we have been waiting since April and have now been told it will be the Autumn when he gets an appointment. In the meantime he has been diagnosed by a CAMHS child psychiatrist with ptsd which symptoms are similar to those of asd. He has also attempted suicide and has been receiving help on a one to one basis with a CAMHS core worker but have now been told that he can only have 2 more sessions unless we insist on him receiving more. School have been an absolute nightmare, retraumatising him and not making reasonable adjustments for his mental health, we have insisted on now applying for an EHC plan which the school have now agreed to and an application for a needs assessment has been done, we are waiting to hear back from the LA. Today in the car we were taking the dogs to the new groomers and because I got lost and one of the dogs wouldn't sit still my son became really agitated and aggressive and started to punch himself in the head which he has done previously but not for a while now. Just wondering if anyone has any advice as to how to speed up the appointment for asd diagnosis, is it worthwhile trying to get a private diagnosis? and tips if we need to appeal the EHC needs assessment?
All help would be very much appreciated from a desperately worried mum xx
Hello my name is julie and my 15 yr daughter was diagnosed in October of last year i really sympathise with you it has taken me about 5 years of fighting to get to this point, at 1St the school was telling me they had concerns about her and made me feel like I was doing somthing wrong, I have a twin brother who also has autism so I recognised some of the signs but getting the school to refer me was difficult I think they thought I was trying to take the easy way out, my daughter was also self harming since 10 yrs old so that was focused on, anyway secondary school proved difficult and finally some one listen it did take about 18 months from start to finish but it was worth it, i wldnt really recommend a private diagnosis as it isant really recognised only NHS, since diagnosis my daughter has tried to commit suicide 3 times because she doesn't understand the world around her and see no point in being here so I completely understand how your feeling, we are back at camhs well we have to wait a month for that appointment!! So the fight continues but my advice to you is to make as much noise as you can and keep making it, and keep taking to other people for advice it will help and make you feel like your not on your own, which your not, I wish you all the luck in the future
Hi Julie thank you for your response. It definitely is a long long journey with highs and lows along the way and sooooo stressful. Just when you think things are starting to improve wham something happens and puts you straight back to square one. It has all been a big learning curve for me. My son doesn't have contact with his birth father due to domestic violence so I am unsure as to autism on his paternal side but looking back feel his father displayed some symptoms. There is no autism in my family so it has been as I said, a big learning curve. Luckily my partner is very supportive and understanding with my son and they have a good relationship. What happens during diagnosis? We have already filled in a form and sent that back but I just wondered if it just consists of talking to my son?