ADHD/autism assessment

sandoski

Hello guys and gals, I’m new here. Hope you are are well. 

Has anyone paid for a private assessment for ADHD/autism for there child? 

We have been waiting 2 years with camhs  to be assessed and today have been told there’s at least another year wait.. 

We have also only just been told about a EHCPs, and we have just started the application. I’m wondering if you can pay for this private too, to help speed things up? 

I feel my child’s mental health is declining fast in his mainstream school, life seems to be getting more challenging for him and he is worrying me.

Tori_Scope

Welcome to the community @sandoski  

Thank you for being so open and honest in your first post here. I'm sorry to hear that your child's been waiting so long for their assessment. I can imagine this is distressing for you all. 

I don't have personal experience of paying privately for an ADHD or autism assessment, but I'm sure other members will do. 

You might also find it helpful to get in touch with the National Autistic Society (NAS). They have some information on their website about assessments, including private assessments.

You may also find it helpful to check out ADHD UK's page on private ADHD assessments.

I think some important things to take away from both of those pages is how important it is to check that the person who's doing the assessment has all of the required qualifications, that you shop around for the price, and that you think beforehand about the continuation of your child's care after the assessment. Does that make sense?

We have some information on our website about using a private assessment for an EHCP, which you might like to read.

One of our volunteers, @L_Volunteer, may also be able to give you some guidance on this  

Is your child currently receiving any support for their mental health? I know CAMHS waiting times can be really long, unfortunately. 

Is the school able to offer them any mental health support? 

L_Volunteer

Hello @sandoski. Welcome to Scope’s forum. It is great to see you have joined us. How are you at the moment?

Thanks for already finding the courage to reach out to us. I appreciate the courage it can take to reach out, especially when you are new and finding things difficult.

You can get a private assessment for ADHD/autism. However, I need to inform you that schools don’t often accept private diagnoses, unfortunately.

This is similar to EHCPs. EHCPs have to be processed by the local authority which means it is a single line of the stream.

This is unfortunate given your frustrations and wishes as a parent to make things speed up to meet the needs of your son.

You have mentioned your child’s mental health declining and he is worrying you. Would you feel able to share more with us about what this looks like and if you have any support?

We are listening to you if you would like to share more with us. I am thinking a beneficial point of contact might be your GP.

However, it sounds like your GP is already aware because your son is already accessing CAMHS. Might just be worth keeping them in the loop.

Other than this, has your son's school got a nurture/thrive department - it might be worth approaching your son's SENDCO/teacher, especially if your son is in primary school.

It might also be worth considering if there are any other services, either external or internal that might be able to support your son.

Externally, I am thinking of resources such as the ADHD Foundation, the National Autistic Society and any other schools that might be better suited for your son. 

Internally - does your son have any member of staff within his school that he trusts who might be able to support him?

Please don’t hesitate to let us know if we can do anything else to support you. Take care for now and we will look forward to, hopefully, hearing from you again soon