Hello,
51 year old man here and I'm finally looking into getting an autism assessment after years of struggling and faking it to the point I feel completely burnt out
My 10 year old nephew got diagnosed last summer and seeing how much he's been struggling really triggered something in me because I realised I was just like him when I was a kid. I feel like my whole life I've been in overwhelm mode and I want to get an assessment to see if autism is the reason why.
I've done an embarrassing amount of online screeners and every single one results in "borderline" - which could be either because I'm a high masking adult or because it's not autism.
I'm in Somerset and I'm going to go private because as an older persosn I'm sure I'll be very low down on the NHS waiting list. So I was wondering who here has had a private assessment and who would you recommend?
Thank you.
My therapist only looks after ND clients and their families, and recommended Axia. My first ASD assessment with P-UK was negative, based on how I presented that day, but stated traits in line with ADHD, which I've now been diagnosed with. In her first meeting, she recommended them for a second opinion, and I asked for a referral for a second opinion through RTC, stating her thoughts, and how more ASD traits are a lot more obvious now I've settled on ADHD meds and HRT.
My referral request was sent in October, and Axia called to book an appointment two weeks later. It's in March.
Thanks, this is useful. Good luck with the assessment in March.
Hi, I was diagnosed with autism around 40(m) and I went via the NHS and waited years before they got an outside assessment company to do my autism assessment.
But have you looked into Right to Choose and your GP will need to refer you and it's done by a selection of different private providers chosen by the NHS and the NHS will cover the cost of the autism assessment to be done via a private autism assessor and I did this a few years ago for my ADHD assessment? There can still be a wait but months rather than years like it would be on the NHS.
I would recommend looking into Right to Choose online and then book an appointment with your GP explaining that you think you could have autism and can they refer you for an assessment using Right to Choose and if they agree they will do the referral and you should be given a list of the different assessors for you to choose who you want to go with. Whoever you choose will inform your GP of the outcome of the assessment and if diagnosed with autism your GP will add the condition to your health records. I hope this helps and good luck.
This is really useful info, thank you. I didn't know about Right to Choose but I'm going to look into it now.
It's worth looking into and saves waiting years and also paying to go private. Good luck