Ok, so at some point in every parent Autism Assessment journey, you have probably considered getting a private Autism Assessment at least a dozen times. There is a lot of misconception around private Autism Assessments (that we clarified in our previous article) but one thing that we at CareGen always recommend is to carefully consider what company you go with. In this article, we’re going to discuss 3 quality assurance checks you need to make before going down the private Autism Assessment route.

Considering getting a private Autism Assessment with CareGen? Then why not book into our FREE Clinical Appointments here.

Check Registrations

You’d be surprised how many private companies and individuals offer parents Autism assessments when they know they don’t have the qualifications to give a formal diagnosis. There is a reason why most clinicians who diagnose Autism are required by law to hold some form of professional registration. This shows that the individual has the necessary qualifications to practice safely and has the authority to give a formal diagnosis. Without this, there is potential that your child Autism Assessment could be called into question and in some cases not accepted by services.

So what should parents look for? Firstly, ask the clinician what professional body they belong to. The main 2 professional bodies that you’ll find within most Autism services (both private and NHS) are HCPC and GMC. HCPC is the Health Care Professions Council and has very high standards for any healthcare professional offering their services to the public. Thankfully they have a register where you can check if the clinician that assessed or diagnosed your child has registration (click here to see). The GMC is the General Medical Council which is mainly for medical doctors, however this holds the same weight as the HCPC. Regardless, we always advise any parent that is considering going private to check the qualifications of the assessing clinician, to ensure they are getting the highest quality service.

Assessment Process

The second check is to look at what the assessment process entails. What tools are the clinicians using to assess your child? In a standard Autism Assessment, you should expect to have a detailed developmental history taken along with a clinical observation of your child (whether this be online or in person). The clinician should also have some information from a second environment (which is usually school) and should have given you forms for them to fill in.

If your assessment does not reflect a similar process to what is outlined above then that should raise some alarm bells. Any qualified Autism clinician knows that the above steps should give the necessary information to make a clinical decision (whether that is a diagnosis or not). Without a variation of these steps, it could bring your assessment/diagnosis into question by mainstream services such as school and other healthcare services.

 Quality Report

This is something that I have seen a lot of in my time of assessing individuals for Autism. I have read some shocking reports in the past where the clinician clearly has not understood the child or doesn’t have a good understanding of Autism. An Autism report should outline in detail how an individual meets the criteria for a diagnosis of Autism. There are 2 main bodies that most services use to make a diagnosis. These are the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) and the ICD-11 (International Classification of Disease). This is where most clinicians go to diagnose anything, and they both have strict criteria’s that must be met to get a diagnosis of Autism.

If you have a report that mentions that your child has received a diagnosis, check in relation to which diagnostic manual. Without specification, this could hinder the quality of your assessment and call into question the validity of the outcome. If this is unclear then you can always go back to the service that carried out the assessment and ask them what manual they use and if they can amend the report to reflect this.

Considering getting a private Autism Assessment with CareGen? Then why not book into our FREE Clinical Appointments here.

In my nearly 10 years of assessing, diagnosing, and supporting people with Autism, there have been 3 key strategies that almost always work, when it comes to parents making their child’s life easier. In this article, we’ll break down these tried and tested strategies in the hopes that they will help you and your loved ones have a better quality of life.

Want to speak to an Autism Specialist? Book your FREE Clinical Appointment here.

Back Words with Visuals

I know all too well how frustrating it can be when your child is just not listening to you. When you feel as though you’ve told them to do something for the millionth time and they still aren’t listening. However, this could be due to several reasons, one being that your child may struggle with processing auditory information. This is where backing up what you’ve said, with some form of visual aid, comes in handy. This is due to this being a different type of information which reinforces what you’re saying to get the desired outcome. For example, if you’ve asked your child to grab their socks, you could back this up with a picture of their sock to support them in processing what you’ve asked them to do.

This seems to be the one strategy that most families find helps the most and reduces the amount of times you are asking your child to do something. There are also many resources that you can buy online such as visual cards for everyday things, so that you’re not scrambling to find a picture of different items.

Routine Routine Routine!

This is going to sound strange but if you’ve said that you are going to do something at a specific time, then make sure that it happens. Often, as parents, we say things like “we’ll go in 5 minutes” and then end up leaving 30 minutes later. To your child, 5 minutes means 5 MINUTES! At 6 minutes you may get a few comments like “you said 5 minutes” or in some cases, a full meltdown. For your Autistic child, the world is already a confusing place but by sticking to a routine, you’re introducing stability and predictability to your child’s life.

Couple this strategy with using visual aids to show your child what is going to happen on that day. I know so many families that use visual timetables in their homes and it has completely changed their lives. I remember supporting one family and after a few weeks, they thought their child wasn’t even looking at the timetable, so they took it down. About an hour later, they found their child actively searching for something, he found the timetable and put it back on the fridge.

Time to Process

This is probably one of the most difficult strategies to implement but will most likely have the best returns. Have you ever had it where you’ve asked your child a question and they haven’t responded or look like they are thinking? The natural response in this situation is to rephrase the question, however this is probably the worst things to do. Imagine you’re on an assembly line and you’re trying to figure out how to put something together. Now imagine that as you’re trying to figure it out, someone gives you more items to figure out and keeps adding to your workload. Eventually, you would either become distressed or completely shut down. This is exactly what happens when you overload your child with different information without giving time to fully process.

Try this, the next time you ask your child something, sit back and wait. See how long it takes for your child to respond to you. You’d be surprised as to how many parents find that their child just needed a few extra seconds, and they were able to respond appropriately. Once you have done this a few times, keep a mental note of how long it takes for your child to process information in different environments. Reason for this is that your child could process information much quicker in a relaxed environment, however might take a little longer in a more stressful environment.

Want to speak with an Autism Specialist? Book your FREE Clinical Appointment here.

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So there is a lot of misinformation out there about getting a private Autism Assessment. Things like “schools don’t accept private assessments” or “They’re not the same standards as the NHS” and we’re here to clear a lot of this up. In this article, we’re going to discuss why most people should consider getting a Private Autism Assessment.

If you’re already thinking of going private for an Autism Assessment but want more information, then why not book a free clinical appointment with a qualified Autism specialist at CareGen here.

Saves a lot of TIME!

The biggest reason that a lot of families go private for an Autism Assessment is due to the horrendous waiting times for an Autism Assessment within the NHS. In some areas, this can be up to 4 years for an assessment. To put this into perspective, a child could be referred for an Autism assessment when in Reception and not be seen until they are in Year 4. For many families, this is just way too much time wasted, especially when some schools struggle to implement any strategies without a formal diagnosis.

This is where Private Autism Assessments come in. The waiting times are far less, and you can usually be seen within weeks. For many families and individuals, this means that they can access support quicker and with little disruption to their daily lives.

“The standards aren’t the same as the NHS”

You’re right the standards aren’t the same between NHS and Private Autism Assessments! This is because in most cases, Private Assessments will offer a lot more than an NHS service can, due to the time freedoms these companies have, in comparison to NHS services. This often means that you have more access to clinicians within private services and they often spend more time on cases than if they were working in the NHS. In fact, many professionals that work in private Autism Assessment services, also work within NHS Autism services.

In addition, because there is the added element of you paying for the service. Most private clinicians use this as a driving factor to provide the best possible service. Therefore, if you mix this belief with more time to really get to know you or your loved one, then you can expect a higher standard of care in comparison to other services.

“School don’t accept Private Diagnosis”.

 Sadly, this is true in some schools, however this should be challenged immediately! In my many years of working in NHS Autism services, there were times when we would get phone calls from families in this exact situation. Our response was always, for them to tell school that if we accept private assessments then they should to. If the school was still insistent on getting an NHS assessment, we would then send the school a letter saying that we accept the private diagnosis, and that they should treat the diagnosis the same as an NHS diagnosis.

This is a common misconception that Autism Assessments need to be from the NHS otherwise school won’t accept this. However, in most cases, schools are happy to accept any diagnosis if it is from a qualified Autism clinician. In addition, many NHS services are now outsourcing their Autism Assessments to private companies so this issue should become less common in years to come.

Thank you for reading this article by CareGen. If you are considering going private for you/your loved ones Autism Assessment then why not book a FREE clinical appointment with an Autism Specialist at CareGen today by clicking here