mariag Report post Posted September 3, 2009 Hi all My husband went for an initial assesment yesterday with a member of a mental health team. We had previously gone to our gp and asked for a referal to a specailist who could diagnose asd and were told we needed a referal from the mental health team first. Anyway at this appointment yesterday we were really hoping for a referal not a diagnosis, but on seeing them we were told that from the information we gave them my husband has an anxiety disorder...!!?? The lady who gave this diagnosis has never had any contact with anyone prior to us wishing for an Asd diagnosis, she got out a book which both my husband and i felt was a dictionary at first but then she started asking us 8 questions about autism and decided that he is not autistic, these questions however applied to children not adults. She said that if we are not happy we could ask for a second opinion but my husband was traumatised by the experience and has said he will not go again unless he sees someone with experience of Asd with adults! We have 3 children 2 whom have a diagnosis of asd and the other we shall find out at the end of this month, we were educating her as she has many misconceptions as to what Asd is. We are waiting for her written assesment as she has to speak to a collegue who knows a bit more than her, they may decide to refer but if they dont we need to know what we should do next, can anyone help us with this, or has anyone had any similar experiences? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul234 Report post Posted September 3, 2009 Hi I'm no expert but from personal experience you can ask your GP for a referral to a proper diagnosis team there are very few in this country, this is the address of the one I have asked my GP http://www.adrc.co.uk/# Paul Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mariag Report post Posted September 3, 2009 Hi I'm no expert but from personal experience you can ask your GP for a referral to a proper diagnosis team there are very few in this country, this is the address of the one I have asked my GP http://www.adrc.co.uk/# Paul Hi paul Thanks for your advice we do have a contact name of someone who can diagnose that is very near to us but we went down that line before and needed to get an initial assessment from the mental health team first before this particular team is willing to take it on. It a shame really as this team wrote a letter to us saying they will take it on but just needed a referal from mental heath team to cover nhs costs. A big bit of red tape for us......!! I will look at your link though, thanks again Maria Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kathryn Report post Posted September 3, 2009 What a frustrating experience for your husband. I can think of at laast one adult here who had a similar experience with an inexperienced team and ended up with an inappropriate label. This person eventually got a referral to the right place and got a diagnosis of AS. So don't give up - persist in asking for another opinion. K x Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul234 Report post Posted September 3, 2009 Hi I contacted the website and they told me the GP could refer us because the mental health team did not do Autism, the GP then goes to the primary care trust on your behalf and askes for the finance to pay for it, Paul Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mariag Report post Posted September 4, 2009 Thanks paul and katherine for your encouragement. Both myself and husband feel quite cross actually because when you open up about stuff like that you hope to be taken seriously, there is so much info on the internet these days, she could have been a little more prepared than just a pocket guide for all mental illnesses, its a joke....! We will have to wait till her assessment comes though in case she decides to refer anyway?! Thanks again for telling us paul that our gp can apply for funding i didnt know that, so that will be very useful. Will let you know what happens then. Maria :-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LicklePaulie Report post Posted September 4, 2009 Thanks for your advice we do have a contact name of someone who can diagnose that is very near to us but we went down that line before and needed to get an initial assessment from the mental health team first before this particular team is willing to take it on... A big bit of red tape for us......!!This advice is not strictly true - though normal procedure is GP referring to CMHT referring to Diagnostic Services you can ask for a referral to assessment services direct from your GP. It IS extremely frustrating trying to work your way through all the red tape (particularly when the professionals themselves are not sure of procedural limits!). Simplest course of action? Put down on paper the reasons you and your husband suspect ASD; Take this to GP and request direct referral to Diagnostic Services; Insist in assessment from specialist in the field (clearly CMHT do not often meet this criteria); Scream and shout at GP until you get desired response (they will normally be happy to give your problem to an expert and get it out of their office). Though this seems rather confrontational, unfortunately in the current system it is only the loudest that get attended to. Do not worry though, you are not by-passing the system by making this request, you are doing nothing wrong, and it is perfectly acceptable for the GP to request an assessment directly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mariag Report post Posted September 4, 2009 Thank you, our GP doesnt have the problem it was the person who could diagnose, i'm not sure if they are a diagnostic team? They wrote back to us requesting this procedure. I will need to look up on internet a diagnostic team for my area. This advice is all REALLY GOOD though, as we no longer feel so helpless. Thanks everyone again for all your help. Maria x Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
