Private autism specialist in the north east of England?

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Gizalba
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12 Jun 2014, 11:03 am

Hello, I wondered if anyone knew of any private autism specialists in the north east, preferably who have experience in diagnosing females?

I find the NHS a nightmare and can't seem to get a referral onto a waiting list to see an autism specialist, so I am now looking into private. However I am struggling to even find any private specialist when I search online. If there is noone local I would be willing to travel within the country, so if anyone knows of anyone specialising in female Asperger's in England at all, I would be very grateful to know their details.



BirdInFlight
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12 Jun 2014, 1:01 pm

I don't know any specific ones, but you might have some luck finding a list of names from a search on the National Autistic Society's website, if you haven't already checked that out (link below):

National Autistic Society assessment search

You should be able to e-mail the specialists listed, and ask if they specialize in females and accept self-referrals.

The same website, however, states that in the UK an NHS diagnosis may be preferable in some cases, because should you ever need services or help of an official nature, sometimes a private diagnosis is not accepted by certain "powers that be."

.



Gizalba
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15 Jun 2014, 8:25 am

Thanks for the link, I had not looked there. Thanks also for pointing out that a private diagnosis may not always be accepted in order to access services - I am already under the disability service in education for mental illness and I have heard there isn't much NHS support for adults with autism, so if I got an ASD assessment it would be more for me to know if that's where my problems are rooted or not, rather than to access services.

Unless I have made an error searching, that site seems to say that the only diagnostic service for adults in the UK is the Lorna Wing Centre for Autism in London. I would be willing to travel to London, however it says that they only accept NHS referrals there. Every time I go to the GP to ask to see a specialist, they tell me they will put me on waiting list, but it always turns out that the waiting list leads back to a psychiatrist, and the psychiatrists always seem to have no idea about autism; when I ask about it they kind of just shrug or raise their eyebrows and avoid the question by stating simply that I'm just mentally ill, so I go round in circles.

I think I will email the national autistic society though to check if they know of any private services that haven't been listed on the site.



Sunderlandguy
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21 Jul 2014, 2:55 pm

I got a private diagnosis. Pm me and will send details