In June we had our first appointment at CAMHS, this was more of a triage appointment with the idea of referring you on to parenting classes as they don’t refer children under 6 for diagnosis. Fortunately we had already done the recommended courses plus others with George so we didn’t have to do them again. We had a few sessions at CAMHS sometimes with Faye, sometimes just us. Once Faye turned 6 in July they agreed to refer her to the neuro team for a full assessment not just looking at ADHD but ASD as well.
We quickly received a letter accepting the referral and advising us of an 18 week wait, we were therefore surprised to receive an appointment after only 14 weeks. We were seen at the end of November for a 2 hour appointment. We were nervous that Faye would not be herself as she manages to contain herself and mask a lot at school, saving her meltdowns for the moment she walks out of school.
Faye was taken into one room for a play based observation and assessment and we were in another answering questions. At the end of this we received a verbal report about the play assessment whilst the other Dr went to carry out some additional checks with Faye. We had a short wait whilst they compared notes and decided on their diagnoses. ADHD was very clear and given straight away, she also received a diagnosis of Autism which would fall into the Asperger’s category if that were still diagnosed. We were a little surprised as school weren’t sure of her symptoms and she presents very differently to George. What a smooth process this time around has been, exactly the way it should be and we felt listened to the whole way through, if only this had been so easy with George.
