Referral for assessment

irishgirl19

Pasting thread I posted in parenting.

Hi we were at pead appt on Friday and doctor says my daughter (22months) displaying signs on ASD. She referred to early intervention team and said she will have an autism assessment with psychologist and that is what she is most concerned about.
I was upset after hearing this but I knew something was off. I don't know how to help my daughter. I have heard waiting lists are years? I don't have a lot of money but we do have health insurance so I suppose my question is does anyone know if we can go down this route for assessment privately and whats a ballpark figure of a cost.
Thanks for reading

Edit to add. Don't want to insult any parents by saying I'm upset. I know very little about autism and so worried its going to be an uphill battle trying to get the right services etc.

farmerwifelet

it is ok, I was very upset when I found out little man might be on the spectrum. It is very normal. Also worrying about how their life will turn out and how much you can do for them. It is great that they are getting your little girl into the system now. Best thing i did was go to the parenting course the early intervention team ran. It was great to meet up with other parents facing the same stuff as me. I felt so alone and seeing other people in the same boat made it much easier also we gave each other tips and tricks for dealing with issues.

One thing if you do suspect your little girl is autistic try and be their supporter - sounds silly. but my little man could only tolerate being in certain places for a limited time so once he started getting antsy i would go - be it at granny's, shops whatever. He learned that mammy wouldn't force him past his limit and it helped enormously. They are not being a brat (though im sure people think it) they just can't handle the sensory overload. I don't let him away with murder but if i know he is starting to get overwhelmed then we are out of there - it is very difficult and requires a lot of work (and on your part a Feic it attitude. I left loads of things early but in the end prevention is way easier for me and him to deal with than the meltdown that sensory overload would cause.

irishgirl19

Thank you farmerwife that is very helpful. Hopefully we won't be waiting too long for early intervention team. Its the being in limbo part thats the worst

farmerwifelet

I know its very tough - mind yourself. It is a tough time for you mentally and physically. The not knowing can be very hard. services for autism are improving all the time. Hang in there.

limnam

irishgirl19 wrote: »

Pasting thread I posted in parenting.

Hi we were at pead appt on Friday and doctor says my daughter (22months) displaying signs on ASD. She referred to early intervention team and said she will have an autism assessment with psychologist and that is what she is most concerned about.
I was upset after hearing this but I knew something was off. I don't know how to help my daughter. I have heard waiting lists are years? I don't have a lot of money but we do have health insurance so I suppose my question is does anyone know if we can go down this route for assessment privately and whats a ballpark figure of a cost.
Thanks for reading

Edit to add. Don't want to insult any parents by saying I'm upset. I know very little about autism and so worried its going to be an uphill battle trying to get the right services etc.

It's not covered on health insurance.

but don't wait for the HSE or anyone else. Scrimp/borrow do whatever you have to do to get the assessment done privately. It's about 350e

Micheal Fitzgerald in Blanchardstown can do it for you and no waiting.

caniask86

It is very upsetting when you find out your child has Autism but I try to see as my child is still my child but he has Autism. The child is not Autism if you now what I mean. My son was diagnosed pretty early like your daughter, he got the AON quite fast. I can tell you now that looking back on his report now, it a different child. Those reports are only a snapshot in time. You dont really know where you will be at until they are nearer 5, in my opinion anyway.

I cannot recommended getting some health insurance. I got my son VHI 40 euro a month, best money we ever spent. We did private speech therapy, OT and other consultants. He started out non verbal and now he speaks loads.

Psychologeeee

Hello. I understand that waiting for an assessment can be difficult. You may be able to find out the waiting time from the local AON team if you contact them.

irishgirl19

Thanks all. One consultant doc said there were no concerns for autism at all that he thought it was global development delay and obviously the other did. Very hard waiting and not knowing.
I have been very down about it all. We have health insurance and I recently upped her cover but it only covers 8 speech and language sessions and 8 occupational therapys a year. We have a meeting with speech therapist on Friday (private) to come up with a plan for her

irishgirl19

Well 400e lighter and we have got our diagnosis. God I am just so heartbroken. How did I not cop it beforehand. She doesn't like hugs or cuddles from me and eye contact is terrible. My worst fear is she will never be social or learn to talk.
Starting SLT and OT soon though. Half hour of each once a week.
Things just seem so crap right now. Dr said shes a learning disability also.
I am so worried about my baby girl :-(

endacl

irishgirl19 wrote: »

Well 400e lighter and we have got our diagnosis. God I am just so heartbroken. How did I not cop it beforehand. She doesn't like hugs or cuddles from me and eye contact is terrible. My worst fear is she will never be social or learn to talk.
Starting SLT and OT soon though. Half hour of each once a week.
Things just seem so crap right now. Dr said shes a learning disability also.
I am so worried about my baby girl :-(

She's still the same baby girl from before. She doesn't know anything is different, and nothing is. Take things step by step. She'll get where she's going. Same as every kid. Your worst fear is a natural and understandable fear, but give it time. A fear is not a prediction.

irishgirl19

Thanks I just wish I could stop feeling so sad about it. Its already been a week and I still feel no better

limnam

irishgirl19 wrote: »

Thanks I just wish I could stop feeling so sad about it. Its already been a week and I still feel no better

It's going to take some time, don't be too hard on yourself.

You might want to read up on ASD grief cycle it might help you with understanding the psychological part of what you're likely going through.

People deal with it in different ways, don't put a clock on it.