"ASD Diagnostic assessments"

Informed decisions helper

My children were assessed for autism at Caudwell Children. I was informed that I would only need to wait 4 months for assessments. However, we ended up waiting 21 months for the assessments and then a further 5 months for feedback on the assessments and a diagnosis, which I thought was appalling.

I was also very disappointed with the reports because most of the feedback about the assessments the clinical team did was vague. The clinical team misquoted statements I made and other professionals but they refused to amend that information. They also wrote a number of statements about my children that they did not have sufficient historical evidence dating back from early childhood, to support their claims. 

Caudwell Children sound good on paper and their building looks impressive and we were initially impressed with the organization. However, we now seriously regret ever getting our children assessed by them. Although Caudwell Children state that they can fund assessments you will still be expected to currently pay a significant amount towards the assessments and complete a lot of additional extensive paperwork about your finances to get the contribution. I personally would not get my children assessed by Caudwell Children again even if the assessments were free.

Fortunately, due to the issues raised above my GP who made the referral offered to refer my children to another clinic so that I can get them re-assessed again but I had to go through the time-consuming process of completing the ASD assessment paperwork again.