"Lack of assessment"

My son was referred to CAMHS in primary school, we went to see someone for 6 sessions on a Monday afternoon. At the first visit they asked me (mum) lots of questions about before during and after the pregnancy and if I held my son all the time when he was born. On our 2nd visit they said they had found the root of the problem, my son and I had not bonded! They said they had come to this conclusion as I said I didn't hold him all the time.

I told them they were wrong and could we start again, on our 3rd week they advised me to buy a sticker chart to use to reward good behaviour. Never at any time was an actual assessment done which would determine if my son had ADHD or any other condition as I suspected he had. After the 6 weeks it appeared that my son had been getting bullied at school, they said this was the missing piece of the jigsaw and suggested I go back to the school to sort it out. I did this and for a very short period it was a bit better.

Since then we have had lots of issues at primary school and then onto high school. I have suggested on many occasions at the school that I still suspect there is something not quite right. They kept telling me it was behavioural. I went back to the doctor at the end of last year and they made a referral to CAMHS. They sent a letter to the school for further information and the school didn't get back to them so they sent me a letter the following month saying he was being removed from their waiting list. I phoned and asked the duty worker to please keep him on the list as I needed to know one way or another, at this point he is older and he is worse that before,  they assured me they would keep him on. 

At the end of the year, I phoned to see where we were on the list to be told he wasn't on the list. The duty worker asked me what exactly I wanted from them, I told them I was hoping to have my son assessed to see if he had ADHD or something else or if what was happening was simply just bad behaviour. They said the doctor had referred him to the wrong place, he should have been referred to the community psychologist and to go back to the doctor.

I went back to the doctor at the beginning of the year and they said the information I had been given was wrong and they sent another referral.  We are now on the list again as of then.  Things were getting so much worse at home so I phoned to say things were so much worse and I feared my son would hurt himself or someone else. Their response was that the list was long and we just have to wait our turn.

I phoned Rosshall Private Hospital and made an appointment to see a psychologist.  After a full assessment my son has been diagnosed with severe ADHD, Autism, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder. I am so disappointed that it took for me to go private for my son to be assessed properly and not diagnosed years ago.  Our lives could have been so different and my son would have been supported with his condition not to mention the expense of going private.