Thanks Dudley, I’m so glad you were happy. We had seen so many professionals before finding Eleni who were a disappointment and moreover diagnosed our daughter wrongly. Eleni approaches things differently and everything she said has turned out to be correct a few years on.

Hi, having been through the various consultations and assessment with Dr Paliokosta at the Effra Clinic, I thought I should leave a recommendation for anyone else trying to navigate this themselves (for what may be, as it has been for us, a confusing and bewildering time). I can not recommend Dr Paliokosta highly enough. She went above and beyond what was required - and after the diagnosis, made herself available free of charge on Skype for a chat to answer questions and provide further information. She has a lovely manner and put us and our child at ease. We now have what we need in order to access the local council support services.

I had contacted a couple of other very highly recommended paediatric psychiatrists before getting in touch with Dr Paliokosta. I must say, it was a nightmare trying to get through to them or even their medical secretaries. The Effra Clinic has been easy to deal with throughout, transparent about fees, etc.

Thanks so much, she sounds excellent, have already left a message.

Hi again
No we didn’t do a multi disciplinary assessment, but we did a full spectrum assessment and also ADHD/ADD.
She is really excellent and is also connected to other equally good people if your child needs referral.
Very best of luck and take care

Hi, I’m revisiting this thread again as Dr Keen has been impossible to get hold of. Thank you so much catboo1 for the recommendation, I will contact Dr Paliokosta now! Was it a formal multi disciplinary assessment that you arranged in the end? Thank you again.

Hi there
I have been through exactly what you have with our daughter. We were lucky to find ( via a friend at great Ormond street) a leading expert on spectrum disorders. She was amazing and I couldn’t recommend her highly enough.
She works at The Effra clinic and her name is Dr. Eleni Paliokosta. She unearthed the exact difficulties our daughter was having Despite school who kept telling us she was on the autistic spectrum, Dr. Eleni dismisses that fairly quickly with her expertise. She has many years of experience in this area. In fact our child has speech and language difficulties which were overlooked and misunderstood at school.
Good luck

Daphne Keen is very well respected but her waiting list to be seen privately can also be quite long.
We decided to wait for the NHS wheels to turn in the end, in order to be able to get the onward referrals for support post diagnosis, which meant we have stayed with the same team (good continuity).
If school has made the referral, they must be aware of/have identified needs. These needs should be met (through SEN funding) without a diagnosis. So work with the school to establish the provisions they will put in place now, whether you go private or stay on the waiting list.

Feel free to pm me if helpful!

Thank you 2009Kat, that is really helpful. We are new to this so no idea where to start! Will look up Daphne Keen and the facebook groups you mention. Thanks again.

Hi Dudley
First of all, if your child has needs now then you should b able to identify those and ask for support (ed psych?) even without a diagnosis (although the paperwork tends to help).
Daphne Keen is often recommended privately (and until recently was the main diagnostician for ASD in Wandsworth). I think there is also the Lorna Wing Centre at GOSH.
There are some Facebook groups for ASD which may be a better place to post for info - search ASD SW London and ASD Child in SW London

Our school has referred our child for a developmental paediatric assessment and multi-disciplinary assessment in order to find out if our child is on the autistic spectrum. However there is a waiting list of 1 year. This seems a long time to wait and we're considering going private. Has anyone been through this and if so, could you recommend anyone who could do this for us?

(Ideally someone whose diagnosis would be recognised by the local authority, rather than having to wait until the official assessment in a year's time before measures can be taken to assist.)

Thank you very much for any input you may be able to provide.