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(same person, new throwaway, forgot password to the previous one) > if you doubt the diagnosis, fine - get a second opinion We actually tried to get a second opinion. We went to another psychologist for one, she booked us in, but then her superiors cancelled it. They said if a child has been diagnosed as having ASD Level 2, they didn't want to repeat the assessment since there was a risk they might get undiagnosed or only diagnosed as Level 1, which would remove his eligibility for government disability funding (NDIS). (Which we still haven't applied for, because we aren't convinced he needs it, and don't know what to spend it on anyway.) They wanted us to go to see some paediatrician they like, who is actually a colleague of our son's existing one. Instead we took him back to his existing paediatrician. He said he too was a bit sceptical about the diagnosis, but that psychological diagnosis isn't an entirely objective process, and it doesn't really matter whether he has ASD or not, and it would be a waste of time to repeat the assessment, so we should just do nothing about it for 6-12 months, and see how he goes, and consider repeating the assessment in another 2-3 years. |
As an adult with Asperger's/Autism in a full-time job -- I agree that your child might not need the funding. But at this point, it is probably too early to tell.
I can also imagine a situation where a person with Autism was relying on, say, a bus funded by NDIS as part of their routine, was re-diagnosed as L1, had their routine disrupted, and came back to the psychiatrist and had a meltdown in the office. You'd only need one or two of these experiences to decide on a blanket policy to not rediagnose folks.