After getting frustrated with trying to get our GP to take concerns about my DD seriously, we eventually sought help from a private clinical psychologist. At nearly £100 for an hourly session it was something we could ill afford, but the situation with DDs self esteem and social difficulties needed urgent attention!
After initial consultations talking through her developmental history, psychometric testing was suggested and she was assessed using WISC IV. This showed a typically ASD profile and she was duly diagnosed as having Asperger Syndrome. A visit to her new school was organised (for which we paid) and several sessions with my daughter and the psychologist followed which seemed to generally be 'chats' about her experience at school (and the psychologist's own children!) and if she had any concerns or difficult situations and my DD became increasingly reluctant to discuss her emotions and feelings and reactions to situations and would just end up lying on the couch under cushions refusing to interact. Apart from her failure to engage other the conversations, we did increasingly feel that there was no plan of action to particularly help her develop social skills and that the (expensive) discussions were not fruitful.
We stopped sessions citing financial difficulty in continuing to pay but also concern that no concrete plan of action, support group access or any other definite avenues for helping her address the difficulties of having AS were being developed. It was also blindingly obvious that with DD refusing to interact, the sessions were becoming pointless.
Since then we have discovered through the NAS that not having an official NHS diagnosis precludes her for accessing lots of support which is available to other ASD children. Our GP referred us on the basis of the diagnosis suggested by the private psychologist and we have recently met with someone from the FACT team twice, once for an initial meeting to decide course of action and most recently to complete a formal Diagnostic Assessment.
I am extremely concerned that when the NHS psychologist contacted the private psychologist, she found it very difficult to get a response and impossible to obtain any of the notes that were taken during the numerous sessions with my DD, despite eventually receiving confirmation that she would send 'some' information. We also never received a report detailing the WISC test results, which surprised the NHS psychologist, and when she requested it from the private psychologist was told that the private psychologist had never written it up because we didn't pay our last bill, which is a BLATANT lie. Partly because we did (and have paid her a total of around £1500 for all the appointments) and partly because the testing took place in early sessions and numerous appointments were held after we were informed of the test results ( no report ever given to us in writing, just verbal feedback). The 'report' we have used when discussing the diagnosis with school is a copy of the letter sent to our GP outlining general conclusions and summarising outcomes of the WISC.
Also, when we had not organised appointments for a while with the private psychologist (mutually agreed due to DDs noncompliance) and wrote to suggest that we needed to meet to create a plan of action for us to support our DD with her ongoing difficulties, she urged us to make another appointment with her to talk it through - at no stage did she request payment for unpaid bills, and at no stage in the past year since stopping appointments with have we ever received a reminder to pay or notice of overdue bill (when all invoices for payments after appointments were always received within hours!) which is why I was so shocked to hear what had been told to the NHS psychologist.
I am just pleased our DD is now on the path to thorough and adequate diagnostic procedure and will have access to the support she needs (at long last). However, I am infuriated that after so much trust in the private psychologist it appears we have been somewhat 'taken for a ride'.
Can she legally refuse to share information about my daughter (especially information for which we have paid so much money?). Am I wrong to feel she has acted unprofessionally ?
Sorry this is so long. I genuinely would love some advice on what to do!
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Is this usual? Am I wrong to feel wronged?
19 replies
Schmedz · 20/02/2013 22:35
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