# Anyone had a general development assessment?



## liz1985

So we started ds referal all the way back in October, and he finally went on the waiting list for a GDA last week. The waiting list was 8 months but I put him on the cancellation list and we have an appointment for Monday! So impressed with how fast that was. I'm not sure what to expect and wondered if anyone had experience? Do they give you any answers there and then or do you have to wait for a follow up/ letter? I'm not sure if all areas are the same but my understanding is that after this appointment they will either discharge him, or put him on a pathway for either ADHD, ASD or non global development delay. Wondered if they let you know that day or not? Thank you.


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## lolalei3

Hi there would be keen to know how your son went at his app as my son will be having one soon. He is almost 2 and not yet talking or walking


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## liz1985

lolalei3 said:


> Hi there would be keen to know how your son went at his app as my son will be having one soon. He is almost 2 and not yet talking or walking

Hi. He had his appointment in June. It was mostly me answering a lot of questions covering his development from birth to present day. Because my ds is at school, they had also had to send in information about how he was at school, and us and school had to fill in some questionnaires. Ds also had a physical examination and was observed during the assessment, just how he played with toys, how he acted towards the doctor etc. He was referred onto the autism pathway, which in my area is a really long wait for over 5s so he won't get an actual diagnosis till around age 7.


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## lolalei3

Oh wow that's crazy! What do they expect you to do in the mean time?


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## liz1985

lolalei3 said:


> Oh wow that's crazy! What do they expect you to do in the mean time?

I know it's awful really. His school are basically expected to support him but we get no help from any other agencies, it's all just us and school. We could apply for an EHCP which would give school extra funding to help support him but without an actually diagnosis it's likely the EHCP would be rejected by the council. The wait for under 5's is still long at about 14 months but there is much more support available for pre-school children whilst they await diagnosis.


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