I don't live in Perth, so I can't help with names, but when we were in the process of getting a diagnosis for my son with ASD & SPD & gross & fine motor delay (after doing OT etc) we went to a child psychiatrist, who I found a lot better than the paed we had seen. Luckily my GP was on board and she recommended the psychiatrist (her son also has ASD), but the child psychiatrist really specialise in these things, where as paed do all things general child related..
The psychiatrist met with us for a few hours to go over history, then once with me and DS, then once or twice with DS by himself, then a school visit, and then with us again to confirm what she thought, and then a few weeks later once it had all sunk in. I felt she was very comprehensive in checking him in all environments (with parents, by himself, at school), and also over a number of occasions to make sure it wasn't a once off. We were able to claim it back on medicare (we were over the threshold), so it didn't cost us that much, but I had tried the public system for a diagnosis and that was a disaster with a capital D, so I was so happy going private and getting it done with somebody who would listen and take the time with DS, as quite frankly, and accurate diagnosis will change your life no matter what is found.
The psychiatrist doesn't do ongoing issues, so from then on we saw the paed (occasionally), a child psycholoist (regularly), OT (regularly) & speech therapist (regularly). Later we also added in social skills group which was also good.
Good luck with it all, it isn't easy, but life is a lot easier with a diagnosis... It's not a box, but a starting point to move forward from
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks