Practical Information

I have spent a lot of the last few months and years asking ” What next?”, “Where do we from here?”, but there’s no one giving any answers. I hope this page will be a guide to some with the same questions and I will update it as I find out more.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis part is partly dependant on the child’s age. It can be a very long process if you go public, but some services don’t accept a private diagnosis so choose your path carefully.

  • For a pre-school aged child your GP will refer you to the Early Intervention Team.
  • An AON (Assessment of Need) can be carried out on children born after 1 June 2002.
    This can be a good first step for a school aged child.
    There is a legal requirement for assessment to be started within 6 months.
    More information can be got here, contact your local AON officer for more information.
  • CAMHS – Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
  • Private Educational Psychologist.
  • NEPS – National Educational Psychological Service.
    Apply through your principle

Therapies

CAMHS are a one stop shop when it comes to therapies. Though CAMHS vary from county to county they generally have the same services available throughout. They can offer one to one sessions or sometimes group work can be more effective. The team at CAMHS consist of psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists and speech & language therapists.

All of these are available privately too, and separately as a public service.

Monies

DCA (Domiciliary Care Allowance) is a payment made to families for children who require ongoing care and attention, substantially over and above the care and attention usually required by a child of the same age.

Carers Allowance  is a payment to people on low incomes who are looking after a person who needs support because of age, disability or illness (including mental illness). DCA must be obtained first.

Carers Benefit is a payment made to insured people who leave the workforce to care for a person in need of full-time care and attention

Carer Support Grant (formerly Respite Care Grant) is awarded automatically with DCA, but can be applied for separately to DCA.

Support for Parents

Family Carers run courses for parents and provide support for carers.

HADD and INCADDS offer supports but I have no experience with them so can’t recommend.