We were very fortunate to access a psychologist via my husband’s work who could
provide us with a diagnosis of autism for our 8 year old daughter.
We are trying to access the NDIS so that we can hopefully get some help from
OT. We are trying to afford appointments with the psych for our daughter but
we can’t also afford the cost of an OT.
But in order to be considered for the NDIS, we need a signature from a
Paediatrician and a speech therapist.
I tried to find a paediatrician- I called 20 different practices and couldn’t
even get on a waiting list. I put our name down at a clinic where there is a
speech pathologist but have not heard back. So I assuming I will need to call
around more.
My husband and I work full time - so it is difficult to find time to call
around even more paediatricians and speech pathologists to hopefully be put on
a list to then get an appointment next October 2023 or later - so we can have
someone sign off on what a psychologist has already diagnosed.
Meanwhile while we try and sort this out we are trying to work out ways to help
our daughter who is refusing to go to school, has numerous meltdowns which
involve throwing things at us - including knives.
We are tired and exhausted. Our daughter’s school is doing their best to assist
- but they can only do so much - when most of the issues occur at home. ( And access to school psychs is similar situation to getting access to a
paediatrician).
We pay our taxes we do our best by our children. Why is this system so
difficult- when all we want is a little bit of help to manage a condition which
is complex and impacts our family enormously? We don’t even need a
paediatrician- only to sign a bit of paper - so why is this part of the process
to get funding from the NDIS ? I am assuming there are other children who would
definitely need to see a paediatrician who also can’t get in to see one either.
If there’s anything that could be done to look into this situation it would be
so greatly appreciated by many stressed and exhausted parents of children with
a diagnosis such as autism.