Are you considering sending your child for a diagnosis or therapy in a Government establishment? Or do you want to send him/her to a private practice? Personally, I have sent my child to private clinics not because I am rich but because of the longer queue in the government hospital and the urgency of the treatment in hand.
Before you decide whether to send for a private or Government clinic, I share with you just some factors that I consider in order of importance to me:
1. Urgency of the Matter
If you feel that your child needs immediate attention for a treatment or assessment, private clinics is the only choice in most cases. One example of such cases, if you need to admit your child to certain school and they need an assessment result as an entry proof by certain deadline.
2. Time to Get Appointment
If time is at your side, government clinics and hospitals could be the best choice. A tip to get an appointment a bit faster and cheaper is via a referral letter. Usually, this could be obtained from a Polyclinic or a General Practitioner from your family clinic. This is especially useful if you need to see a senior consultant of any kind whom appointment is usually full and more expensive.
If you have deadline, go for private clinics. As most of us know, generally the queuing time to get an appointment for a Government clinic or hospital is long. An inital assessment could be somewhere around 6 months or longer.
3. Cost
Private practice is almost definitely more expensive than Government clinics and hospitals. Most private practice charged by hours or by package. For example an autism diagnosis and assessment report will set you back as far as $750 or more. And a speech assessment could charge around $300/hour and occupational therapy around $200/hour or more.
If cost is the biggest concern, go for government establishments which are heavily subsidised.
4. Reputation
If you get to know that there is a very good specialist or therapists who is highly recommended, then you choice will very much depends on where this person works.
5. Peace of Mind
I personally like to clear the doubts fast. Whether the child has any particular issues, I would like to get some assessment as early as possible. As you will agree, the earliest your child get treatment (if any) the better it is. If your child has diagnosed otherwise without any autistic challenges, then your mind could rest in peace much earlier.
What are the other considerations that will affect the decision? If you have any, please leave a comment.
Autism Elephant Infant/Toddler T-Shirt
Kids and adults will both love this adorable elephant wearing an autism awareness ribbon!
Autism Elephant Infant/Toddler T-Shirt
Very important factors to consider since you are going to part with a lot of money for private practice:
1. don't be shy to check their qualifications and ask them about their experience. Some private therapists started out for only about 1 – 2 years at a public hospital after graduation and then went on open their private practice. They lack experience and supervision.
2. Private therapists are not exposed to a bigger range of difficulties and disorders as a hospital therapist is.
3. not all therapists know how to work with children with Autism especially the very young ones. Ask them about their experience or caseload.
4. ask if they allow parents to be in the session to learn from them