Step 1 of 8

What happens after diagnosis

Two things to do straight away, and what to expect (and not expect) from post-diagnostic support.

Tell your GP, so the diagnosis is on record for future referrals, and share the diagnostic report with your child's school as soon as you can -- the school report is what starts the education side of things moving.

The team who diagnosed your child is expected to give you a post-diagnostic support plan, not just the diagnosis itself -- what to expect next, and where to get practical help. Some areas provide a keyworker to help coordinate this.

In practice, post-diagnostic support is patchy in a lot of areas -- this is a documented system gap, not something you're missing or doing wrong if nobody follows up.

Still waiting for a diagnosis, not there yet?

Concerns raised by a GP usually lead into an NHS autism assessment pathway -- a multi-disciplinary team, since GPs can't diagnose autism themselves. Concerns raised by school usually go through the SENCO, sometimes after a period of school-based support first, before a referral. Both routes end up with the same kind of diagnostic team. Importantly, you do not need a diagnosis in hand to request an EHC needs assessment or start SEN Support (steps 3 and 5) -- what matters is your child's needs, not a label. More on that in the next step.

Sources