I provide autism diagnostic assessments, in conjunction with colleagues who are experts in their field, including psychiatry, speech and language therapy and paediatrics where appropriate. We perform complex neurodevelopmental assessments; that is, we will answer complex questions about your child’s neurodevelopmental and mental health profile, and discuss with you the implications of any findings. We use respectful, identity-first language and place the strengths and needs of a young person at the centre of our reports. We will make recommendations for support strategies/adaptations across home and school, tailored to your child's needs.
For our assessments, we use NICE-recommended ‘gold standard’ diagnostic tools, gathering the following information:
Developmental history interview: For this section we use the Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI-R) which is a standardised assessment, to gather detailedinformation about your child's language and communication, social and play development as well as othe features pertaining to autism. This section takes about two hours and we typically do this on line, although if your preference is in-person we can arrange this. If we are also assessing for ADHD, we will also perform an additional clinical interview taking about 20-30 minutes, as well as asking parent/carers and school to complete screening questionnaires.
In-person observational assessment: The Autism Diagnostic Observational Schedule (ADOS-2) is a standardised assessment, although hopefully for your child it would not feel like an assessment at all. For younger children, this will involve some fun, play-based activities, as well as some conversation-based sections. For older adolescents, this section is mostly conversation-based but there are also some activities. Typically this lasts about an hour and we aim for this to be a positive experience for your child. We are happy to discuss in advance any adjustments that are required to make this the best possible experience for your child.
School and/or other informant information: We send you a form to send to school, to gather comprehensive information about your child's development from the school's perspective. We ask that this is sent back to us via yourselves for complete transparency. If further information is required, we will ask your permission to make contact with school. We welcome information from other relevant sources, such as therapists or tutors.
Other assessments: Where required, we can also provide an assessment of intellectual ability, using the WISC-V-UK. This can often provide an essential information for the overall formulation, even with very intellectually able young people, for example if they have a varied profile of skill. If a speech and language therapy assessment is required, I would either complete the assessment with a SALT colleague or refer you to SALT if needed.
Discussion and Feedback: We aim to complete our assessment and do the feedback on the same day. If for any reason this is not possible, for example if it is logistically difficult, we would discuss this with you and arrange a mutually convenient time for the feedback meeting.
Reports: Our reports are detailed and comprehensive, with tailored conclusions and recommendations. We focus on providing a balanced report, focusing on strengths as well as outlining areas of need, to enable others to help your child progress and develop a positive sense of self. We feel very strongly that parents and also young people themselves, when developmentally appropriate, are in fully engaged in this process and have ownership of the findings. Draft reports are sent to parents first for approval. We will then produce a finalised version integrating any input and comments from yourselves, and it is then yours to share with whom you wish.
Our reports are written by people, for people. While we embrace technological advances where appropriate, we do not use AI to write reports and draw only on our experience and training to deliver an individualised report for your child.
Please note, we do not assess for ADHD in isolation, but we will assess for ADHD as part of an overall evaluation (autism, ADHD and intellectual ability/learning profile and style if required).