Neurodevelopmental assessment (autism and adhd)

We offer a free initial screening appointment to determine whether autism assessment is right for you or your child.  No referral is required.  An appointment for assessment will only be recommended if we feel that autism is the right pathway for you to explore.

Our multi-disciplinary network of clinicians consists of Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists, Clinical Psychologists and Mental Health Nurses with many years experience working with neurodivergent clients.  Many of our clinicians are neurodivergent and understand from personal experience the difficulties and challenges of assessment and diagnosis.  We are here to help and guide you through the process.  Our goal is to ensure that our service helps you to better understand you or your child and to positively improve your life.

We understand that private assessment is a significant financial commitment.  Our price list is clear and transparent and is available to view here.  If you are identified as autistic, we will provide a full and comprehensive report with advice and signposting.  If however, you are not identified, we can offer a full report with recommendations or alternatively a short report at a reduced price.

No more long waiting times. You will be seen quickly at at a time to suit you.  We can arrange an appointment with a local clinician to be seen face-to-face or from the comfort of your own home using our secure platform.   We always recommended a virtual assessment in the first instance, as our clients usually feel more comfortable in their own home environment.

Whether accessing an adult or a child assessment, we always assign you two different clinicians from two different clinical backgrounds.  More complex cases, particularly those involving trauma or attachment will always see an experienced psychologist. Our assessment process for children will include a developmental history, typically guided by a standardised assessment tool such as the 3di or ADI-R, and a 'young person's interview'.  This simply means getting to know your child, allowing your child the freedom to talk about how they experience the world, and observing your child being themselves.  We do use adapted forms of assessments such as ADOS-2 to guide us; however, these are very limited in the information they capture (see blog for more information) and are based on outdated ideas of autistic profiles.  Just as every person is unique, every assessment is different, and we take your child's individual needs and comfort levels into account when assessing them.  We will always ensure that we gather all the information needed; however, we draw on a number of different tools and methods to explore your child in more depth than a traditional assessment.

Adult assessments take a similar format.  You will meet two clinicians from two different clinical backgrounds who will guide you through a series of questions designed to help you explore your life experiences from early childhood up to now.  We aim to provide a welcoming and safe space for you to talk about your strengths and differences without judgement.  We want to help our clients understand that although being autistic can come with challenges (though these are usually the result of trying to function within a neurotypical model of society)  it also does not mean that you are broken or that anything is wrong with you, and that in fact, being autistic can be empowering once you understand your own neurotype.  It is helpful if additional information can be provided by someone who knows you (this is termed an informant questionnaire/interview), although this is not essential.  

We also collect information from questionnaires, self-report measures and informant interviews to ensure that we have information from multiple sources.  We do not using scoring systems as we believe that these are reductive and many people, particularly females, score just under the threshold for 'diagnosis' despite having some clear challenges which are then never addressed.   During our subsequent MDT meetings, we compare all of the information we collect against the DSM-V criteria for autism to determine whether our client's experiences are in line with the autistic experience.  Although our process is neuroaffirmative, we follow the National Institute for Healthcare Excellence (NICE) guidelines for the autism diagnostic process (in the UK) and are assessments are therefore accepted by the NHS.