Our diagnostic assessments and reports follow the NICE guidelines (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) and are informed by pioneering research using international-standard instruments. A consistent key professional works with each young person while liaising with the multi-discilinary team and having access to other professional specialist skills at each stage of the assessment journey.
Our diagnostic assessments and reports follow the NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guidelines and pioneering research using standard instruments.
We assess a range of neurodivergent profiles, from nonverbal young children to verbally fluent children and young adults. We diagnose, support, and provide intervention plans for neurodivergent (autism/ ADHD), social communication, receptive/expressive language disorder, anxiety or demand avoidance, related cognitive profiles, and generalised, specific, or social anxiety.
Second opinions are provided where autism differences are masked, requiring expert assessment to enable better understanding and individual adaptation to support the young person in reaching their potential. Early help is essential to minimise secondary problems, for example, anxiety and social withdrawal.
Parents or teachers are asked to send video clips via a secure link for younger children or children with difficulty participating in an assessment. The videos are analysed using a BOSA assessment tool, which is converted to ADOS 2 with a school liaison or a visit. Please see here for further information on video assessments.
Older children may receive face-to-face or online assessments using teacher, parent, and self-rating questionnaires and a range of formal and informal standardised assessments.
What is included in our assessments:
- Carry out a neurodivergent (autism/ADHD) diagnostic assessment using the BOSA, ADOS 2, ADIR, ACE, QB Check and other assessments, focusing on social-emotional understanding, inference, language, attention, impulsivity and focus consistent with ICD-10 or DSM-5 criteria.
- Seek the young person’s views, perceptions, and insights.
- Evaluate information from all sources, including professional or school reports, school and team liaison, clinical judgment, and standardised assessment results, in formulating the diagnosis based on ICD-10 or DSM-5 criteria.
- Identify an individual’s profile of attributes, motivation, and aspirations, and identify areas requiring support and reasonable adjustment.
- Provide a diagnostic report explaining the recommendations as evidence for SEN and EHCP applications, which may be used for tribunals.
- Develop an individual action plan, detailing communication and learning style, adult support and adjustment and specifying provisions to enable the best support and future outcome.
- Communicate with children and young people with suspected or known diagnoses, and with their parents, teachers, and caregivers, to sensitively share the diagnosis.
- Arrange a post-assessment planning meeting with the nursery, school, or college to contribute to an education and needs-based management plan.
- Liaise with schools, colleges, and universities to support the need for access arrangements and SEN or EHCP applications.
- Provide diagnostic assessment for children and young people with special circumstances, including coexisting conditions, looked after children and young people, and children with co-occurring anxiety and emotional needs.
The team attends regular meetings to review assessment videos and jointly code diagnostic assessments to maintain reliability, collaborate on diagnostic processes and thresholds, and discuss individual management plans.
Early support provides easy access to individualised adapted strategies, and many secondary needs, such as emotional, social, and educational, may be avoided.
If there is a concern, parents and teachers want to know how to help.
Neurodivergent differences are extremely common, affecting one in five children, and parents may experience a great deal of anxiety as a result.
Although the neurodevelopment of social communication, cognitive, and attention skills is complex, and each individual follows a different pathway, many factors need to be in place for individuals to flourish and reach their potential.
The professional gains a profile of individual strengths, differences, and needs using a range of standard language and social communication assessments, for example:
- ADOS 2 (Autistic Diagnostic Observation Assessment 2) or BOSA (Brief Observation of Symptoms of Autism)
- ADIR (Autistic Diagnostic Interview-Revised)
- CELF 5 (Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals 5)
- TWK (Test of Word Knowledge)
- TOPL (Test of Pragmatic Language)
- Assessment of Conversation
- Test of Inferential Understanding
- Theory of Mind Test
- Playground Observation Assessment
Teachers and parents may be asked to complete questionnaires to gain a profile of the individual child or young adult’s current functioning. Further observational assessments may be necessary to better understand the factors that influence a person’s functional skills across different settings; for example, a person’s functioning may differ in their home compared with an educational context.
For younger children or those with difficulty participating in an assessment, parents are asked to send video clips via a secure link. The videos are analysed using a BOSA instead of completing an ADOS-2, with an (optional) nursery/school visit. For further information on video assessments, please see here.
The assessment seeks individual views and priorities to help guide the intervention/support plan and empower individual representation. If reports are required for the start of term, we recommend allowing 16 weeks to complete a comprehensive assessment and report.
Neurodevelopmental support plans and intervention sessions are guided by the individual profile evaluated during the course of therapy or from a prior assessment. Therapy may focus on a range of skills, such as conversation skills, understanding social-emotional cues and inference or adapting to social situations.
Individual perceptions are identified to support young people in managing various challenges, such as friendships and relationships or managing group situations. Helping the person reflect on their individual experiences to increase their insight and awareness of their roles and helpful strategies is important to maintain the effectiveness of therapy.
Confidential 1:1 sessions are available for young people. Some people prefer to demonstrate their experiences, views and perceptions using art, drawing or other methods. We use different media to listen and reflect on the person’s perspective and help them identify helpful strategies.
With the person’s consent, close liaison and training may be offered to parents, schools and other organisations to provide guidance on the best support and understanding. Further guidance may be necessary when the person moves to college, university, higher education, a work setting or independent living.
For younger children, therapy may be offered through parents, caregivers, or teachers (PACT click here), and guidance may be provided to support adjustments in nursery and school.
The Social Communication Intervention Programme (SCIP) is available to support school-aged children (6–11 years) with social communication, pragmatic, and language needs.
SCIP builds communication and language skills based on a child’s profile, such as vocabulary and word finding, narrative skills, social and inferential comprehension, and the ability to use language flexibly for different social situations. SCIP is offered in schools in the Centre or online. Children usually receive regular therapy sessions every two weeks, with close liaisons and information from schools and parents.
Book a one-hour initial consultation with a therapist