Child Autism Assessment

How Autism Assessments Work

At Your Way Psychology & Education, we provide multidisciplinary diagnostic assessments for autism, delivered by our supportive and child-centred team of highly skilled clinicians with experience in the NHS. Our clinicians use gold-standard assessment tools such as the ADOS-2 to ensure thorough and supportive assessments. We are committed to identifying your child’s strengths, celebrating their uniqueness, and offering personalised support every step of the way. Our services have been commissioned by the NHS and local authorities, and our reports have been accepted by both.

Autism Assessment Process

1. Contact & Screening

We will have an initial discussion with you to work out what you are hoping to get from an autism assessment. When you refer your child to us, we will ask for some basic information including details about your child and the reasons for you requesting an assessment. We will then send some screening questionnaires to you and your child’s school.

2. Initial Assessment

This appointment is with one of our clinical psychologists and is conducted via MS Teams. It lasts 1.5 – 2 hours and is an interview-based assessment gathering a detailed developmental history, and an overview of the child’s presentation from birth to the current time. We need at least one parent to be present, as well as the child. It may be that you do not feel it is appropriate for your child to join this appointment, which can be discussed with the clinician at the time. After this appointment you will receive feedback on whether it is advised to proceed to the follow-up assessment or not.

3. Face to face ADOS-2

If we proceed, the follow-up assessment is an ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule). The ADOS is a standardised tool used in assessing autism. It is an activity-based assessment, which involves the child and assessor completing various activities together. This appointment is with a different member of our team from the individual you met in the initial assessment. The ADOS typically takes between 30-60 minutes.

4. Follow-up appointment

Once the assessment is complete, we meet as a multidisciplinary team to discuss the diagnostic assessment and agree an outcome. We will then provide you with a full report detailing the assessment along with the recommendations. The whole process from the first appointment to receiving the report will take between 6–8 weeks. You will be offered a follow up appointment with our clinical team to help you understand the diagnosis and what it means for your child.

What happens next?

It is up to you who you share the report with, but if a diagnosis is given and you wish to access support from your local CAMHS, they will likely ask you to send a copy of the report to them so that they can confirm the diagnosis. Please be aware that a private diagnosis does not offer any prioritisation for follow-up in CAMHS, and your child will be placed on their waiting list. We do not have up-to-date information on how long the CAMHS wait is.

The report will offer basic recommendations for home and school, and signposting to relevant local support networks and parent training. You will have access to a follow-up meeting to discuss the assessment and outcome with the assessing clinician and a member of our education team. Following a diagnosis, one of our highly specialist education team can provide further support by liaising with school, including advice and support around the Education Health and Care Plan process. However, free advice and support can be found from your local authority’s SENDIAS team or the charity IPSEA. Although some parents prefer to access our more bespoke support within Your Way Psychology and Education, and this is charged according to our hourly rates.

More about Autism and ADHD

What is Autism?

Autism, also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) is a term to describe a difference in the way someone sees and interacts with the world around them. This developmental difference can impact children’s communication and social interactions, interests, sensory experiences, and actions.

Social communication and interaction
Repetitive and restrictive behaviours
Differences in sensory perception
Highly focused interests or hobbies

Autism presents differently in each child, although there are some common strengths and difficulties they may have. For example, autistic children can be exceptionally good at spotting details or having a deep fascination with a certain topic or activity. They may also find it difficult to manage change, friendships, or social interactions. We believe that by identifying what makes your child unique and celebrating their strengths, without trying to change who they are, we can make a positive impact on their lives.

What is ADHD?

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition that has a range of strengths and difficulties. For example, people with ADHD may be very creative and have the ability to focus intensely on things they are interested in. However, it can also make it difficult to function in a neurotypical world like school, with traits such as restlessness, difficulty concentrating, a short attention span, fidgeting, and impulsive behaviour. These can make managing lessons, play, and studying challenging, having a knock-on effect on their wellbeing, mental health and self-worth. ADHD looks different in each person affected by the condition. Some people find it difficult to manage their hyperactivity and are often moving and are impulsive, while others may find it hard to manage their attention, and sometimes both of these areas can be affected. For some people, sifting out the relevant and important information to pay attention to can be difficult. However, with some adaptations, all people with ADHD can thrive in education, study, and work.

What might Autism look like in your child?

Communication and interactions:

Difficulties or differences with back-and-forth conversation. For some, this may be talking too much without noticing the social cues given by others. For others, it may be less of an interest in speaking with others or difficulties showing interest.
Differences in facial expressions and expressions or emotions.
Challenges with making friends and understanding relationships
Less of an interest in playing with friends, particularly on another person’s ‘terms’, difficulties with sharing toys, or following another person’s lead in a game.

Repetitive and restrictive behaviours:

Repeating certain words, phrases, actions, or activities.
Using toys or games in a repetitive way.
Having specific routines or rituals, and being upset when they are changed or cannot happen.
Finding change difficult to manage, like getting upset about a different bus route or change to their normal timetable.
A very deep fascination in a topic or object at the exclusion of other things.

Sensory Experiences:

A difference in sensitivity to different stimuli. Like being over- or under-stimulated by light, touch, noise, taste, or balance.

What might ADHD look like in your child?

Communication and interactions with other people:

Interrupting others or joining games without invitation.
Speaking impulsively without considering if it might upset others.
Struggling in sharing and taking turns, sometimes appearing rude unintentionally.
Difficulty staying focused during conversations.
Ability to concentrate on tasks:
Daydreaming in class or having trouble completing tasks within their capability.
Challenges in planning, organising, and remembering things, making careless mistakes.

Overactivity:

Fidgeting or squirming more than peers.
Difficulty remaining seated when required, despite effort.

Sleep:

ADHD can also affect sleep, particularly difficulty falling asleep in the evenings.

What might Autism and ADHD look like in your child?

Some of the difficulties that children have may be explained by autism and/or ADHD. For example, a young person may struggle maintaining friendships due to communication differences, such as within their reciprocal play, or it may be that they are more impulsive in their play compared to peers, or it may also be a combination of both. Therefore, it is important that any clinician assessing for either condition is aware of the other possible diagnoses that could explain the difficulties a child may have. The team of clinicians will tease apart these needs to determine if either or both diagnoses are present. Having an assessment does not guarantee a diagnosis of either condition, although at each stage the clinicians will report if they feel whether it is worth pursuing further.