Frequently Asked Questions

Firstly, we will send out screening questionnaires to you and your child’s school to start gathering the assessment information needed. You will then meet online with one of our clinical psychologists so they can gather a comprehensive developmental history about your child. If from this information, it is advised to proceed to the next stage, you and your child will meet with one of our team in our clinic to complete an Autism Diagnostic Observation (ADOS) assessment. Once the assessment is complete, we then meet as a multidisciplinary team to review the assessment and agree on an outcome. We will then provide you with a full report detailing the assessment and recommendations. Finally, we will offer a follow-up appointment with our clinical team to discuss the outcome of the assessment.

From the point of having your first assessment appointment with us, you will receive the report 6-8 weeks later.

The ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) is a standardised tool for assessing autism. It is a semi-structured and activity-based assessment of communication, social interaction, play, and restricted and repetitive behaviours. We only complete an ADOS if the screening and initial assessment have indicated that further investigation would be helpful. You and your child will meet with one of our team in our clinic for the ADOS assessment, and this will be a different person from who you met during your initial appointment. The ADOS tends to take between 30-60 minutes, and the assessment is filmed so that it can be reviewed if needed by our multidisciplinary panel. Parents are typically asked to wait outside the room while the ADOS is completed. The ADOS is scored, and a report is written, which forms part of the wider assessment. The panel will review the ADOS and the information from the wider assessment to help reach a decision on the diagnostic outcome. We do not use the ADOS outcome in isolation to diagnose autism.

At Your Way Psychology & Education, an autism assessment costs £1750. This fee includes the screening stage, the next two assessment appointments, and a follow-up appointment.

If you decide to go ahead with an assessment, there is a non-refundable £100 deposit, which will be deducted from the overall fee. The fee for the initial screening and assessment is £750 (£650 invoiced after receipt of the £100 booking deposit).

This does not result in a diagnosis. It will indicate whether there is sufficient evidence to undertake a follow-up assessment based on all of the information gathered. If we progress to a full autism assessment, the additional fee is £1,000, so the total is £1,750.

A follow-up appointment is included in the £1,750 fee. Any additional follow-up support from the team is charged at £90-£135 an hour, depending on what is required and which team member is best placed to provide this.

Payment is via Bank Transfer. We do not accept cheques, credit cards or cash. We will invoice for the screening and initial assessment fee prior to the initial appointment and ask that payment is made before the appointment. The balance will be invoiced after the initial appointment, and payment must be made in full before the second appointment. Likewise, payments for additional follow-up support/meetings must be made before the appointments.

Please contact us if you need means tested financial support.

We have a range of options should you wish to access further support after your child’s assessment. This includes post-diagnostic support from one of our clinical psychologists, support with your child’s education and school, or support with applying for an Education Health and Care Plan from one of our education teams, as well as autism-specific intervention support. The costs for these services vary depending on the support you are requesting and who in our team is best placed to provide that. For more information please see the fees page.

Often families ask whether a private diagnosis will be recognised by schools or local services. There is no reason for a private diagnosis not to be recognised, as long as the assessment has been undertaken by trained and experienced professionals in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. However, each service is different so you may wish to contact them and check that they will accept a private diagnosis which adheres to the NICE guidelines. From our experience, we have not come across an assessment that has adhered to the NICE guidelines, which has then not been accepted.