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Get the information you need to make the best decision. This page covers frequently asked questions about autism, ADHD and Educational Psychology assessments.

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There are three main ways to get an educational psychology assessment:
  1. Access through the school’s Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision
  2. Provision via the local authority as part of an EHCP process
  3. A private assessment commissioned by parents
We recommend exploring free options before seeking a private assessment. First, speak to your child’s school about your concerns and clarify what you hope to gain from an Educational Psychologist (EP) assessment. Then, look at the areas an EP report covers from academic performance to wellbeing, so you can prepare a few bullet points on how the EP might help identify issues and recommend specific support and take those to the meeting.
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. 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.

For information regarding pricing, please refer to our fees page.

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.
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