Firstly, a member of the team will send a range of questionnaires which gather some background information on the presenting difficulties. We may also request you provide us with any reports from previous assessments, such as those completed by Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists or other doctors. For children and young people who are still in education, we will provide a questionnaire which we ask you to take to your child’s teacher and ask them to complete in order to gather information on their strengths and difficulties in that area. We also ask for your child’s GP to complete a brief medical assessment to rule out any underlying medical issues. We will provide a standardised form to guide your GP in providing the information we require. Upon reviewing all of this information, a time will be arranged to discuss the likely benefits for proceeding with the next stages in the diagnostic assessment process. These entail:

• Developmental History– a detailed interview (usually lasting 90-120 minutes) will be completed with parents of young people. Where possible, when assessing adults, it is also very useful to speak with parents or another family member who can provide information on early development. We understand that for some adults this may not be possible, in which case an individual arrangement will be agreed. The focus of this appointment is gathering detailed information on the development of the person being assessed, with specific focus on areas relevant to ASD, including communication, interaction and areas of interest.
• Observation assessment– The child or adult being assessed will attend another appointment (usually lasting 60-90 minutes) where they will take part in an ADOS assessment. This is a gold-standard assessment tool preferred, and indeed required, by many core ASD services. It consists of a range of tasks, activities and questions in keeping with the age and stage of the person being assessed. It is intended to be a relaxed and informal meeting to gather observations of features relevant to a diagnosis of ASD. In some cases for children and young people we see, an additional observation in the school setting may be required. In these cases, the rationale for this and any additional fee required will be discussed in detail.
• Report Drafting and Multi-disciplinary discussion– after completion of the initial screening of information, developmental history and observation appointment, the clinicians involved will meet to discuss your case in detail, considering the relevant diagnostic criteria to allow them to reach an outcome. They will then write a detailed report, and a draft of this will usually be shared with the parents of the young person being assessed, or the adult who is attending for assessment, prior to a final consultation for feedback.
• Feedback appointment– This appointment (usually lasting 30-60 minutes) is an opportunity to meet to discuss the final outcome of the assessment. It will be an opportunity to clarify any details within the report, and agree with whom this report will be shared (in the very least, we are duty bound to share the report with your GP who takes overall responsibility for your healthcare). Some time can also be spent discussing any onward referrals or signposting to support agencies to provide ongoing care.