Autism Assessments

All our Autism Assessments are completed inline with NICE guidance and our assessments have been accepted by local authorities and NHS trusts (however we always advise you check with your local area that independent assessments are accepted).

Our team have extensive knowledge of the various autistic profiles, for example:- The autistic PDA profile and female presentation (not just for females). We use a range of tools during the assessment process including the ADOS-2, RAADS, ACIA, BOSA and ADI-R as well as supplementary questionnaires such as the CAT-Q and EDA-Q.

Once we have completed your assessment, our team will meet (this is called a multi-disciplinary team meeting) to review the information we have gathered about you or your young person against the DSM-V-TR (Diagnostic Statistical Manual). All our assessments come with a clinic letter or comprehensive report (Depending on the type of assessment you pursue) which details the outcome as well as recommendations we feel will be helpful.

We offer a range of assessment options to ensure independent autism assessments are as accessible to as many as possible. We do appreciate the financial investment may still be a barrier for some, however we are working hard to further develop our offer to address this.

Inline with NICE guidance (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) and national recommended standards, the following assessment approaches are available;

Online Core Autism Assessment 

There are many benefits to online autism assessment- in the main you can complete the assessment from a comfortable and safe space for you, which allows the team to see you in your typical environment. This can help the team to better understand what your life experiences are and the impact of the environment you are in. Others report taking out the stress of travel hugely beneficial as it this can often also be fatiguing.

Before the assessment, you will be sent forms and questionnaires to complete, which are reviewed by our peer support practitioners, which will aid our clinicians throughout the assessment journey in things they may need to consider, or gain further information about.

The core autism assessment is completed online and over two appointments. The first will be to gather a developmental history and the second will be to complete observation of the individuals social interaction, communication and repetitive and restrictive behaviour and sensory differences. When all the information is gathered, we will meet with one of our clinical psychologists as a team to formulate whether autism best explains your experiences against the diagnostic criteria- this is known as an MDT meeting.

You will be provided with a detailed clinic letter showing how we have reached the outcome with signposting and recommendations included. This will typically be shared with you the same week as the MDT meeting.

*Please note this assessment is not available to under 5’s due to the need to see the child in person and the additional information we need to gather.

This assessment is charged at £999


Standard Autism Assessment 

Our standard assessments are completed in a hybrid manner, unless there are reasonable adjustments we need to make for you. This assessment is completed over three appointments, and you will have allocated peer support practitioner throughout the process, to answer any questions you might have. When all the information is gathered, we will meet with one of our clinical psychologists as a team to formulate whether autism best explains your experiences against the diagnostic criteria- this is known as an MDT meeting.

Following your assessment with us, you will have a 45 minute feedback session with your peer support practitioner to discuss your assessment and explore any further recommendations that might be helpful for you.

If you are requesting an assessment for an under 5, you will have your first appointment in person with one of the team, to gather further information and to assess if we are the right service for your young person, before proceeding ahead with the rest of your assessment journey.

*Note if you have had an Autism Screening, the cost will be taken off the overall cost of the standard autism assessment.

Cost of our Standard Assessment is £2250


Premium Autism Assessment

Born out of our CEO’s own lived experience, our premium autism assessment offer sets to support you every step along your discovery journey. You will be allocated a peer support practitioner throughout your assessment journey, and we will not only explore if you are autistic, we will also delve into the autistic profile that best describes your experiences (for example PDA, Internalised presentation (previously known as the female presentation) and Savant). This allows us to make bespoke recommendations in your comprehensive report to support post assessment.

When all the information is gathered, we will meet with one of our clinical psychologists as a team to formulate whether autism best explains your experiences against the diagnostic criteria- this is known as an MDT meeting.

You will have three 45 minute post assessment sessions with your peer support practitioner, to debrief after the assessment, and to start to look at strengths and self identity, alongside any other areas that you wish to discuss further.

If you are requesting an assessment for an under 5, you will have your first appointment in person with one of the team, to gather further information and to assess if we are the right service for your young person, before proceeding ahead with the rest of your assessment journey.

*Note if you have had an Autism Screening, the cost will be taken off the overall cost of the premium autism assessment.

Cost of our Premium assessment is £2500

Assessing Profiles

Our team have extensive experience in assessing all the various profiles including PDA and the internalised presentation (also known as the female presentation)  and we will always follow NICE guidance and make recommendations based on needs and individuals’ strengths. At present autistic profiles are not within the DSM-V as separate diagnoses and therefore we consider these as profiles

We get lots of enquiries about our experience of assessing the various profiles of Autism Spectrum Condition, for example internalised presentation (previously known as female presentation), Savant or PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) and autism for people with a learning disability. Rest assure our team has developed extensive experience and expertise’s across a range of autistic profiles, from their own lived and clinical experiences. On enquiring if you are concerned about a autistic profile being a barrier to accurate assessment, do let our administrators know what the concerns are for example masking, as we will look to assign team members with this expertise to the assessment.

We are able to assess various profiles in detail during our premium assessment offer, and will look at the strengths and challenges this may bring to someone’s experiences. Bespoke recommendations are made with the profile in mind.

If you already have a formal diagnosis of autism but you would like a greater understanding of your autistic profile, we are able to offer a profiling assessment.

 

 

Here are links to the guidance we use for our assessments; 

– Assessing young people for autism

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg128  –

– Assessing adults for autism

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg142-

– autism assessment service NHS guidance

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/autism-diagnosis-and-operational-guidance/

Identifying & Assessing PDA

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