Autism Assessment – The Assessment Practice

The Clinical Team

The Assessment Centre is a highly-renowned and long-established practice for dyslexia and dyscalculia, led by Director of Inclusion Armande Fryatt. Due to client requests and high demand, we are now delighted to expand our service to include assessments for Autism and ADHD.

Our team is made up of highly qualified and experienced clinicians across a range of disciplines, including Psychiatrists, a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Consultant Community Paediatricians, HCPC Registered Clinical Psychologist, HCPC Registered Speech and Language Therapists and School Liaison Officers.

We believe that our service meets and exceeds the NICE gold standards for diagnosing autism.

The Process for Adults

Telephone us to discuss your concerns: 01480 584 001.
We will email you screening questionnaires. One for you and one for an observer (family member or friend). Please complete as much information as you can. The more background history we have, the easier it is for us to make a diagnosis.
We will ask you to pay an initial payment of £195.
Email or post the questionnaires as well as any other information, healthcare reports, etc., if you have them. These will be reviewed by one of our doctors who may have a brief telephone or zoom call with you to determine the best way to proceed.
We will arrange for a face-to-face or zoom appointment with you, during which the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule 2nd Edition (ADOS-2) will be administered by a highly specialist speech and language therapist or mental health nurse practitioner.
We will also arrange for a face-to-face or zoom appointment. The appointment is known as the Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised (ADI-R), where an autism-specific developmental history will be taken. This will be with one of our consultant psychiatrists.
Your final balance of £1700 will be due 7 days prior to these appointments.
Once both appointments have taken place, a Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) meeting will take place. In this meeting, the clinicians involved in your assessment will have a detailed clinical discussion to determine whether the threshold for a diagnosis of Autism has been met. Once an outcome has been reached, our clinicians will prepare a full diagnostic report.
A brief feedback will be given, either in person or via Zoom, where you will meet with one of the clinical team where they will explain the result of the assessment. Within four weeks, we will email you and post you a comprehensive report of our findings, including recommendations.
An assessment for autism does not guarantee a diagnosis of autism. If appropriate, we may refer you to another professional or service for other investigations.

The Process for Children

We have services available for children from six years of age.

Telephone us to discuss your concerns: 01480 584 001.
We will email you a screening questionnaire (one for you and one for the school where applicable). Please complete as much information as you can. The more background history we have, the easier it is for us to make a diagnosis.
We will ask you to pay an initial payment of £195.
Email or post the questionnaires as well as any other information, IEPs, school reports, healthcare reports, etc., if you have them.
Email or post the form, as well as any other information, IEPs, school reports, healthcare reports, etc. if you have them. We need these at least 14 days prior to the appointment.
This will be reviewed by one of our doctors who may have a brief telephone or zoom call with you to determine the best way to proceed.
Our School Liaison Officer will telephone the school to arrange a visit to the school to observe your child in class/in the playground and to meet with the SENCo/Class Teacher (and TA if appropriate).
You will be asked to pay a further £250 for this stage.
We will arrange for a face-to-face appointment with your child or young person, during which the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule 2nd Edition (ADOS-2) will be administered at The Assessment Practice by a highly specialist speech and language therapist or mental health nurse practitioner. The consultant paediatrician will also meet with parents at the same time. The appointment is known as the Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised (ADI-R), where an autism-specific developmental history will be taken.
Your final balance of £1550* will be due 7 days prior to these appointments.
Once both appointments have taken place, a Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) meeting will take place. In this meeting, the clinicians involved in your child or young person's assessment will have a detailed clinical discussion to determine whether the threshold for a diagnosis of Autism has been met. Once an outcome has been reached, our clinicians will prepare a full diagnostic report which will include recommendations for your child or young person.
A brief feedback will be given, either in person or via Zoom, where you will meet with one of the clinical team where they will explain the result of the assessment. Within four weeks, we will email you and post you a comprehensive report of our findings, including recommendations for you and the school.
An assessment for autism does not guarantee a diagnosis of autism. If appropriate, we may refer you to another professional or service for other investigations.

*For autism assessment.
For a combined ADHD and autism assessment, the final figure will be £2250.

Behaviours and Interests

A lot of medical and professional literature refers to these differences as ‘restricted and repetitive behaviours and interests’ (RRBIs). They must be seen as affecting ‘everyday functioning’ for a diagnosis to be made.

But many autistic people see these characteristics as positive and helpful. Some prefer to describe them as ‘stimming’ (stimulatory) or ‘self-regulatory’ behaviours – ways to keep calm and happy.

These include having or showing:

Focused and dedicated interests (such as a very strong passion for a hobby, an entertainment figure or series, a toy, or an academic interest).
Repeated movements and behaviour (such as hand flapping, hair twirling, spinning around, or listening to something on repeat).
Preference for order, predictability or routine (such as wanting to know what is going to happen in detail, for rules to be the same for everyone, having the same routine or meals each day, or needing a favourite toy to feel calm).

Sensory Processing

Autistic people can be much more or less sensitive than non-autistic people to the five main senses (sight, sound, touch, taste and smell), senses for balance and movement, spatial awareness and awareness of internal states (such as hunger and temperature).

A person may be very sensitive to one kind of sensory input, but not at all sensitive to another. Their reactions can also change depending on the situation and environment.

Sensory processing differences are not a stand-alone core characteristic. During diagnosis, these are considered part of ‘RRBIs’ (see Behaviours and Interests above). This is because of the reactions they may cause (avoiding or seeking out sensory input or showing distressed behaviours).