A step by step guide to our autism assessment process
Formal Autism Assessment:
Cost: The total cost for a formal autism assessment is £2300.
As you might imagine, each assessment is individual and follows its own path. However, each assessment shares the same process of information gathering:
Screening measures
You, your child (depending on their age) and your child’s school will be asked to complete autism screening measures. These help to gather information about your child’s social communication in different contexts.
Developmental history
You will be asked to attend a developmental history appointment with a clinician to gather background information about your child. The clinician will use an autism-specific structured interview tool to understand more about your child’s social interaction, communication and patterns of behaviour, both currently and across their development.
Interactive assessment
Your child will be asked to attend an interactive assessment appointment. This is a semi-structured session in which the clinician will use an approved diagnostic observation tool to assess communication, social interaction and imaginative use of materials.
Multidisciplinary team discussion
Once all of the assessment information has been gathered, a discussion between the multi-disciplinary team, made up of Clinical Psychologists and Clinical Nurses, will take place to decide whether your child’s needs meet the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual, 5th Edition, Text Revision (DSM-V-TR) criteria for a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Feedback appointment
You (and your child where appropriate) will be invited to attend a feedback appointment with one of the clinicians. The clinician will discuss findings from the assessment which will include a formulation of your child’s strengths and differences. If your child’s needs meet the DSM-V-TR diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder, this diagnosis will be given at this appointment. The clinician will also discuss individualised recommendations for your child, family and school.
Autism assessment report
The final part of the process is the completion of an autism diagnostic assessment report which brings together all of the above information, including a formulation of your child’s strengths and differences and the conclusion that is being made. The report will specify whether your child meets the diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder and will clearly state whether a diagnosis has been made. The report will also include tailored advice and recommendations for your child, family and school, and will signpost to other support services where applicable. A copy of the final report will be e-mailed to parents and to your child’s General Practitioner (GP). We strongly advise that parents also share a copy of the assessment report with their child’s school if applicable.
Initial Phone Consultation:
Cost: Free
After you have made initial contact, we will arrange a free 15-minute phone consultation. This is an opportunity for you to ask questions to clinicians about the assessment process so that you can decide - without commitment - whether you would like to go ahead with a pre-assessment and screening appointment.
It also enables us to gather some brief background information about you and your child. Click here for some of the typical areas for discussion.
Cost: £125
This is an important part of the process as it will determine whether an autism assessment is the right step for your child.
At this point we gather information about the impact of other factors such as family context, education, adverse childhood experiences and mental health needs on your child and their presenting needs. Once we have heard more about your child’s experiences, we can then agree together whether or not to undertake a formal autism assessment.
If you decide to go ahead, we will provide and discuss our terms and conditions for carrying out an assessment. This includes details of the payment points and costs for each stage of the process.
If you have any questions, or if you would like to schedule an initial telephone consultation to discuss an autism assessment further, please email us at caaclinicsurrey@gmail.com
Pre-Assessment and Screening Appointment:
