1. Family sends an enquiry
2. Clinician contacts the family to agree a plan
3. Family pays a £195 deposit
4. Clinician sends out screening questionnaires to home and school
5. Screening questionnaires are returned and analysed by a clinician
6. Family pays the next instalment of £700 if they wish to proceed
7. A remote interview appointment is scheduled with a Clinical Psychologist (1.5-2 hour appointment)
8. Family pays the final instalment of £1000 if they wish to proceed
9. Child attends face-to-face appointment to complete an Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-II) (approximately 1 hour appointment)
10. Multidisciplinary team meeting to review the overall assessment and agree a diagnostic outcome
11. Full report detailing the assessment and recommendations is written and sent
12. Family can request a follow-up appointment within 4 weeks of the report being sent to discuss the assessment report (up to 1 hour)

The first appointment will be offered shortly after receiving the screening questionnaires back. We aim to send the final report within 6-8 weeks of the initial appointment.

A multi-disciplinary assessment involves clinicians from different disciplines providing input into the overall assessment process and diagnostic outcome. We are a team of Clinical Psychologists and Speech and Language Therapists.

We also have a neurodevelopmental specialist practitioner and registered mental health nurse who is involved in some of our ADHD assessments

Although you may not always meet a Speech and Language Therapist or a mental health nurse (e.g. you may see two different psychologists depending on the child’s presentation and clinician availability), we hold a panel review to agree outcomes regarding diagnostic assessment, which will always include at least one Clinical Psychologist and one Speech and Language Therapist. This ensures a robust process which is in line with NICE Guidelines.

We may also liaise with other professionals outside of our clinic, with your consent, should we feel that this would be helpful.

NICE Guidelines (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) are evidence-based recommendations for health and care in England. They set out the care and services suitable for most people with a specific condition or need, and people in particular circumstances or settings. Assessment for neurodevelopmental conditions (e.g. Autism Spectrum Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) should follow the guidance set out by NICE, which can be found at www.nice.org.uk

The ADOS-II (Autism Diagnostic Schedule Second Edition) is a standardised tool used for assessing autism. It is a semi-structured and activity-based assessment of communication, social interaction and play and restricted and repetitive behaviours. We only recommend proceeding to the ADOS-II assessment if the screening and/or initial assessment have indicated that further assessment would be helpful.

You and your child will meet with one of our team in our clinic for the ADOS-II assessment. This will be a different team member to the one who you met during your initial appointment. The ADOS-II tends to take around one hour. Parents are typically asked to wait outside of the room with the ADOS-II is completed, depending on the age and needs of the child. The ADOS-II is then scored and written up to form part of the overall assessment and report. The panel will review the ADOS-II outcome alongside other information gathered during the assessment process and this information is used together to help reach a decision on the diagnostic outcome.

Just like all other parts of the assessment process, we do not use the ADOS-II outcome in isolation to diagnose autism, as this just provides a ‘snapshot’ in time. Sometimes a child can score above the ‘threshold’ for autism on the ADOS but not be given a diagnosis and sometimes a child can score below the ‘threshold’ for autism on the ADOS but given a diagnosis of autism.

A standard autism assessment costs £1895. This includes the screening stage, one remote appointment, one face-to-face appointment and the option of one remote follow-up appointment, as well as a full comprehensive report.

If you decide to begin an autism assessment with us, you will be asked to pay an initial payment of £195 before the initial screening measures are sent. If following the return and analysis of these questionnaires there is agreement that you would like to proceed with the assessment then a second payment of £700 needs to be made before the initial appointment with a Clinical Psychologist is booked. This does not result in a diagnosis but will indicate whether there is enough evidence to proceed to the face-to-face ADOS-II assessment.

If we agree that there is enough evidence to proceed, you will be asked to pay the remainder of the fee (£1000) prior to the face-to-face appointment, so the total is £1895.

A follow-up appointment is included in the £1895 fee.

Any additional psychological follow up support is charged at £200 per hour.

Payment is via Bank Transfer. We do not accept cheque or credit card payments. You will be sent an invoice with payment instructions. At each stage of the assessment we will invoice our fees and these will need to be paid prior to the screening questionnaires being sent or the appointments being booked. Likewise, payments for additional follow-up psychological support sessions must be made before appointments.

We may accept insurance payments from some providers. Please get in touch to discuss this with us.

No, we accept referrals directly from families.

All families can request a post-diagnostic remote appointment to talk through the report for up to one hour. This needs to be requested within 4 weeks of the report being sent. This is included in the assessment package.

Should you wish to access further post-diagnostic psychological support you can request this. These sessions last up to one hour and cost £130 per session.

Please note that our capacity to offer this is currently small and may not always be available.

Understandably, families often ask us whether a private diagnosis will be accepted by schools or local services. There is no reason for a private diagnosis not to be accepted, 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. We would therefore expect our reports and any diagnoses to be accepted by local services.

Every service is different so you may wish to contact your local services and check that they will accept a private diagnosis which adheres to the NICE guidelines in the first instance.

Yes. It is now well understood that autism can present differently in girls and women and as such traditional tools may not always be as good as picking up autism presentations in these groups. Similarly girls (and some boys) with autism may ‘mask’ autism traits and difficulties in some settings (e.g. school) and so schools do not always pick up on these difficulties and differences. We are skilled at assessing autism in the context of girls in our team.

No. Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) is not a recognised diagnosis in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual – Fifth Edition (DSM-V) so it cannot be formally diagnosed. Current understanding is that PDA is a distinct behavioural profile within autism, characteristic of significant anxiety presenting as avoidance of everyday demands and expectations, to an extreme extent.

Whilst it is not possible to assess and diagnose PDA in its own right, if out assessment identifies extreme Demand Avoidance as a behaviour profile, we will write about this in our report and signpost to more information and resources for those supporting children and young people with a demand avoidant presentation.

We mostly provide autism assessments for children and adolescents aged 4-18 years old, however in some circumstances we may be able to offer autism assessments for children as young as 3. Occasionally we offer assessments to young adult aged 19-21.

We are now able to assess for ADHD.

We are not currently able to offer a medication follow up clinic. Clinical Psychologist with relevant expertise can diagnose ADHD and help with behaviour support, but we cannot prescribe medication.

We know that some families may wish to consider medication as part of their child’s treatment plan following a diagnosis of ADHD. If required, we may be able to signpost you to local private psychiatrists though we cannot guarantee this or that the psychiatrists will have availability. Medication usually needs to be initiated by a psychiatrist and in some boroughs this may be taken over by the GP after a period of stabilisation. If ADHD is diagnosed, it is important for you to know you can ask your GP to make a referral to your local NHS service to request a medication follow-up. Your GP will be able to explain how this works in your local area.

Please note that a private diagnosis will not lead to prioritisation for medication follow-up in the NHS.

We have had an increasing number of enquiries from families who report concerns that their child is presenting with ADHD traits, but the school do not report the same concerns. Whilst it is true that for a diagnosis of ADHD to be made there must be evidence in line with this across settings, this does not necessarily need to include school if there is a high level of masking. We can discuss this further with you during the screening possible.

Our clinic specialises in the assessment of ADHD in children aged 6 or above. 

The QB Check is a computer based test that measures the core symptoms of ADHD: attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Your child’s scores will be compared with other children’s scores of the same age and gender to see whether they struggle in these areas more than others. You can find out more about this at www.qbcheck.com.

Yes. We have assessed lots of children who are covered by their BUPA policy. We may be able to accept funding from other private insurance providers too. The process starts a little differently with insurance companies. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss this with us.

ASD Assessment: £1895

ADHD Assessment: £1795

Combined ASD and ADHD Assessment: £2595

Cognitive Assessment: £695