Autism Assessments
Professional Clinical Assessments
All neurodevelopmental assessment is carried out using professionally recognised and accepted adult and young adult diagnostic assessments
Clinical assessment and diagnosis options
At Clear Sky Therapies (CST), we offer various comprehensive assessment and diagnostic options available for adults and young adults from 16 years upwards when considering possible Autism Spectrum conditions, though it is important to note that during the initial stage of any assessment, other conditions including mental health issues are also considered, and to not only to consider neurodivergence. These are then either ruled out, or included as co-morbid, additional factors.
NICE Guidance
It is vital that when seeking formal assessment for Autism and neurodevelopmental diagnoses that these are conducted using industry recognised and accepted assessment tools and methods. When clinicians are not using these, it can potentially mean outcomes are not robust.
The tools used within my work fulfil formal diagnostic criteria as dictated by the NICE Guidance (first published in June 2012, and updated in June 2021 – ) for Autism and NICE Guidance (2019) for ADHD.
Assessment Process
The Autism assessment process involves formally recognised assessment tools and psychometric testing necessary for all the developmental conditions listed above. The formal diagnostic assessment is complex and comprehensive which is necessary to ensure a conclusive outcome and will include:
- An initial fixed fee screening appointment lasting approximately 60-90 minutes (there may be an additional charge if this appointment lasts longer than 90 minutes)
- The use of a variety of psychometric questionnaires for the client and family members/partners to complete which will then be scored and rated. - These are not diagnostic, but do inform the overall assessment process.
- If mutually agreed that a full assessment is indicated, a developmental history will be collected as well as exploration of physical and mental health factors.
- For ASD assessments this will involve different factors including the Adult Autism Assessment (AAA). This lasts up to 2-hours.
- A comprehensive developmental interview, for Autism conditions - This will include the use of the Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders version 12 (DISCO-12), developed by Dr Lorna Wing, and colleagues. The DISCO is administered to an older relative / or other relevant respondent. This lasts approximately 90-minutes.
- Analysis of school reports and other letters and documents relevant to the assessment.
- Feedback of results and recommendations, 60-minutes.
- Final comprehensive and detailed written report.
When an enhanced assessment process for Autism is required, a further observation based assessment is advised, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). This is an additional assessment package and requires more time and will incur additional cost as a second clinician is required to conduct the ADOS, followed by a multidisciplinary discussion (MDT) between myself and the second clinician.
The Enhanced Adult Autism Assessment includes the process detailed above, in addition to the ADOS assessment which involves one additional 90-minute appointment, in addition to the MDT coding meeting (30 minutes) and final discussion (45-minutes).
All diagnostic assessment will be handled confidentially and respectfully and careful consideration will be taken to ensure there is a significant clinical reason for undertaking such assessments. All this will be decided and discussed at an initial screening assessment.
Important note regarding private assessments
AT Clear Sky Therapies, we are mindful that the private route can be costly. It is understandable that people will therefore wish to shop around. I would advise though that it is very important however, to make sure that the clinician / service chosen has sufficient qualifications, knowledge and experience and uses the appropriate assessment tools that will constitute an official diagnosis.
The NICE Guidelines for Autism (June 2012, last updated June 2021) and Autism Act (2009) stipulate the necessary requirements:
Robust assessment
In both my private work, and more often in my previous role in the Northamptonshire Adult ADHD, Autism and Tourette’s Team NHS work, where I worked as the Consultant Clinical Lead, I encountered private assessment reports that lacked necessary rigour and robustness necessary.
Regrettably, many of these were subsequently rejected by GPs and specialist services. If a company is offering an assessment / diagnostic process that seems far cheaper than most, then there may well be a good reason for that, and clinicians may have a lot less experience, or experienced supervision and guidance than would be necessary.
Neurodevelopmental conditions are LIFELONG conditions, so if there is not consideration of childhood factors, then the assessment is not sufficiently robust.
[As a Psychologist, I do not prescribe medication. Therefore following an assessment, and a confirmed ADHD diagnosis, if the person wishes to consider ADHD medication, I have various contacts I can share. Please see associate services under ‘Proudly working with…’ on the home page. Please enquire for more details if you have further questions.]
CST Payment Information:
Payments can be made in cash, debit and credit cards, or by bank transfer. Payment must be made at least 24 hours before the start of each appointment.
I generally recommend a follow-up appointment approximately two months after a diagnostic assessment which gives people the opportunity to address any questions, and discuss the impact of diagnosis / outcome. It is common for a diagnostic outcome to cause varied, sometimes unexpected emotional responses which benefit from space to consider further. This is not included in the assessment package, but generally felt to be very valuable.