Does your child have a strong interest in specific topics?
Do they prefer familiar routines and have difficulties with change?
Does your child take things literally and not understand sarcasm or jokes?
Do they have trouble understanding other people’s feelings or
emotions, or struggle to make eye contact or start conversations?
Do you notice your child finding it hard to make friends or prefer to be on their own?
Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition which is often recognised when a young person shows a pattern of impairment in reciprocal social communication skills along with unusual restricted and repetitive behaviours. It can affect a young person’s ability to communicate with others. This can result in a young person feeling very anxious in social interactions. Autism affects young people in different ways and their difficulties can be viewed as a spectrum. It is important to recognise that young people with Autism have strengths as well as difficulties. We recognise the complexity of Autism and offer a comprehensive assessment through a multidisciplinary approach followed by options for post assessment support.
Initial background and formulation meeting online up to 60 min(appointment will be with Autism specialist consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist) £550
If the outcome of the initial appointment is suggestive and indicative that it is highly likely that the child/ young person meets the criteria for an Autism diagnosis, diagnostic appointments will be offered and will be booked as follows:
Neurodevelopmental history gathering from parents (ADI-R). This is an online appointment with parents and an Autism specialist consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist without the child/adolescent lasting up to 120 min.
The second appointment is an ADOS-2. This takes place in person in one of our clinics with the child/adolescent and an Autism Specialist Psychologist or Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist) and lasts up to 90 minutes.
Following the two diagnostic appointments a 60 minute online feedback appointment (which will be free of charge) with parents will conclude the assessment process. £2,700
Summary: Autism initial review and neuro developmental assessment diagnostics test and feedback will be done with young person will be done over 4 session which will take up to 5 hrs and 30 minutes total. Total cost would be £3,250
The journey for a children’s autism assessment with Eton psychiatrists starts here. If you would like to proceed with an assessment, or if you would like more information before making an informed decision, please contact our dedicated team of medical secretaries and clinicians at Info@etonpsychiatrists.co.uk and 020 4586 8616.
We will aim to respond to your query within 72 hours by email. If you have an urgent query, please do not hesitate to call us. If the query is of a clinical nature, we will contact one of our dedicated psychiatrists to ensure that all your questions are answered promptly and in full.
If you then decide to proceed with an assessment, we will then ask you for some information to help your psychiatrist prepare for your appointment.
The child and adolescent psychiatrist will want to know a little bit more about the young person who is seeking an assessment. They will explore difficulties that the young person has been experiencing in order to be able to ensure the assessment is focused on the young person’s difficulties. We will send you a number of questionnaires, which we will request parents as well as school to complete. Dependent on age, we may ask the young person to complete questionnaires as well. These questionnaires will be exploring different ASD symptoms as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression. We will need school to provide information about the young person's interactions with peers as well as teachers. We will need information from parents about the young person's developmental history, family history and medical history.
We will also ask you to confirm that both parents are aware and consent to the assessment if they both have contact with the young person.
We will also ask your permission to write to the young person’s GP and ask for a medical history summary for the young person. We will also ask you to provide us with a form of photo ID for the young person as part of our registration process.
We know this might sound like a lot to do, but we try to keep questionnaires as brief as possible while allowing us to gather all the information we need to complete a thorough assessment following NICE guidelines.
While you are completing onboarding with us, please let our team know about your availability for assessments. The Autism assessment is a combination of two remote appointments and one in person appointment in London or Manchester.
Once the assessment is booked, one of our team members will provide you with an appointment link and directions to our Harley Street Clinic or Manchester Clinic. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions leading up to your appointment.
The assessment will be completed across four separate appointments. The first appointment will be 60-minute online meeting with parents and young person. The Psychiatrist will be exploring presenting concerns and the young person’s mental state. If there are enough Autistic traits identified within this appointment, the Psychiatrist will recommend proceeding with the remaining parts of the Autism assessment. If it is felt that something else may be contributing to the difficulties, the Psychiatrist will recommend the next best steps.
The next appointment will be for parents of the young person and will last up to 3 hours. This appointment is completed remotely using a high-quality video link. This part of the assessment comprises of a detailed neurodevelopmental history gathered from parents. We request that at least one parent is present, and often it can be helpful to have both parents or a parent and an additional relative who will have known the young person well in the early years of life. We request that the young person is not present for this part of the assessment. The third part of the children’s autism assessment is the ADOS-2, which is completed in person at either our Harley Street Clinic or Manchester Clinic. We ask that a parent brings the young person to the appointment, but once the young person has gone into the assessment room, we will request the parent to wait in the waiting room. This assessment is completed with 2 members of the multidisciplinary team. The two team members will meet following the assessment in order to discuss the observations and score the assessment.
The fourth part of the assessment is a 60 minute feedback appointment with one of the clinicians. We ask that at least one parent is present at this appointment. For younger children, it is often best for this appointment to be solely with a parent. For older adolescents, it may be beneficial for the young person to be present with the parent. The outcome of the assessment will be discussed within this feedback session, and there will be time for questions.
At Eton psychiatrists, we pride ourselves on our high level of post diagnostic support. We are able to offer a variety of options for support the young person and family following the assessment. This includes things like individual therapy, family support, consultations with school and post diagnostic groups for parents. We want you to feel that following an assessment, the young person and their family will be well supported through Eton psychiatrists. We are here to help you process the outcome of your assessment and support the young person and their family so that they can thrive and reach their full potential. We also aim to equip you with links and networking opportunities in order to empower you post assessment.
