ND assessment – school aged children

SENCos/Schools are typically the best people to refer a child for an autism/ADHD assessment. This is because the referral needs to include detailed information from school about the child’s skills and challenges in their settings.

Nevertheless, there may be individual circumstances where the parent/carer or young person themselves would like to make a self-referral. A parent or young person can make a self-referral for an autism/ADHD assessment online here. However, you will need to include lots of information from school for the referral to be accepted. You can speak to a MindMate SPA clinician for guidance by phoning 0300 555 0324 during office hours.

It is not recommended that GPs make school-aged Neurodevelopmental Assessment referrals. This is because GPs are not able to gather all the necessary information and the referral is then likely to be rejected. As above, the SENCo/School is the best person to make a referral.

Your/your child’s referral will be screened for clinical urgency by the MindMate SPA team. Most referrals will be put on a waiting list for routine triage.

Once you’re at the top of the waiting list the MindMate practitioners will go through all the information gathered, e.g. from school, family, Speech and Language Therapy, Therapeutic Counselling.

Due to significantly high demand, waiting times for triage can be very long.

Following triage, MindMate SPA will send the referral to the most suitable service for support. If suitable, your child will be referred for an autism/ADHD Neurodevelopmental Assessment with CAMHS, at this point.

A referral for a Neurodevelopmental Assessment will only be offered if appropriate support has been sought from school and this support has not been enough to help your child. If the triage team don’t think that an assessment is the best next step, they may suggest other sources of support to help your child.

Questionnaires are sent out to parents/carers to help build a picture of your child’s needs, asking about their early development and current strengths and needs. School will also be sent a questionnaire to gather information about their skills and progress in school. It is important that these questionnaires are completed by both parents/carers and school to gather all of the necessary information.

• Parent/carer interview – You, as the parent/carer will be invited to an appointment with the specialist CAMHS clinicians to discuss your child’s development in detail. You will be asked about their early life, your child’s friendships, their emotional wellbeing and how things are going in school and at home. This is an opportunity for us to find out about your child’s strengths and challenges. This is also a chance for you to talk about your concerns and the support you think your child needs.

This appointment is for parents/carers only and not the child/young person who has been referred for the assessment.

• Autism assessment – Children/young people coming for an Autism assessment are then invited to one of our health centres to meet with our clinicians. The session usually takes an hour and involves a set of tasks and activities. There are no right or wrong answers in these tasks and activities. They are only there so that the clinicians can get to know your child and learn about their patterns of thinking.
  During the assessment session the clinicians will closely observe your child’s social communication, interaction, conversation and play styles.  Most children/young people who have done the tasks tell us that they are fun and interesting. See below for an easy-read guide to the appointment.
  This appointment is for the child/young person only. Parents are asked to wait outside during the assessment.

• ADHD assessment – Children/young people being assessed for ADHD will do something called a Qb Test. This is a computerised task designed to measure movement, attention and impulsivity.

To measure movement, your child will be asked to wear a headband on their forehead, with an infra-red sensor on it. There is an infra-red camera in front of the child/young person that picks up their movement from the sensor.

This appointment takes up to 40 minutes. The Qb Test itself is between 15 to 20 minutes depending on your child’s age. See below for an easy-read guide that shows what’s involved in a Qb Test.

This appointment is for the child/young person only. Parents are asked to wait outside during the assessment.

• This easy to read guide shows you what to expect in an Autism assessment, in simple steps.
• This easy read guide shows you what to expect in an ADHD Qb test, in simple steps.

Although we talk about ‘assessments’ and ‘tests’ none of these are tests as such – they are simply the tools we use to structure the session and help us learn more about your child. So there’s no need to worry about getting things ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.

It is common for children and young people to require both Autism and ADHD assessments. If your child is being assessed for both, they will be asked to attend an Autism and an ADHD Qb Test on separate occasions.

In most cases, this will complete the assessment process. However, in some situations we might need a bit more information. For example, your child may be invited to see a Speech and Language Therapist for a more in-depth assessment of their language and communication skills or a Clinical Psychologist for a cognitive assessment to find more out about their learning skills.

If more information is needed, the clinicians will talk to the parents/carers about this.

Once all the needed information has been gathered, our multidisciplinary team (MDT) meet to review everything as a whole. The MDT typically includes Speech and Language Therapists, Clinical Psychologists and Psychiatrist Doctors. The team carefully consider whether your child fits the criteria for a diagnosis of Autism and/or ADHD.

The service uses the diagnostic criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5^th Edition (DSM-5) for both neuro-types.

The team may need to meet more than once to discuss the information gathered and come to a conclusion, but we do try to come to a conclusion as quickly as possible. From start to finish, the assessment usually takes a 6-8 weeks.

1. No diagnosis of Autism or ADHD – meaning that your child’s skills and needs do not indicate a diagnosis of Autism or ADHD at that time. Your/your child’s differences may be explained by an alternative reason, which the team will discuss with you.

2. Diagnosis of Autism only, or ADHD only – This means that your child’s differences indicate a diagnosis of either Autism or ADHD but not both. The reasons for this will be explained and discussed with you.
3. Diagnosis of Autism and ADHD – This means that your child’s differences indicate both a diagnosis of Autism and The reasons for this will be explained and discussed with you.

If you are given a diagnosis of ADHD, you will be offered to be added to the Medications Clinic waiting list. More information about this can be found below, in ‘ADHD diagnosis’.

No matter what outcome, the clinicians focus on your child’s individual strengths, needs and circumstances. Individually tailored recommendations and advice will be given in all outcomes.

Once a decision has been made the parent/carer will be invited back for a feedback appointment. This is usually for parents/carers only but older young people are welcome to attend if appropriate.

The aim of this session is to discuss the findings of the assessment and all the information gathered. The clinicians will share whether your child’s profile meets any diagnostic criteria or not and what this may mean for you and them.

You can then discuss any future plans or further support for your child.

This appointment is also a chance for you to ask any questions you may have about the outcomes of the assessment. It can be hard to think of, or remember, all the questions you have during the appointment, so take some time beforehand to have a think and bring any questions with you. 

Following the feedback appointment, a draft summary report will be sent out to you. You are given approximately 2 weeks to read the report through and let us know if you would like any amendments made. Once the report is approved by yourself, it will be sent to you as a final diagnostic assessment report.

It is your choice who you share the report with but we advise that you share the report with school and any other agencies involved in your child’s care and support. The report will include detailed recommendations for you and your family at home, as well as recommendations for your child’s educational setting. This information will be related to any diagnosis your child received or any support and information that may be helpful.

Following approval of the report, your child will then be discharged from the Neurodevelopmental Assessment pathway in CAMHS.