What do the Assessments include?
Autism Assessments
To formally identify and diagnose autism in both children (6yrs+) and adults, we use psychometrics such as the ASRS, the CAT-Q, the AQ and tools such as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI-R) which are the ‘Gold Standard ‘assessment tools as recommended by NICE guidelines.
Find out what you can expect from your child’s assessment in our Autism Assessment Guide for parents/carers.
ADHD Assessments
To formally identify and diagnose ADHD/ADD in children from 7-18yrs, we use psychometrics such as the Connors4, SNAP and also assessment tools such as the ADHD Child Evaluation (ACE) which is a semi-structured clinical diagnostic interview for ADHD in children and young people, as well as a Qb Check (quantified behaviour check).
Find out what you can expect from your child’s assessment in our ADHD Assessment Guide for parents/carers.
As a team, we prefer to use the phrase ‘recognising’ neurodivergent children or adults, rather than ‘diagnosing’ as diagnosis implies illness, and neurodivergence is not an illness! We think about neurodivergence as being a difference in brain style and we want to capture individuality, strengths, and possible challenges.
What happens after the Assessment?
We aim for you to leave with a clear idea of your (or your child’s) individual strengths and any potential challenges. The process will actively engage you and will provide us with a nuanced picture that will help develop any potential individualised support.
We are highly skilled at gathering the relevant information so don’t worry, you can just turn up and we will look after the rest!
As part of your assessment you will receive a detailed written report with the outcome of your assessment and any recommendations. It is generally considered good practice to share your diagnostic report with your GP, so that all professionals involved in your care have accurate and up to date information. However, we will not share your report without your consent and we can support you in your decision making.
We strongly believe that being assessed by experienced professionals with real proficiency working with neurodivergent clients and with a depth of knowledge regarding child and adolescent development is essential.
We feel we have found a midpoint between both the medical and holistic therapeutic, supportive model, and we reliability score our diagnostic assessments within a multidisciplinary team. This ensures rigorous practice and a clear diagnostic assessment. We provide a holistic report with individualised client advice/support which is a huge benefit of our autism assessments.
About our Post Assessment Reports
A comprehensive clinical report will be written following the assessment with recommendations for both parents and school.
Our reports have always been accepted by both Health and Education. We have always had very positive feedback about our individualised reports which are neuro-affirmative, strengths based and detailed.
A face to face (or virtual if preferred) detailed report share session for parents and a separate report share appointment for young people is also scheduled within the assessment package, followed by personalised liaison with school, college, university, or workplace regarding accommodations.
The assessment appointments are all usually carried out within a week or 2, and the report share session is about 2 to 3 weeks after the assessment sessions.
School Support and Liaison
Our multidisciplinary team provides personalised, professional recommendations following assessment, tailored to each child’s unique needs and designed for immediate implementation in school.
We also offer:
- a wide range of practical resources for schools
- the opportunity for school staff to meet with our team
- supporting statements and reports for EHCPs, where appropriate
These recommendations are intended to help schools put effective support in place quickly, confidently, and collaboratively.
Will our private GAC Assessment be recognised by Schools/NHS?
Our assessments comply fully with the NICE guidelines (National Institute for Clinical Excellence).
Rarely, some local authorities say they will only recognise NHS assessments. Schools sometimes wrongly give this advice too.
Schools in the UK must accept a private autism assessment that meets NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guidelines, as there is no legal difference between a private and NHS diagnosis if the standards are met. To ensure acceptance, the assessment should be conducted by a qualified, multi-disciplinary team, follow the diagnostic processes outlined in NICE guidelines (such as those in Autism Spectrum Disorder in Under 19s: Recognition, Referral, and Diagnosis), include clinical observation, and gather information from multiple environments.
GAC assessments exceed these standards.
However, if you need a diagnosis for an EHCP for example, you may choose to contact your local authority to discuss this prior to making a booking with us. In all of our time as an assessment centre, we have only once had a diagnosis refused, and we successfully appealed it. We will always support you in an appeal if need be.
The local authority would need to know that the assessment is being conducted by appropriately registered professionals and using NICE guideline tools.
We also video our ADOS-2 appointments. The video footage and assessment tools including that from educational settings would be available to the local authority should they need it.
A multidisciplinary disciplinary team (child and adolescent psychiatrists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, clinical psychologists, child and adolescent psychotherapists) are involved in the assessment.
Our evaluation team have all worked, or are working, for NHS teams. Our multi disciplinary team is always led by a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist.
Arrange an assessment
Fill in our enquiry form for a free pre-evaluation screening assessment. Let us lead you through the process, we’ve got you!
Contact Us
If you’d like to discuss things in more detail or book an appointment, please don’t hesitate to contact us by sending an email to enquiries@tgac.co.uk or by using the form below.