autism assessments in YORK and LONDON
At Lucens Psychology Services, we provide specialist autism assessments for children, young people, and adults in York and London, with clients welcome UK wide. Assessments are delivered in line with NICE guidelines using a psychology-led multidisciplinary approach, standardised assessment tools, and psychological formulation, to provide a thorough and meaningful understanding of each individual's strengths, differences and support needs.
WHY CONSIDER AN ASSESSMENT?
for children and young people
If you are a parent/guardian of a child or young person, having a consultation or assessment can be useful to begin to make sense of your child’s experiences, to understand their anxieties and distress, as well as behaviours or challenges. It can be useful to talk things through with experienced professionals and importantly to ensure your child receives the appropriate support going forwards, regardless of the outcome of the assessment.
If a diagnosis of ASD is made, it can help to make decisions about the most appropriate school for your child or alternative ways to access education, as well as help teachers better understand what anxieties and distress might be underpinning any behaviours they see. Importantly an assessment and diagnosis can help ensure that appropriate support is accessible at school / college, either contributing to an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) or ensuring reasonable adjustments are made in the educational setting.
Following an assessment, we provide post-diagnostic support and recommendations to support your child in education, to support you as a family at home, and to help your child understand their strengths, ways to navigate the challenges, and help them to thrive.
for adults
If you are an adult considering an assessment, you may have experienced struggles throughout your life making sense of interactions, becoming confused when people don’t say directly what they mean and struggling to understand the intentions of or read other people. Struggles may have led to lots of anxiety throughout life or low mood. You may have been diagnosed with other conditions, but never felt like they quite fitted or explained your lived experiences.
Taking the step to have a consultation can be daunting, but we will take the time to listen to your experiences; to hear about your strengths, skills, as well as your challenges along the way. Together with you, we will determine the most appropriate next step, which may be a full assessment. An assessment may be a means for you to explore and better understand yourself and your experiences, to gain a different perspective. Or you may be wishing to seek support for college, university, or in your place of work. An assessment can be a journey to to gain greater clarity about obstacles you have faced in day-to-day life and relationships.
Following an assessment, we provide post-diagnostic support and recommendations to support you in your next steps forward, with consideration of how to draw upon your strengths, and practical tools to manage the hurdles, to feel empowered in your journey ahead.
We believe it should never be one person making the decision whether a person meets criteria for a diagnosis of autism or not. Two or more clinicians will be involved in every assessment, including one or more Clinical Psychologists, together with an Occupational Psychologist or Speech and Language Therapist. We work as a team and reach a consensus on the diagnostic outcome.
Our autism assessments involve the following stages:
What is involved in an assessment with us?
1. INITIAL CONSULTATION
A consultation with Dr Victoria Brattan is held with the adult client or parent(s)/guardian(s) of the young person to determine whether there are possible traits of autism spectrum disorder and to determine whether it would be appropriate for the young person or adult to have a full formal assessment of autism or not. The cost of this consultation is £180.00.
If it is deemed that a full autism assessment is suitable and you choose to go ahead with a full formal autism assessment with us, the cost of this would be deducted from the fee associated with the full formal assessment.
This interview can be held in person or online, as preferred by the client.
2. Developmental history interview
An extensive developmental history interview is held lasting approximately 2.5 to 3 hours. In the case of an adult assessment, this is held partially with the adult client and partially with their informant. Ideally this would be with a parent, but if this is not possible, with someone who has known the client an extended period of time.
In the case of a child assessment, the interview is held with the parent(s)/guardian(s) of the young person.
This interview can be held in person or online, as preferred by the client.
3. observational assessment in clinic
A standardised observational assessment is conducted with the young person or adult in the clinic to gather information about possible features of autism in a semi-structured way. This is called the Autism Diagnostic Observational Schedule 2nd Edition (ADOS-2) and lasts approx. 1.5 hours. This involves some activities and conversation, or some play-based tasks for children.
In some cases we may recommend a cognitive assessment, which can assist to determine whether other factors may be contributing to difficulties, and which can also be very useful when considering recommendations. This would be discussed at the consultation stage or developmental history interview stage.
4. school liaison and observational assessment in school
For child assessments, we liaise with school to gather observations from teachers who know the young person well, through questionnaires and phone calls. We may also suggest an observational assessment within the school setting for primary age school children (not for teenagers).
5. CASE DISCUSSION
We hold a multidisciplinary team case discussion to consider all of the evidence gathered from different sources and across contexts. We give time to consider other potential explanations for traits, tendencies and differences, and consider differential diagnoses and dual diagnoses. We reach a conclusion as a team.
6. Feedback session
A feedback session is held with the adult client, or parents of the young person, providing the outcome of the assessment, and discussion of recommendations, next steps, and any onward referrals.
7. DIAGNOSTIC REPORT
We provide a robust report of the information gathered in the assessment and the diagnostic outcome. We include individualised recommendations for home, school / college / university, or the workplace.
FEES
A full formal autism assessment involves between 15-20 hours of clinical time. The fee for the full formal assessment of autism, with the feedback session and report is £2200. This includes the initial consultation fee of £180.
Combined autism and ADHD assessments are available for a fee of £2950.
Optional post-diagnostic support packages are available for an additional fee. You may just want one or two post assessment follow-up sessions, or you can opt for a package of 4, 6 or more sessions. Post-diagnostic support includes psychology and occupational therapy as needed or requested.
WHY CHOOSE US?
GOLD STANDARD ASSESSMENT PROCESS
We use 'gold-standard' tools to assess autism spectrum condition including the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) and the Autism Observational Schedule 2nd Edition (ADOS-2). We do not just place emphasis on what we see, but importantly ensure we gather information from the young person or adult directly about their internal experience, to consider any impact of masking / camouflaging. We follow guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE Guidelines).
Psychology-Led Multidisciplinary Team
Sometimes autistic-like traits may be better understood as arising from other factors, rather than autism itself. As part of our professional assessment, it is important to consider whether traits may have an alternative underlying cause. Our assessments are led by a Clinical Psychologist working alongside experienced multidisciplinary colleagues, and go beyond simply determining whether diagnostic criteria are met. Using psychological formulation, we integrate developmental history, life experiences, strengths and challenges to understand how each person's profile fits together. We carefully consider co-occurring conditions and differential diagnoses, ensuring that every assessment is comprehensive, individualised and clinically robust.
regulated professionals offering peace of mind
Contrary to the belief of some, getting a private assessment does not mean that a diagnosis is automatically given. All professionals involved in the assessment process currently work or have worked in the NHS as well as private practice, we are regulated by our professional clinical bodies (HCPC and BPS) and adhere to professional and ethical standards.
WHAT IS AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER?
Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is also known as autism spectrum condition (ASC), though international diagnostic manuals refer to ASD. In the past, it was previously known under a variety of names, including autism, atypical autism and Asperger’s. Today, diagnostic manuals refer to the single term of ASD to acknowledge the large variation in presentation, strengths and challenges of individuals. The umbrella term ASD therefore ensures that clinicians and people working with an individual with a diagnosis do not make assumptions based on previous categories, but consider the individual’s strengths and challenges.
In broad terms, autism spectrum disorder refers to a cluster of traits, tendencies and preferences, which can present difficulties for a person, to the degree that they impact on their occupational / academic and / or personal life. Differences and challenges are present in the following areas:
- Social communication and social interaction
- Using and understanding nonverbal communication
- Developing, maintaining and understanding social relationships
As well as difficulties in two or more of the following areas:
- Repetitive or stereotyped speech or movement
- Insistence on sameness and routines, or difficulties with change
- Highly specific or intensely focused interests
- Sensory processing differences, leading to sensory sensitivities or sensory seeking actions