The assessment – information for parents and carers

Before the assessment

Who can be referred for assessment?

Children aged between 0-8 years old with a Wandsworth GP can be referred for assessment if there is evidence of social communication difficulties or differences. If your child is under 5 years, they will need to be seen by a developmental pediatrician before they can be referred.

If your child turns 8 years before they have been seen for assessment, they will still be offered an assessment by the SCD team.

How to refer my child for assessment?

Children can be referred by professionals involved in their care including their GP, school SENCO, Health Visitor & NHS Therapists such as speech and language therapists and occupational therapists, or paediatricians. It is important to discuss your concerns with professionals involved in your child’s care so that they can gather evidence and refer your child. You need to provide your consent for a referral to be made.

When will I know if my child will be seen for assessment?

Once the referral is received further information will be sought from your child’s nursery or school and from you in the form of questionnaires. These must be returned within 6 weeks or your child will be discharged from the service.

The specialist triage panel will meet to review your child’s referral and the information that has been gathered and determine if further assessment is required.

You will be told if you child has been accepted for assessment and placed on the pathway or if your child has been discharged.

During the assessment

How do I make an appointment?

You will be contacted by the administrative team to organize your child’s appointments. Appointments at held at the Eileen Lecky Clinic in Putney or the SEND and Inclusion Hub in Earlsfield.

What happens on the day of the appointment?

On the day of the assessment, you will see two professionals, usually a Speech and Language Therapist and a Developmental Paediatrician or a Clinical Psychologist.

Parents will complete a developmental interview with the Paediatrician or clinical psychologist about your child.

Children will be with the Speech and Language Therapist and will play with some toys and sometimes look at pictures and books as well as some other activities. These will be developmentally appropriate for your child.

There will then usually be short break where the Paediatrician or Psychologist and Speech and Language Therapist will meet to put everything together, including the information we have gathered from your child’s educational placement, if appropriate.

How long is the appointment?

The appointment is two hours long. This is so there is enough time to complete the interview with you and play based assessment with your child, for the team to meet to review the information, and to give you feedback about the assessment.

Who should attend the appointment?

Parents and carers with parental responsibility and the child should attend the appointment. You can bring another adult, such as a relative or friend, if you feel this will be helpful for you.

How should I prepare my child for the assessment?

You don’t need to do anything prepare for the assessment. We understand that children might be nervous about the appointment and will do our best to put them at ease on the day. The assessment should a fun experience for your child.

You will be sent a social story that you can share with your child before the appointment where there will be photos of the building and room and pictures of the team. Please feel free to bring along any items that might be comforting or calming for you child like a favourite toy or blanket.

If you child uses any tools to communicate like pictures or a book, please bring those along.

Please also let us know if there is anything that will help your child on the day and we will do our best to accommodate this.

What are the assessments?

The Paediatrician or Psychologist will carry out a developmental interview specifically for autism.

The speech and language therapist will often do an assessment called the ADOS or, in some cases, a play-based assessment. The ADOS (Autism Observation Schedule) is a standardized assessment that helps us understand your child’s differences in relation to Autism. The exact assessment and tasks is dependent on your child’s age, and we modify the assessment to ensure we have all the information we need to reach an outcome.

Will I find out if my child will be diagnosed with autism on the day?

Parents are usually told the outcome of the assessment on the day, which can be that your child has autism or not. We will explain why we have reached this outcome and what it means for your child and the family. Sometimes, the team may not be able to do this and may need to gather more information. If this is the case we will explain this to you, and you will be offered a follow up telephone call to discuss the outcome.

After the assessment

A comprehensive report be provided following the assessment. Children and young people are then discharged from the service.

Parents and carers will be invited to a post-diagnostic group workshop where there will be an opportunity to meet with local services including the Wandsworth Autism Advisory Service and SEND in Mind.

If your child does not receive a diagnosis a follow-up appointment will not be arranged, and we will tell you on the day if anything further needs to be done.