Assessment Process
We offer a comprehensive neurodevelopmental assessment service to young people age 5 years and older. Although we specialise in working with young people we are also certified to work on behalf of adult clients too.
OUR PROCESS
Our assessments are thorough, use well recognised clinical tools and follow NICE guidelines.
Everybody is different and so the assessment process might vary slightly in order to best meet your needs. However, we will always invite you to an initial screening appointment, use well known and validated assessment tools and meet with you to explain our observations.
OUR SERVICES
Our team consists of highly qualified, accredited and experienced specialists
SCREENING SERVICE
Our optional screening service helps families decide whether or not there is sufficient evidence to justify paying for a full assessment.
The screening service is charged at £150.00 and this amount will be deducted from the total assessment fee for families who proceed to access a full diagnostic service with our team.
The screening process includes asking families to
complete a number of questionnaires. We also request information from the young person’s school or college.
We will review the information gathered and schedule a video or telephone call with you to discuss the possible next steps.
AUTISM ASSESSMENTS
An autism assessment at Insight involves attending two appointments with different clinicians who each have a unique role in the assessment process. We use standardised, well known, clinical assessment tools including the ADI-R (Autism Diagnostic Interview, Revised) and ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule).
The ADI-R is an interview with a parent or care giver and involves thinking about a young person at different stages of their development with a specific focus on how a person responds in different social situations, how they express themselves, their interests and behaviours and any sensory differences. This appointment can last in the region of three hours and is typically completed virtually. The ADOS is completed in a face to face session and is an activity and conversation based session which usually lasts around one hour.
The ADI-R and ADOS are not ‘tests’ which a person can “pass” or “fail”. They are used to explore personal strengths as well as neurodivergent differences each represent a different source of information which our clinical team will then review.
ADHD ASSESSMENTS
An ADHD assessment at Insight involves attending two separate appointments with different members of our team. We will invite a parent/carer to attend a session with one of our specialists where we will undertake a clinical interview where we discuss the client’s early childhood and developmental history together with any experiences or behaviours which might be suggestive of ADHD.
We are careful to consider alternative explanations for any observed differences including specific learning difficulties, anxiety or any mental health struggles or difficult life experiences. This session typically lasts around 2.5 hours. The young person themselves will be expected to contribute to the assessment process but may not be present for its entirety. The second appointment is face to face and involves completing a computer based task called a QB Check which lasts approximately 20 minutes. We supplement this information with use of additional questionnaires alongside information from school/college.
As a therapy-led service we do not offer medication for ADHD. NICE guidance suggests that for young people behavioural support and environmental adaptation together with parenting support should be first line interventions for managing symptoms of ADHD. However, there are circumstances where medication might be indicated if symptoms are having a significant impact on functioning at both home or school. We are able to signpost families onto both NHS and private prescribing services.
NEXT STEPS
Multidisciplinary Review and Assessment Feedback
We will get together again to talk you through the assessment process and the diagnostic outcome and will take time to focus on the areas that feel most important to you. This includes explaining how we reached our decision but also thinking together about what might be helpful moving forward. The recommendations we make will always be personal to you and your family circumstance focusing on the areas that you tell us are your priorities. This can include guidance around managing specific areas of concern at home or ideas for how to make the learning environment feel more inclusive and accessible. We will then capture all of this in a comprehensive report which will be shared with you. This becomes your document to share with whomever you feel would benefit from having access to it.
Once your assessment sessions have been completed we will meet as a team of specialists to review all of the information that you have shared with us. We compare this information to the DSM-V criteria for Autism/ADHD to decide whether or not a diagnosis is appropriate. During this process we will also consider whether there might be alternative explanations for the differences or behaviours that have been described.
