What is Autism?
Being autistic does not mean you have an illness or disease. It means your brain works in a different way from other people. It's something you're born with. Signs of autism might be noticed when you're very young, or not until you're older.
Autism is not a medical condition with treatments or a "cure". But some people need support to help them with certain things.
If you're autistic, you're autistic your whole life. Autism is a spectrum. This means everybody with autism is different. Some autistic people need little or no support. Others may need help from a parent or carer every day.
Spotting the signs and symptoms is dependent on various factors, including age, sex and severity.
Nobody knows what causes autism, or if it has a cause. It can affect people in the same family. So it may sometimes be passed on to a child by their parents.
Autism is:
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not caused by bad parenting
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not caused by vaccines, such as the MMR vaccine
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not linked to diet
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not an infection you can spread to other people
Key Symptoms
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Prefer consistent routines and may get anxious or upset if things change within their regular routine
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Engage in special interests or activities that are unusual or at a higher intensity to others
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Difficulty making and maintaining friendships with other children
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May repeat other people’s speech (includes famous catchphrases from TV characters)
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Struggle to use or read non-verbal communication (facial expressions, eye contact or body language)
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Take things that people say literally
Benefits of a Private Autism Assessment
Speed
Early diagnosis enables your child to get therapies, support and adaptations to help them improve their social and communication skills, learning experience and ultimately help them understand who they are.
Understanding
Have more knowledge and understanding of your child’s needs, as well as how to help them daily
Support
Know that your child is not being “difficult” or “naughty” and learn how to understand what your child is communicating through behaviour.
A diagnosis can also assist schools in providing a robust Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) which meets your child's needs allowing them to thrive. However, if schools are perceiving difficulties, they don't NEED a diagnosis to offer support.
Diagnoses you can trust
With over 40 years combined experience in diagnosing and treating neurodivergent children, our founders are committed to offering NHS quality assessments that follow NICE guidance.
Stage 1
Simply register for our members area by entering a few basic details and you will be able to access the application form. Once this is received completed, your application will be triaged and allocated to a caseworker who will make contact with you directly to book your first appointment.
Stage 2
We specialise in providing a tailor-made experience and will endeavour to meet your child’s needs. Initially, we meet you as their parent/carer to discuss early development, family history and perceived behaviours/struggles. We do this without your child there as we understand they may be experiencing low self-esteem or struggle with people talking about their difficulties.
Stage 3
A further appointment is then made to meet the young person and complete the assessment, with observations also taking place. If they are in education, we will also contact their school for further information to allow a thorough exploration of need and symptoms.
Stage 4
Our online assessment area allows you to track the progress of the assessment, whilst allowing you to view and upload/download any relevant documents and communicate with your caseworker.
Once a decision is reached a feedback session will be offered to explain the diagnosis and answer any questions.
But what if a diagnosis is not indicated? We want don’t want to give your young person any diagnosis, we want to give them the correct diagnosis. We will never give a diagnosis unless it is clearly evidenced and warranted; otherwise, in the long-term this can do more harm than good and ultimately result in your young person not achieving the right level and type of support to allow them to thrive. If an Autism diagnosis is not indicated your clinician will discuss the reasons why and offer recommendations for potential causes of the young person’s needs along with any further assessments that may be required.
Pricing
Our simple pricing structure is designed to be all encompassing, and include any tests and reports associated with the assessment.
The cost of an Autism assessment is £2150 and you will be asked to pay this before the first appointment is made. Once the assessment has started, this is non-refundable.
If you are ready, let's get started