Our diagnostic assessments go above and beyond. Yes, we follow NICE guidelines so we are recognised by schools, Local Authorities and the NHS. Yes, we use diagnostic measures that are considered Gold Standard. But we also put your child front and centre throughout. We always have a pre-assessment meeting/screener appointment, not just to help you and your child decide whether an assessment is needed and right for you, but also so we start to get to know your child, help them to see the clinic, meet the team, and help to settle them into the surroundings. We want your child to feel understood, valued and accepted from the moment they walk in to the moment they leave. We will take our time to do this, we won't make you feel rushed and a number in a conveyor belt of assessments. 

We are a team of passionate, highly expert and professional clinicians from different professional backgrounds (clinical psychology, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy). Many of us have worked with neurodivergent children for most of our career, and are parents of neurodivergent children. We've all worked in the NHS and most of us now work entirely in private practise. No one clinician makes a diagnostic decision themselves; we always work in a team and collaborate in all decision making.

After we have got to know you and your child well during the diagnostic assessment, we can also offer support following diagnosis. This could be psychological therapy, understanding diagnosis for you and your child, access to webinars and courses via our sister site, Nurturing Neurotypes. We can also help with further reports that may be needed as part of the Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP) and get the right support in place at school. The discovery of autism or ADHD is only the start; we will support you through the whole journey before and after!

Our comprehensive assessments are recognised by schools, local authorities and NHS services including CAMHS. 

From the moment you and your child walk into the door, our aim is to meet your child where they are at, and support whatever they need in the moment. This could mean spending time outside in our garden, playing with our pets, jumping around the room, walking around without shoes on!

We do not assume we are the experts on your child; you are. It is important as a parent you feel listened to and heard, and we want to take the time to do this.

Our assessments are extremely comprehensive (between 8 and 12 hours, not all at once of course!). We want to get to know you and your child in as much depth as possible in order to make a diagnosis but also to make recommendations of what to do next.

It is really important to us to create partnerships with our schools to ensure we get the right information and therefore the right support for your child. Not only do teachers kindly complete questionnaires for us relating to your child, but we also interview them (either face to face or online) to dig deeper and get their observations and feedback. We also complete school observations which always gives us such rich and helpful information for the diagnostic assessment, but also in terms of our understanding of your child and the recommendations that we make.

Read more about the benefits of school observations here What are the benefits of a school observation as part of diagnostic assessment?