Neurodevelopmental assessment team

Before the appointment we will send you forms to complete and will also send a form to your child’s school to complete. It is important that we have this information before the appointment as we cannot complete our assessment without it. If they are home-schooled please talk to us about this and we will try and gather further information from another person who knows them instead

You will be sent 2 appointments, usually over 2 weeks. During these appointments, you and your child will meet with different professionals. Some of them will spend time with the parent or guardian in order to take a comprehensive history about your child’s development and current presentation. They will also ask you questions about your own life and experiences, and your family history. They will also spend time with your child finding out all about them and carrying out assessments which are talking or play based depending on their age. Read our neurodevelopmental assessment clinic leaflet (PDF, 267 KB) for more information about the assessment.

Following the 2 appointments, we will let you know if we need to do any additional assessments such as an observing your child in school.

We will then discuss our assessments in our multi-disciplinary team meeting and will contact you by telephone to inform you of the outcome. The reports will be sent to you, and we will arrange a time to feedback to you regarding the assessment. This will usually be done on a video call (Microsoft Teams). Please let us know if you would like us to invite other professionals who are working with your child, such as someone from their school.

As we are an assessment service, we cannot offer any further support or intervention or treatment. However, we will provide you with advice around strategies to help you and your child, and will signpost you to services who may be able to offer the help that you need.

The referral process for neurodevelopmental assessments includes assessments for:

• autism spectrum disorders
• attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• tics
• learning, sensory and coordination difficulties
• other neurodevelopmental conditions

There are 3 parts to this referral and all sections need to be completed and returned including the form A referral form.

Form A needs to be completed by a professional who knows the child or young person in a professional capacity, such as school, GP, other health or social care professional. Please note this form can be completed by your child’s school along with form C.

You will need to enter an email address for the parent and child’s school which will then automatically trigger an email to be sent with a link for:

• form B, information from the parent
• form C, information from the school or another professional (if home educated)

The referral will not be screened until all 3 forms have been completed and returned to us.

The form will be screened to establish the best course of action for this child’s needs and additional information gathered to inform this decision if necessary

If you feel the young person needs to be assessed for ADHD, there is an expectation that a parenting programme is completed in the first instance. Requests for parenting programmes can be made via the early help hub.

The children's neurodevelopmental assessment service leaflet (PDF, 612 KB) will give you more information about how to make a referral.

Children under the age of 5.5

Where an autism spectrum disorder is suspected will be passed to the community paediatricians and speech and language therapists. This will be in the first instance if they are not already open to these services.

The wellbeing and autism wheel contains lots of useful information about areas of difficulty your child may be experiencing.

For parents of children who are awaiting or considering an autism spectrum disorder assessment, we run regular online information sessions in order to tell you more about:

• who the neurodevelopmental assessment team are
• the assessment process including what:
  • happens in the initial appointment
  • information we need to gather for the assessment
  • other factors we might consider during the assessment process
• what help is available whilst you are waiting for the assessment to occur
• any new developments

We also run sessions for schools and other professionals to attend.

For more information and dates, call us on 01872 246 945 or email the neurodevelopmental assessment team.