What to expect: Children
Once we have completed an initial screen and it is agreed that an autism or a combined autism and ADHD assessment is appropriate, we will proceed with a diagnostic assessment, which includes the following:
- Gathering detailed information from an education provider if applicable.
- Gathering detailed information from a parent/carer about a child or young person’s developmental history. For adults we take into consideration any available documentary evidence (e.g., school reports).
- Gathering detailed information from an education provider if applicable.
- Gathering detailed information from a parent/carer about a child or young person’s developmental history.
- Completion of an ADHD screening questionnaire.
- A medical assessment undertaken by a paediatrician.
- A clinical interview with a parent or carer (ADI-R or 3DI).
- An educational report.
- An observational assessment in clinic (ADOS-2), jointly undertaken by a clinical psychologist and a speech and language therapist.
- A sensory profile undertaken by an occupational therapist.
- A multi-disciplinary team discussion to review the information alongside the DSM-V diagnostic criteria.
- Immediate feedback with a discussion of the assessment outcome.
- A comprehensive report.
- A post-assessment consultation to further discuss the outcome of the assessment.
Combined ASD/ADHD assessments include the following additional components:
- Evidence-based measures to consider whether diagnostic ADHD criteria are met using the ACE interview with an informant (usually a parent or carer) and the QbCheck.
- If needed further corroborative evidence is obtained via other sources. This could include a school observation.
