Autism Assessment Parent and Carer Guide

To track the progress of your application please contact our Applications team on 0345 300 1348 or applications@caudwellchildren.com 

We offer charity-funded (means-tested) autism assessments for children who meet eligibility criteria and self-funded assessments for those who are not eligible for charity funding.

Children must be referred by a health, social care or education professional using the form on our website

Once the referral has been accepted by our clinical team, our applications team will get in contact with you to complete the financial application process.

The autism assessment consists of two days: Day one of the assessment will be completed by telephone or video call, but the family must attend the centre in Keele, Newcastle-under-Lyme for their day two appointment.

The core purpose of our assessment is to identify a possible autism presentation and offer diagnosis. However, as part of the comprehensive assessment process, clinicians must consider any other possible presentations or conditions that may overlap with autism. This can therefore include screening for Language difficulties/disorder, ADHD, Intellectual Disability (also known as Learning Disability) and other similar presentations. At present we only offer diagnoses for Autism, and/or Language Disorder (where this is assessed and identified as part of the process). Where screening for other presentations suggests this could also be impacting upon  the child, this is communicated to the family, who are encouraged to discuss this further with their GP and or Paediatrician.

Once your referral is received, it will be reviewed by our clinical team. Once accepted the application process then involves collecting financial information, and comprehensive screening information from home and school, and once all this has been returned, we conduct a risk assessment to ensure we can meet the needs of your child during their assessment. Following these steps, you will be contacted to book dates for your assessment appointments. The length of time this process can take varies, depending upon how promptly information is returned from home and from school.

At present, we do not assess children younger than 4 years old or older than 11 years old. If a child is referred to our service before their 12^th birthday, they can still access our assessments aged 12 years. For any children outside of this age range, we recommend you contact your GP to explore other options for assessment. We do hope to increase the age range of our assessments in the future, so do keep an eye on our website and Facebook page for notification of any changes to this.

Any Health, Social Care or Education Professional that knows your child and has observed potential autism indicators that would benefit from an autism assessment can refer the child. This might include your GP, Paediatrician, school teachers, Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCo), social workers, family support workers, mental health practitioners, therapists, nursery staff etc. We do not accept self/parental referrals or referrals from a family member. Your health, social care or educational professional will need to complete our referral form.

Our centre is based in Keele, Newcastle-under-Lyme. The full address is: Innovation Way, Caudwell International Children’s Centre Keele Science and Innovation Park, Newcastle-under-Lyme ST5 5NT. Day one of our assessment is completed via telephone or video call software such as Zoom and therefore can be completed without you attending the centre. Day two of the assessment is completed at Caudwell International Children’s Centre, on Keele Innovation and Science Park, located on Keele University in Newcastle-under-Lyme, and therefore requires you and your child visit in person for the day.

The screening questionnaires gathered from both home and school covers detailed information regarding your child’s: language and social communication, non-verbal communication (such as eye contact, facial expressions, body language, tone of voice etc.), relationships with family and peers, behaviour, routines, interests and preferences, and sensory needs. Information will also be gathered about family members, your child’s early life and when your child met certain developmental milestones.

Following this, the Day 1 assessment explores the developmental history of the child – covering detailed exploration of background, early developmental milestones, language and communication skills, social development and play, interests and behaviours. The Day 2 assessment is more focussed on direct session with your child, which is often tailored to their needs and ability level – questions might include exploring their likes and dislikes, their strengths and areas in which they would like support and various tasks and activities which they complete with support.

Yes, as long as the referral is completed before the child’s 12th birthday.

Yes. The first day of assessment is completed by telephone or video conferencing software such as Zoom. Day two of the assessment requires the family to attend Caudwell International Children’s Centre on Keele Innovation and Science Park, located on Keele University in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Caudwell International Children’s Centre is the UK’s first purpose-built centre dedicated to autism. We are able to complete the assessment in two days as we have everything we need in one place, including our own in-house multi-disciplinary clinical team.

Whereas many autism assessment services complete separate sessions over a period of several months, we ensure all members of the multi-disciplinary team (e.g. psychologists, speech and language therapists, nurses etc.) are available to complete all aspects of the assessment across the 2 days. Our model of assessment therefore ensures a time efficient assessment without compromising on quality.

Caudwell Children do not offer second opinions on assessments; this would need to be sought from another provider. However, in cases where a previous assessment identified the need for reassessment or review, or identified an inconclusive outcome, Caudwell Children may be able to offer reassessment in these cases.