Private Autism and ADHD Diagnostic Assessment in North London

Private Autism and ADHD Diagnostic Assessment – North London

ACCESS provides a comprehensive, autism and ADHD assessment service for children, adolescents and adults.

Testing for Autism and ADHD. Your assessment journey.

Following NICE guidelines, our autism and ADHD assessments use gold standard diagnostic tools, and are carried out by a multi-disciplinary team of qualified professionals. Clinicians on each assessment include a Speech and Language Therapist, Clinical Psychologist, and a Paediatrician or Psychiatrist.

We also allocate an Assessment Co-ordinator to every client, to ensure your journey is as seamless, supportive and stress-free as possible.

Costs

Autism ADHD Pre-Assessment Screener (child or adult) FREE

Autism ADHD Full Assessment and Report (child or adult) £2,800

Our clinic space is in North London (Finchley Central)

Contact us to book your FREE Pre-Assessment Screening. Email assessment@access-speechandlanguage.co.uk

Your Autism and ADHD Assessment Pathway

Step One: Get in touch

You don’t need a referral from your GP or school SENCO to be privately assessed for autism and ADHD.

To begin the process, simply email us at assessment@access-speechandlanguage.co.uk with:

  • your name and contact details

  • whether you’re seeking an autism and/or ADHD test for an adult or child, plus their age

 We then:

  • send you our Pre-Assessment Screening questionnaire to complete.

If you’d like to speak to us first, please call our lead Speech and Language Therapist and Director, John on 07952 918715.

Step Two: Pre-Assessment Screening

This is a short questionnaire about you, or your child, to identify if you’ll benefit from a full Autism and ADHD Assessment. The screening is free of charge.

Once you’ve completed and returned our Pre-Assessment Screening questionnaire, we:

  • assess your answers

  • call you to discuss the results

  • send you more information about the full assessment

Step Three: Information Gathering

This is the first part of the full autism and ADHD assessment. It’s all about gathering information from people who know you, or your child, well.

Before we begin this step, we send you an invoice for the full amount and ask you to pay the first instalment.

For children and adolescents, we:

  • contact school, nursery or college for further information

  • ask to see any professionals’ reports or letters you may have

  • ask for an EHCP if they have one

  • ask you to complete another, more in-depth questionnaire

For adults, we:

  • ask you to complete another, more in-depth questionnaire

  • contact someone who knew you as a child (ideally a parent) for further information. If this is not possible, it can be another adult who knows you well e.g. your partner or sibling.

Once we’ve received all the information, we:

  • book the Developmental Interview and ADOS-2 Assessment with you

Step Four: Developmental Interview

The interview helps us gain a deeper understanding of you, or your child, specifically relating to any autism and/or ADHD symptoms.

Developmental Interview for children and adolescents:

  • our Clinical Psychologist interviews you about your child

  • lasts around 60 to 90 minutes

  • takes place virtually

  • the questions are about your child's development and how they experience things now

Developmental Interview for adults:

  • our Clinical Psychologist interviews you (and your parent or partner/other adult who knows you well).

  • lasts around 60 to 90 minutes

  • takes place virtually

  • the questions are about your development and how you experience things now

The interview is always carried out with sensitivity and care, as it can be an emotional experience.

Step Five: ADOS-2 Assessment

ADOS-2 is the gold standard diagnostic tool for autism, as it taps into a range of skills and involves various tasks. Observing these tasks and interacting with you, or your child, in person also provides us with more information to help us diagnose ADHD. This semi-structured, standardised assessment is tailored to each person’s age, developmental stage and level of communication.

The ADOS-2 assessment:

  • is carried out by one of our ADOS-2 trained, qualified Speech and Language Therapists

  • lasts about 60 to 90 minutes

  • takes place in person, in our clinic in North London

  • involves a conversation and/or play activities, depending on age and language level

  • is filmed (with your consent) for the Multidisciplinary Team to review and interpret

Step Six: Multidisciplinary Team Meeting

The Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Meeting is where our qualified clinicians discuss the assessment results, along with all the information gathered, to agree on a diagnosis and recommendations.

The MDT includes our:

  • Speech and Language Therapist

  • Clinical Psychologist

  • Paediatrician (child or adolescent assessment)

  • Psychiatrist (adult assessment)

Step Seven: Feedback Meeting

We talk you through your diagnosis, and recommend next steps and resources to support you, or your child. You’re sent a copy of our draft assessment report a few days before this meeting (please note, we ask you to pay the balance of your assessment invoice before sending the report).

The feedback meeting:

  • is with our Speech and Language Therapist or Clinical Psychologist

  • typically lasts around 60 minutes

  • takes place virtually

  • is an opportunity for you to ask questions about the diagnosis, draft assessment report and next steps.

If we think you have difficulties that don’t indicate autism or ADHD, but suggest a different special educational need, neurodivergence, or disability, we signpost you to additional support.

It rarely happens, but if the assessment doesn’t provide enough evidence for our clinical team to confidently give a diagnosis, we may conduct further observations at this point (e.g. at school) to help confirm our thinking.

Step Eight: Full Diagnostic Report

Whatever the outcome of your assessment, whether it’s a diagnosis of autism, ADHD, both, or neither, our clinical team provide you with a full, detailed report. This includes individualised recommendations to support you, or your child.

 You can use this report to:

  • share with your child’s school to help them better understand and meet their needs

  • share with other relevant professionals

  • support an EHCP application

  • access other services and additional assessments or interventions we’ve signposted

Why choose ACCESS?

We provide a gold standard private assessment service, following NICE guidelines and the National Autistic Society recommendations. As well as clinical expertise, you’ll benefit from a friendly and knowledgeable Assessment Co-ordinator to keep everything on track and guide you through.

Our initial screener is free; if the results indicate an autism or ADHD diagnosis is unlikely, you will not need the full assessment and will not be charged.

No waiting list.

A large proportion of our profits are ploughed back into developing our staff, to ensure their training remains up-to-date, they can progress in their careers, feel valued, and give their best to our clients.