What to expect – Neurodevelopmental team
Your acceptance letter will detail whether your child is accepted for Autism and/or ADHD assessment. If your child is accepted for both, then they will have two separate appointments.
You will be invited to either Hillbrook or Hillside Bridge for your appointment and this will be written on the appointment letter.
Hillbrook
Hillside bridge
Autism assessment
In CAMHS we use a standardised tool to assess Autism. It is an assessment that can be used with people of all ages, abilities and language skills.
The assessment involves some interactive activities and conversations between your child and a member of our team.
During the appointment, there will be two team members in the room. We recommend that your child comes in to the assessment on their own.
We understand that every child is different, and want to reassure you that whatever your child does on the day, it will help us to better understand them.
The assessment will take place either at Hillbrook or Hillside Bridge and will last approximately 1 hour.
ADHD assessment
The ADHD assessment tool that is used in CAMHS is called the QB (quantitative behaviour) test. This involves doing a short task on the computer.
It is recommended that your child comes in to the appointment on their own. The QB does not have a ‘right or wrong’ outcome, it is just a task that we use to support your assessment.
JAC Meeting
After your assessment appointments have been completed, and provided we have all the information we need, the next step is the Joint Assessment Clinic (JAC). During a JAC meeting, a group of multidisciplinary professionals will meet to review and discuss all the information we have both from the time of initial referral up to the time of the assessments.
During this meeting, the team will discuss if there is enough evidence for your child to meet the criteria for Autism/ADHD.
After this meeting, a member of the team will call you to inform them of the outcome. A report is also written that will be sent to you approx. 2-3 weeks after the meeting. The report will identify strengths, needs and recommendations for possible adjustments that could be made going forward.
The diagnostic report can be used to assist in Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) applications.
As we are a diagnosis-only team, after the report is completed, you will be discharged from our team.
ADHD Medication
In cases where an ADHD diagnosis is made, there may be the option of ADHD medication. A member of the team will discuss this with you when they do the outcome call.