At Kingsbridge Private Hospital Group, our Paediatric Autism Assessment Clinics located at our clinics in Belfast and North West (Ballykelly) aim to assess and diagnose children with Autism.
What is ASD?
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neuro-developmental condition, affecting how individuals communicate, interact with others and perceive the world around them.
Individuals who have Autism may experience difficulties with communication, social interaction and using their imagination. This can have a big impact on their ability to read social situations and cope with the demands of school and general day to day life.
Our new Paediatric Autism Assessment Clinic aims to assess and diagnose children with Autism, so they can access the support they need.
The Multi-Disciplinary Team (two or more professionals from different backgrounds) who work within our Autism Assessment Clinic consists of highly experienced professionals including: Speech and Language Therapists (SLT), Clinical Psychologists and Paediatricians. Supplementary Information will also be gathered from educational settings. All assessments are carried out in accordance with NICE Guidelines, using Gold Standard Assessments, for children between the ages of 31 months to 17 years 11 months.
Diagnostic Assessment
Our Paediatric Autism Assessment Clinic takes place in our consulting rooms at either No 10 Lisburn Road in Belfast or at Kingsbridge North West Hospital in Ballykelly.
To begin with, you will be directed to a short referral form to be completed online. This allows the team to triage your referral and send your details to the booking team who will contact you to arrange your assessment. You can also find this referral form by clicking the "Autism Assessment Referral" the link below.
After an assessment has been booked, two further documents will be sent to you to complete. One is a more detailed referral form and the other is a questionnaire to be completed by your relevant school or daycare setting. It is important that both of these forms are completed and returned to info@kingsbridgehealthcaregroup.com prior to your first appointment with the Multi-Disciplinary team.
Your assessment may require an additional appointment with our Paediatrician, at no additional cost to your package. This will be discussed with you during your first visit if it is necessary.
Please bring with you any significant reports you may have from other professionals including Speech and Language Therapists, Educational Psychologists, Paediatricians, Occupational Therapists etc.
On the day of your assessment, you and your child will be warmly greeted by our team. They will gather detailed background information about your child’s development, as well as a practical assessment of your child, using both the ADI-R (Autism Diagnostic Interview) and ADOS-2 (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) Gold Standard assessment tools. This should take around 2 hours to complete.
What happens next?
Following clinical discussion around all the information gathered, both in clinic and from additional sources, the team will provide feedback to you about the outcome of the assessment. This is usually done on the day of the Multi-Disciplinary assessment, but occasionally further information may be required and this would be discussed fully with you. Onward referrals can then be discussed as appropriate.
Will I get a report?
We aim to have reports completed within 28 working days once all aspects of the assessment have been completed.
What happens if my child receives a Diagnosis?
Our team will support you whatever the outcome of your appointment. All of our assessment outcomes are submitted to your local Healthcare Trust, for consideration of access to their services.
Our team will also discuss local charities and groups that may be of interest to you, as well as any onward referrals that may be appropriate for your child. Within Kingsbridge, there are additional services such as Speech and Language Therapy, Clinical Psychology and ENT that you can access.
Please note that receiving a diagnosis of Autism does not necessarily mean that your child will need a Statement of Educational Needs. If your child does need additional support, they can be referred to the Education Authority for consideration of a statement through the existing Code of Practice pathway.
If my child does not get a diagnosis, what happens next?
Our team will fully explain the rationale for the outcome of the assessment with you and answer any questions that you may have. There may be occasions where further information is needed, but this would be discussed fully with you. Onward referrals can be made if appropriate to other services within the Kingsbridge Healthcare Group or Trust if required.
How much is the Assessment?
This service is offered as a package at a cost of £1,475. This includes all aspects of the assessment and all visits to the multi-disciplinary team. This payment will be required at the point of booking.
In any instance where additional tests or consultations are needed, for example with an ENT specialist, additional charges will apply. We will advise of these costs prior to an additional appointment being made.
The Team
Our Paediatric Autism Diagnosis Clinic Multi-Disciplinary team consists of the following specialists:
Joanna Cushley - a Specialist SLT for pre-school, school age and young people with Speech, Language and Communication Needs. Joanna is fully trained and qualified in the administration and scoring of the ADOS-2 (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) assessment.
Dr Lauren Harper - a Clinical Psychologist who specialises in child and adolescent mental health. Dr Harper is fully trained and qualified in ADI-R (Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised) assessment and scoring.
Dr Jonathan Henderson - a Consultant Paediatrician who has won awards for exceptional contribution to Healthcare of Children Teaching. Dr Henderson will provide the medical examinations for this team.
Dr Parisa Galway - Clinical Psychologist in Child and Adolescent Mental Health offers a range of psychological treatments tailored to meet individual needs
Dr Mugilan Anandarajan - Consultant Paediatrician, has managed a wide range of acute and chronic conditions and is happy to deal with all children between 0-16 years in all paediatric matters.
Please note some exclusions to this service –
- As we are not allowed to administer the assessment tools via an interpreter, we cannot accept a referral from anyone with English as an additional Language.
- This service is not suitable for deaf or blind patients.
- This service is not suitable for patients with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD).
Appointment bookings for the ASD clinic at our Kingsbridge Clinic at No.10 Lisburn Rd or Kingsbridge North West Hospital.
If you would like to book an appointment, please complete the
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