Our Language & Autism Assessment Services & Prices
Child & Adolescent Autism Assessment
Assessment is made up of 5 stages:
-
We send out a questionnaire pack to you by email. We also email a questionnaire pack to your child’s school teacher(s), SENCO or teaching assistant, to gather information on how your child manages in the school environment.
-
We meet with the child’s parent or carer in person or online to gather information on development, behaviour and skills since birth. We are clinically trained in using the gold standard interview tool for this purpose (ADI-R). We don’t cut corners, so expect it to last 3 - 3 ½ hours. We can arrange to hold this meeting across 2 appointments if this is more convenient.
-
We use the ADOS-2, a standardised, gold standard diagnostic tool designed for all ages and language levels. Through different activities, it allows us to observe communication skills, social interaction, imagination, and interests. We follow best practice for the ADOS and always use 2 clinicians for the assessment. This provides the most reliable and accurate results.
The ADOS typically takes place in person at our clinic rooms in Birmingham. We can provide support and strategies to help you access this appointment. If needed, it may also be possible to carry out the assessment within your child’s school.
We know that autistic females can present differently. We use additional assessment tools where needed, designed specifically for identifying autism in females.
-
Our multidisciplinary team comes to together to discuss and review the information and observations from assessment. Our team comprises clinical psychology and speech and language therapy as a minimum. We use the DSM-V criteria for autism to determine threshold for a diagnosis.
Sometimes, clinicians may require more information to reach an outcome. We may ask you for more information and complete more assessment, such as a school observation, at this point.
-
After we reach a diagnostic outcome, we will arrange to meet with you. This can take place in person or online. Here we will discuss the outcome with you, the overall findings from assessment, and suggest strategies and interventions that may be helpful.
A comprehensive and detailed report will also be sent to you within 4 weeks of your feedback meeting. With your permission, the report can also be sent to your GP.
Where a diagnosis of autism is confirmed, people often have further questions and specific areas they would like to explore more. We can continue to work with you with our post-diagnostic support packages.
-
Assessment costs £2195.
Adult Autism Assessment
Assessment is made up of 5 stages:
-
We send out a questionnaire pack to you by email. We also email a questionnaire pack to another person who we call your ‘informant’. This is someone you choose who you have known for a long time and who knows you well.
-
We meet with your chosen informant and gather information on your development, behaviour and skills, ideally since birth. This meeting is called a Developmental History Interview.
Depending on your age, we may also carry out some of the developmental history interview with you as well.
We conduct thorough, detailed interviews using gold standard tools (ADI-R), so the appointment may last between 3 - 3 ½ hours. We can arrange this appointment to suit your needs: in person, online, and across either one or two sessions.
-
We use the ADOS-2, a standardised, gold standard diagnostic tool for autism, designed for all ages and language levels. Through different activities, it allows us to observe communication skills, social interaction, imagination, and interests.
We follow best practice for the ADOS and always use 2 clinicians for the assessment. This provides the most reliable and accurate results.
The ADOS typically takes place in-person at our clinic rooms in Birmingham. We can provide support and strategies to help you access this appointment. If needed, it may also be possible to carry out the assessment within your home.
We know that autistic females can present differently. We use additional assessment tools where needed such as the CAT-Q, designed specifically for identifying autism in females.
-
Our team comes together to discuss and review the information and observations from assessment. Our multidisciplinary team comprises clinical psychology and speech and language therapy as a minimum. We use the DSM-V criteria for autism to determine if you reach threshold for a diagnosis.
Sometimes, clinicians may require more information to reach an outcome. We may ask you for more information and complete more assessment with you at this point.
-
After we reach a diagnostic outcome, we will arrange to meet with you. This can take place in the way which best suits you, either in person or online.
Here we will discuss the outcome with you, the overall findings from assessment, and suggest strategies and interventions that may be helpful.
A comprehensive and detailed report will also be sent to you within 4 weeks of your feedback meeting. With your permission, the report can also be sent to your GP.
Where a diagnosis of autism is confirmed, people often have further questions and specific areas they would like to explore more. We can continue to work with you with our post-diagnostic support packages.
-
Adult (19+) autism assessment costs £1900.
Language Assessment
We offer comprehensive language evaluation, using the latest clinical assessments.
Assessment is made up of 4 stages:
-
We may ask about early development, family history, and current communication difficulties. If other professionals have carried out any assessments, it may also be helpful for us to read their reports.
-
We typically meet in person at our clinic space in Birmingham. We can provide support and strategies to help you access this appointment. Assessments within school or in a home environment can be arranged if this is needed.
Our Speech and Language Therapist is trained in using multiple language assessments, including the gold standard assessment battery (CELF-5). Across different activities, clear and detailed measurements are made of both understanding and using language.
The assessment lasts up to 2 hours. A break can be facilitated or the assessment can be spread across two appointments if needed.
-
The information and observations from assessment is reviewed and the findings presented in a detailed and comprehensive report.
-
After we have collated findings and written the report, we will arrange to meet with you. This can take place in person or online. Here we will discuss the outcome of the language assessment with you, the overall findings, and where indicated suggest strategies and interventions that may be helpful.
Where a diagnosis of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is made, with your permission we also liaise with schools. We provide the report as well as strategies for support. We may also recommend continued Speech and Language Therapy.
-
Full language assessment costs £460.
Book an initial consultation
FAQs and considerations that may be helpful
-
We will ask you to complete some questionnaires prior to the consultation. We will then spend time with you to go through your concerns and ask additional questions to ascertain if an assessment for autism is the right pathway. Where an autism assessment is indicated, there is no obligation to continue with assessment after the consultation.
-
Initial consultation provides a cost effective means to evaluate if full assessment is the right decision for you. For this reason, we would always advise a preliminary meeting as a first step.
-
After we have received the assessment fees, we shall book appointments with you. We aim for the first appointment to take place within four weeks. The first appointment can be face to face in our clinic room in Birmingham or from the comfort of your own home via our secure platform.
-
Our assessment process follows the guidelines from the National Institute for Health Care Excellence (NICE). This involves having different clinicians from different backgrounds involved in the assessment process.
Our assessment process for children will include a developmental history taken from the parent/carer, typically guided by the ADI-R standardised assessment tool. We also use a semi-structured interview called the ADOS-2 with your child, which takes around one hour to complete. It’s also important to gain information about your child in a separate setting such as school. We may also draw on additional assessments to explore your child in more depth than traditional assessment.
Once assessment is complete, the information collated is compared by our clinicians against the diagnostic manual criteria for autism (DSM-V). This information and the diagnostic outcome is presented within a detailed report which we shall go through with you in your feedback session.
-
We use robust clinical tools designed to help you explore your life experiences from early childhood up to now.
Some of the assessment will take place just with you, other parts of the assessment will ideally take place with you and someone else who knows you very well. Generally speaking, the younger you are, the more we take information from a parent/carer. The older you are, the more likely information will come from yourself with additional input from a partner, friend or colleague. As information from your early years is important to gather we may also, where possible, request written information such as school reports to contribute to the assessment process.
Assessment also involves completing a semi-structured interview called the ADOS-2. This takes around one hour to complete.
Once assessment is complete, the information collated is compared by our clinicians against the diagnostic manual criteria for autism (DSM-V). This information and the diagnostic outcome is presented within a detailed report which we shall go through with you in your feedback session.
-
Every assessment we carry out involves two clinicians from different, highly relevant backgrounds. Typically this will involve clinical psychology and speech and language therapy.
All our clinicians are highly qualified, have extensive experience within NHS autism diagnostic teams and are regulated by law in their practice.
-
We divide our report into different sections so they are easy to navigate for different readers, such as families and professionals. We include specific recommendations based on the strengths and support needs of each individual. Recommendations may include further assessments, interventions and/or provide advice for families, school, universities or the workplace.
We also include detailed information about how the diagnosis was made. This means that in the future, if anyone would like to get a better understanding of the diagnostic decision, this will be clear from the report.
Following the assessment process, we provide a thorough feedback session about our diagnostic decision/s and around the recommendations that we have made.
-
Once you have agreed to complete an assessment, we will arrange a number of appointments that work for you. If you need to change one of more of these appointments once they are booked, please email theautismroom@outlook.com.
Please note that appointments need to be changed two working days (48 hours) prior to the appointment time to avoid being charged for the session. Cancellations within 48 hours or non-attendance on the day will incur a £200 charge.
-
We are not registered as a provider with health insurance companies. However, you may be able to book and pay for the assessment with us and then claim from your health insurance; this will depend on their terms and conditions. Please contact your health insurer for advice.
-
Our assessment process follows NICE guidelines in involving a multidisciplinary team of specialist clinicians already working in NHS diagnostic teams, and employs what are considered the ‘gold standard’ assessment tools. These are the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule – Second Edition (ADOS-2) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised (ADI-R). The information we gather through assessment is set against the DSM-5 assessment manual diagnostic criteria referred to in NHS clinical guidelines.
There is no reason why a private assessment through The Autism Room shouldn’t be recognised, however it is important to check that your local education authority, school, GP and/or local NHS service will accept a private assessment, as these will be your gateways to local support moving forward.