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FREE INITIAL SCREENING
- Once you have contacted us via our contact page, we will then email the parent/guardian form so you can let us know how your child presents at home. Please also send us any other reports you have about your child from health or education professionals for us to review.
- We will also email you a form to pass onto school so we can consider their observations of your child in the school setting (if your child is not in school information can be gathered from another professional who knows them).
- Once all this information is returned we will hold a screening meeting and then get in touch with you with our thoughts.
- If at this point we do not think an assessment from Cornwall Autism is right for your child, for instance if there is not enough evidence of ADHD or if we feel alternative support would be in the best interests of your family we will signpost you to appropriate services, including local NHS and council support.
- If we all agree that an independent ADHD assessment could be helpful we will arrange a date and time that is convenient for you for the next stage of our assessment, we will also ask both parents and school to complete a Conner’s Questionnaire.
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THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY ADHD ASSESSMENT
- Parent/Guardian Interview We will arrange a time to meet with you either online via a secure video platform to gather information on your child’s presentation and to get a detailed developmental history. Please note if you would prefer the parent interview to take place face to face, there will be an additional £200 cost. This assessment can take up to 3 hours.
- Younger Child Assessment a school visit will take place, and will include observations of your child both in the classroom and during break time. Our clinician will also spend some 1:1 time with your child, playing games and asking questions. Finally, we will liaise with teaching staff. This session lasts around 2-3 hours.
- Older Children this will take place at our clinic room at the Health and Wellbeing Innovation Centre, Truro, or at Market Hall, Devonport, Plymouth. We will spend a few minutes initially with you all together to introduce ourselves and ask you all some general questions. We will then ask you to separate from your child and wait in the comfortable waiting area whilst our session takes place. We will play games and ask questions about your child’s experiences and gather their perspectives . We will also administer the QB Check which is a computer based standardised test of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity.
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THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY DIAGNOSTIC MEETING
- Once both assessments have taken place we will then hold multidisciplinary diagnostic discussions during which our observations, and the information you and your child’s school have provided are considered using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM5) to determine whether your child meets the criteria for a diagnosis of ADHD.
LETTING YOU KNOW THE OUTCOME
- We will phone you with the outcome of your child’s assessment within a week of the final assessment session.
- We will email you a detailed report including recommendations and signposting.
FOLLOW UP
- Finally, we offer you a follow up meeting, this takes place online with one of our experienced clinicians and is an opportunity for you to ask us any questions about the assessment, report, recommendations and next steps.
