FAQ's
We have included some key questions that may be of help to you when considering an autism assessment.
If you have any further questions that you would like to speak to us about, please contact the team via email or phone on: enquiries@asd-360.com or 01507 534181 (Option 5).
Referrals
At present we do not have contracts with any NHS local authorities. As such, we are not currently in a position to offer RTC or NHS assessments.
All our assessments are currently completed as private assessments, and therefore have a fee. This may change in the future. The prices of our assessments can be found here.
We currently assess those aged 6 or over. We will soon be offering assessments for children. If you’re interested in pursuing a diagnosis for a child younger than 6 please contact us.
Young children need to have enough language skills to be able to engage with the clinician when undertaking an online assessment. Their language skills should be developed enough that they could tell you about what they may have done on a different day, and not just what they are doing at the current time. It is likely this will be from the age of around six years old.
If you are the parent/guardian of a child younger than six with these language skills, please get in touch with us and we will talk to you about if we can assess.
There is no upper age limit.
We have a clear pricing structure.
We ask for an upfront deposit of £200 for you to book your appointment, which is included in the total assessment price.
If you are on Universal Credit, please contact us before booking your assessment and we can look to offer our reduced rate, upon proof of Universal Credit, such as a copy of a letter from HMRC.
We offer payment packages to allow for payment by installments, or you can choose to pay in full via a link sent after the assessment if you prefer.
For those people who are private patients under the ADHD 360 pathway (Gold and platinum packages) we also offer a price reduction in recognition of your commitment to the wider 360 family. Please contact us for more information.
Assessments
All assessments are online, via Skype, so can be completed in the comfort of your own home.
We recommend you choosing somewhere that is quiet and comfortable for you, free from distractions, and at a time when you are able to concentrate on the assessment.
A family member is welcome to sit in the background for support if needed and will not be part of the assessment itself.
The face-to-face part of the assessment can take up to 90 minutes. This is to make sure we have enough time to discuss everything in detail, and so we don’t rush you.
For children’s assessments we will also speak to a family member, usually a parent/guardian to get background information on how you were in your very early years.
For adult assessments it may be helpful to also speak to a family member to gain further information. If we need to do one of these, and we will discuss this with you, this will take around 90 minutes as well.
The family member discussion would be completed on a separate day.
One or two. We sometimes use a second assessor for clinical supervision purposes or to provide an additional opinion on an assessment. The assessment does not need to take place with two assessors.
The second person (if present) will introduce themselves and then turn off the screen so that they do not distract the person’s attention during the assessment, allowing you to focus only on one person.
The cost of the assessment covers the following:
- Review of onboarding documentation by your clinician.
- Cost of the ADOS assessment and post assessment scoring (and if a child, also the ADI-R).
- Discussion of your assessment, by your clinician, within a multi-disciplinary setting with a group of experienced clinicians.
- Completion of a detailed assessment report that includes background information, the assessment outcome, a formulation that outlines the rationale for the decision making, suggestions for any reasonable accommodations, any further recommendations, and a summary document to be shared with employer / education provider.
- Access to a live post diagnostic webinar lead by one of our clinicians, with opportunity to ask further questions.
Further support is available for those who receive an autism diagnosis, at additional cost.
Assessment outcome
You will have a feedback session where we will share lots of information about the outcome of the assessment and any recommendations / suggestions the clinician thinks would be helpful for you.
All of this information, and more details about what information was gathered in the assessment, is put into a written report. This report will be sent to you and to your GP.
We aim to have the report to you within a week of your feedback session.
We would encourage the report to be shared in full with the school in the case of a child assessment. Following a positive diagnosis of autism, it is likely the school SENCo will informed, and offer input as part of the school process.
The report will include considerations for any adjustments that a school or workplace may want to consider. Adult reports will include a detachable page that can be shared with your employer that outlines some recommendations for workplace accommodations. Whilst you can share the whole report if you want to with your employer, you may instead prefer to simply share the section written specifically for an employer (or education provider)
There is no guarantee that you will receive a positive diagnosis. We work hard to ensure that we give you all relevant information at every stage to help you to make an informed decision about whether to pursue an assessment.
We are informed by national guidelines and formal diagnostic criteria. Only if you meet the diagnostic criteria following a rigorous assessment process will you receive a positive diagnosis.
Autism 360 follows the same national guidance (NICE guidelines), using the same assessments as would take place within an NHS assessment. Many of our clinicians have worked in similar settings within the NHS.
As such, there will be no difference in the assessment process, and therefore, the diagnosis, if you were assessed via the NHS or with Autism 360. This will reassure you, and your GP, that the assessment and its outcome is valid, and should therefore be accepted.
Autistic people are protected under the Equality Act 2010. To not accept a diagnosis from a private clinic that has followed all national guidance using gold standard assessments could be considered at odds with the Equality Act.
Treatment processes
There are no medical treatments for autism. As such, we will not discuss a medication pathway for you.
If you experience additional characteristics that autistic people may also experience, such as anxiety, we will advise you to contact your GP for advice and treatment.
Non-medical options we offer:
You will be invited to attend a webinar if you receive a positive diagnosis. This is included as part of the package price.
We offer a range of resources available on the website for everyone to access free of charge.
We will offer additional webinars on various topics that you can choose to purchase a ticket for if you would like to attend.
We have a vast amount of expertise within the team and can therefore offer a range of additional support offers. This can include further assessments, i.e. speech and language ones. We can also offer a small number of 1-1 sessions with members of the team for additional support. These can be discussed as part of the feedback session, or any time afterwards if you would like these.
We don’t at the minute, but we may do in the future.
Alternatively, we do offer a reduced fee for autism assessment if you are a private patient (Platinum and gold membership only) with ADHD 360. Please contact us for more information.