Please read this information if you are wondering if a child or young person may benefit from an assessment for autism and/or ADHD. Please look through the information below, in order. This will guide you through the best way to help the child or young person.
Before you read this information, please note the following:
In Berkshire, we are fortunate that in many or most cases you can get exactly the same support without an assessment (or referral) as you would get after a diagnosis. This means the child or young person can receive support as early as possible based on their needs, without needing to rely on or wait for an assessment to happen first.
A young person’s needs will be the same on the day after the assessment as they were the day before the assessment. It is very likely that the child or young person will still require support whether or not they receive a formal diagnosis. So having the right support in place as early as possible is more important and more meaningful than being added to a long waiting list.
You can read more about waiting lists in our newsletters here.
There are many things that might look like possible autism or ADHD but are not. This can include things like hearing, speech and language difficulties, learning difficulties, depression and anxiety, bullying and emotional worries. It’s important, therefore, to carefully consider these possibilities before thinking about requesting an autism/ADHD assessment.
The most important thing is to put support in place straight away – this can happen without diagnosis, assessment or referral.
Before making the request, please refer to the relevant checklist below for guidance.
There is a range of support available immediately which can often mean a young person does not need an assessment.
Families can receive support from their locally commissioned NHS service which supports families who have a child who has or may have autism and/or ADHD. The services provide a range of support including workshops to support with anger, emotional regulation and sleep difficulties. No referral is needed.
To find out more and access support:
Visit the below pages to find out about all the support available now:
And for more information please see:
Support plans can take different forms. They should be based on a careful consideration of individual needs and helpful strategies, with a plan to review and adapt the plan as needed. Often relatively small changes can make a big difference. Flexibility is key when thinking about how to make adaptations to support the child or young person.
Support plans should:
As part of the support plan, please make sure that families also know where they can access advice, support and courses.
If school have access to a profiling tool, this will be extremely helpful in understanding the profile of needs and strengths and informing strategies to support the child or young person.
Please see the checklists below for help in putting a support plan in place. You can also find more information on strategies to support a child or young person here.
Please consider all of the points below:
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Child is aged 2 years 6 months to 4 years 11 months and registered with a Berkshire GP |
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Child presents with features highly suggestive of autism |
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Social communication differences are clearly out of line with overall developmental level |
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Concerns/differences have been present for six months or longer |
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Concerns/differences are seen across different settings |
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There is clear and informed consent from parents or carers |
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Appropriate developmental checks have been carried out with the Health Visiting team, a support plan has been put in place and implemented |
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Parents or carers have accessed support/training from the relevant autism support service and implemented recommendations at home. |
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If the child is in an early years/educational setting: a SENCO-led support plan needs to have been in place and fully implemented for at least six months/two terms (eg a minimum of two ‘assess, plan, do, review’ cycles) |
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If there are concerns regarding the child’s speech and language development (eg language delay): support/advice needs to have been sought from the Speech & Language Therapy service. This can be accessed by calling the Early Years Speech and Language Therapy enquiries line: 0118 9043700 (9am-3.30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays) |
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If there are behavioural/emotional concerns: advice has been sought from Health Visiting Team and support/recommendations have been implemented for at least six months |
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If supported by the development officers/early years team/educational psychologist: all support/recommendations must have been implemented and evaluated for at least six months |
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Vision and hearing checks carried out where these are needed |
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Where they apply, please also consider the points below:
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If the child is in an early years/educational setting: a SENCO-led support plan needs to have been in place and fully implemented for at least six months/two terms (ega minimum of two ‘assess, plan, do, review’ cycles) |
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If there are concerns regarding the child’s speech and language development (eg language delay): support/advice needs to have been sought from the Speech & Language Therapy service. This can be accessed by calling their Early Years enquiries line on 0118 9043700 between 9am-3.30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. |
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If there are behavioural/emotional concerns: advice has been sought from Health Visiting Team and support/recommendations have been implemented for at least six months |
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If supported by the development officers/early years team/educational psychologist: all support/recommendations must have been implemented and evaluated for at least six months |
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Vision and hearing checks have been carried out where these are needed |
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Please consider all of the points below:
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Child/young person is aged 5 years to 17 years 5 months and registered with a Berkshire GP |
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Child/young person presents with features highly suggestive of autism |
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If child/young person has a learning disability, social communication differences are clearly out of line with overall developmental level |
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Concerns/differences have been present since early childhood |
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Concerns/differences are seen across different settings |
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There is clear and informed consent from parents or carers or the young person themselves if over 14 years of age (where appropriate) |
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Parents/carers have accessed support/training from the relevant autism support service and implemented recommendations at home. For further information about support, please visit: Getting Help Now: Autism |
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Where they apply, please also consider the points below:
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If the child or young person is in an educational setting: a SENCO-led support plan needs to have been in place, fully implemented and reviewed for at least six months/two terms (eg a minimum of two ‘assess, plan, do, review’ cycles) |
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If there are concerns regarding the child or young person’s cognitive ability or ability to access the curriculum: advice needs to be sought from the educational psychologist via the school SENCO (NB this is advice only and may or may not result in direct input) |
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If seen by an educational psychologist: all support/recommendations must have been implemented and evaluated for at least six months |
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If there are concerns regarding the child or young person’s speech and language development (eg language delay): support/advice needs to have been sought from the Speech & Language Therapy service. For further information about support, please visit: Speech & Language Therapy |
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If the child or young person has a moderate/severe learning disability and there are significant concerns regarding mental health and/or behaviours that challenge/behaviours of distress: consultation with or referral to the CAMHS Learning Disability Team needs to have taken place (consultation will include advice as to whether a referral to CAMHS LD should be made). Tel: 0118 9046660 |
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If there are significant concerns about the child or young person’s mental health: the young person and/or family must have been referred for or accessed support. The best way to support will depend on the type of concerns - for further information about available support, please visit our CAMHS pages. |
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Please consider all of the points below:
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Child or young person is aged 6-17 and registered with a Berkshire GP |
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Child or young person presents with symptoms highly suggestive of ADHD |
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If child or young person has a learning disability: concentration, activity levels & impulsivity are clearly out of line with overall developmental level |
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Symptoms have been present since before the age of 12 and lasted six months or longer |
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Symptoms are seen across at least two different settings |
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The difficulties have a significant impact on the young person |
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There is clear and informed consent from parents/carers or the young person themselves if over 14 years of age (where appropriate) |
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The young person does not have current and significant drug issues. Please be aware that we do not offer ADHD assessments for young people who have current drug dependency issues. This includes daily cannabis use. It is very hard to differentiate symptoms of inattention that are caused by ADHD from those caused by substance abuse therefore it is hard to conclude that symptoms are not caused by another reason. |
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Parents/carers have accessed support/training from the relevant ADHD support service and implemented recommendations at home. For more information, see Getting Help Now - ADHD |
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Where they apply, please also consider the points below:
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If the child or young person is in an educational setting: a SENCO-led support plan needs to have been in place and fully implemented for at least six months/two (eg a minimum of two ‘assess, plan, do, review’ cycles) |
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If there are concerns regarding the child/young person’s cognitive ability or ability to access the curriculum: advice needs to be sought from the educational psychologist via the school SENCO (NB this is advice only and may or may not result in direct input) |
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If seen by an educational psychologist: all support/recommendations must have been implemented and evaluated for at least six months |
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If the child or young person has a moderate/severe learning disability and there are significant concerns regarding mental health and/or behaviours that challenge/behaviour of distress: consultation with or referral to the CAMHS Learning Disability Team needs to have taken place (consultation will include advice as to whether a referral to CAMHS Learning Disability Team should be made). Tel: 0118 9046660 Email: CAMHSLearningDisabilityTeam@berkshire.nhs.uk |
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If there are significant concerns about the child or young person’s mental health: the young person and/or family must have been referred for or accessed support. The best way to support will depend on the type of concerns - for further information about available support, please visit our CAMHS pages. |
This is for a request to consider starting ADHD medication when an ADHD diagnosis has already been made.
Please consider all of the points below:
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Child or young person is aged 6 to 17 years old and registered with a Berkshire GP |
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The difficulties have a significant impact on the child or young person |
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There is clear and informed consent from parents/carers or the young person themselves if over 14 years of age (where appropriate) |
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The young person does not have current and significant drug issues due to the potential risks. We recommend substance misuse is supported and addressed first. |
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Parents/carers have accessed support/training from the relevant ADHD support service and implemented recommendations at home. For further information about support, please click on this link: https://www.parentingspecialchildren.co.uk/courses/adhd-courses-and-workshops-for-parentscarers/ on behalf of Gems (East Berkshire) & Autism Berkshire (West Berkshire) |
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Where they apply, please also consider the points below:
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If the child or young person is in an educational setting: a SENCO-led support plan needs to have been in place and fully implemented for at least six months/two (eg a minimum of two ‘assess, plan, do, review’ cycles) |
☐ |
|
If there are concerns regarding the child or young person’s cognitive ability or ability to access the curriculum: advice needs to be sought from the educational psychologist via the school SENCO (NB this is advice only and may or may not result in direct input) |
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If seen by an educational psychologist: all support/recommendations must have been implemented and evaluated for at least six months |
☐ |
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If the child or young person has a moderate/severe learning disability and there are significant concerns regarding mental health and/or behaviours that challenge/behaviour of distress: consultation with or referral to the CAMHS Learning Disability Team needs to have taken place (consultation will include advice as to whether a referral to CAMHS Learning Disability Team should be made). Tel: 0118 9046660 Email: CAMHSLearningDisabilityTeam@berkshire.nhs.uk |
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If there are significant concerns about the child or young person’s mental health: the young person and/or family must have been referred for or accessed support. The best way to support will depend on the type of concerns - for further information about available support, please visit our CAMHS pages. |
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If you still feel an assessment would help, we ask families and the child’s school (or another professional who knows the child or young person well) to complete the appropriate additional information document together, then submit it with the online referral form.
The additional information will give us all the information we need and will help us decide the best way to help. It will tell us:
The process of completing the additional information will also help families and schools to work together to understand where support might be needed and what can be accessed or put in place right now to support the child or young person.
Please note:
Please note you will not be able to submit the online referral form unless you have the completed and attached the additional information document.
The information will be reviewed and a decision made about the best way to help the child or young person. Because of the number of referrals we receive, this can take some time and we please ask for your patience.
As soon as the review (known as triage) is complete, we'll reach out to share our decision with you. To help our team focus on reviewing all requests, we kindly ask that you refrain from calling the service for updates. Thank you for your understanding and patience.
Please speak with your child's school (or another professional that is involved with your child) to support you. If there is no one available to support you, please speak to the ADHD and Autism Triage Team who can help to provide support.
CYPADHDandAutismTriage@berkshire.nhs.uk
Arrange to meet the SENCO, to explain your concerns and discuss how the school can support your child. If other professionals are involved in supporting your child, make sure they are communicating with the school to share their observations and recommendations. If you feel that some aspects of the school day are difficult for your child (even if this is only apparent when they come home), explain what you think is affecting them and discuss what support can be put in place.
Completing the form together will build a more complete picture of the young person across home and school. It may for example show where they are struggling with some parts of the school day but are hiding this in school, and that signs/behaviours of distress only happen at home.
This can often happen and it may be for a number of different reasons. A young person may work very hard to manage the school day, although this may not be apparent in the school setting. This may only be seen at home where the young person may, for example, have meltdowns or shutdowns. The effort to manage the school day can leave young people exhausted and with no energy or coping resources left by the time they get home. This can particularly affect young people who mask or camouflage, and work very hard to fit in.
While the distress may only be seen at home, the underlying triggers or reasons are often things that happen at school. It is very important to understand that, although a child may appear to cope at school, they may be feeling very stressed and distressed, even if they do not show this at school. Arrange a meeting in school so that you can provide important information about sources of stress at school and share some ideas about what support can be put in place to reduce this.
Read more about different behaviour in home and school.
Generally schools will want to put support plans in place, recognising that early support can benefit all children and young people. The setting or school should use a graduated (stepped) approach based on a four part cycle of Assess, Plan, Do and Review, this will help the school to put in the right support and review how it is helping.
Check that the school know that support can and should be needs-led regardless of diagnosis – no diagnosis is needed to put in place a support plan.
Ask to meet with the class teacher and SENCo so you can explain the concerns you have about your child. This helps to make sure that school have a good understanding of the things that your child finds difficult – this is particularly important if your child is very different at home and at school.
Having some clear specific examples of what your child finds difficult can help. It can also help to share your ideas of the kinds of things that would really support your child and what works well at home. Explain that it would be very helpful to pilot a support plan even if there are few concerns in school, as this will help reduce stress and distress for your child.
You can also get free, confidential and impartial advice and support from your local Special Educational Needs & Disability Information Advice & Support Service (SENDIASS)
The form can be completed by another professional who knows the young person well. This could be a health visitor, speech and language therapist, therapist, home tutor, family support worker or social worker. If you feel there is no one suitable to complete the form, please contact the ADHD and Autism Triage team:
CYPADHDandAutismTriage@berkshire.nhs.uk
Please note, a GP would not be able to provide this information as they would not know your child well enough.
If there is anyone in the school that knows the child or young person, we still ask them to work with you as they will have important information including why the child or young person is not in the school setting. Where a child or young person is not known to school staff, then generally another professional who has direct knowledge of the young person will partner with you.
Please wait for school to reopen and then ask them to complete the form with you. Young people spend so much of their time at school, so staff there are the best people to help us with key information.
We understand that a diagnosis has multiple and important meaning for young people, and this can be very individual and personal to them.
If you or your child feel that an assessment is central to their wellbeing or sense of identity, please read through the guidance and discuss with your child's school or another professional who knows them well.
If a child or young person has their needs identified, understood and met, we expect that distress will reduce.
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is based on the care needs of a child or young person rather than a diagnosis. There is no need to wait for a diagnosis before making an application.
An application can be made at any time if the care needs for the child or young person are significantly more than another child of the same age. This is based on what you have to do, how often you have to do it and how long it takes. This includes care during the day, during the night and care needed in and outside the home.
Please ask your parent/guardian/foster carer and someone who knows you well at school to complete the form. Then either you or they can return the form and complete the online referral form. If there are any difficulties with this, please call us on 0118 904 6620 for help and advice.
Yes, we'll be collecting feedback with every referral so that we can find out what is working well and where we can improve the process.
Working in partnership with the school (or other involved professional) means that they can support the use of IT systems. Where there is no one available to support the young person, bespoke support can be provided by the service.
Arrange to meet the parent/carer and explain your concern. Discuss with them how the school can support the child and what support is available to the family. Make sure an effective support plan is in place (this should be based on identified need and does not require referral/assessment/diagnosis). Arrange to meet regularly to evaluate the child's progress.
If you feel the child needs a specific provision or service that can ONLY be accessed with a specific diagnosis, please share this with the family.
This can often happen and it may be for a number of different reasons. A young person may work very hard to manage the school day, although this may not be apparent in the school setting. This may only be seen at home where the young person may, for example, have meltdowns or shutdowns. The effort to manage the school day can leave young people exhausted and with no energy or coping resources left by the time they get home. This can particularly affect young people who mask or camouflage, and work very hard to fit in.
While the distress may only be seen at home, the underlying triggers or reasons are often things that happen at school. It is very important to understand that, although a child may appear to cope at school, they may be feeling very stressed and distressed, even if they do not show this at school. Talking to the young person and their family will usually provide important information about sources of stress at school and ideas about what support can be put in place to reduce this.
If there is someone in school that knows the child or young person, we still ask them to work with the family as they will have important information including why the young person is not in the school setting. Where a child or young person is not known to school staff, then generally another professional who has direct knowledge of the young person will partner with the family.
Yes, we will collect feedback from families and schools with every referral to help us evaluate, refine and improve the process. We want to make sure the system adapts to meet the needs of children and young people effectively.
We are providing detailed guidance on our website and will be available to answer any questions. We encourage families and schools to spend some time on the website reviewing all of the information as this is likely to answer their questions. If not they can contact us for advice.
CYP Autism and ADHD triage team
CYPADHDandAutismTriage@berkshire.nhs.uk
0118 9046620
There is a range of resources and free training to help schools with supporting children and young people. This includes: