Gold Standard Autism
Assessments for children
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How Our Autism Diagnostic Assessments Work (Children & Young People)
Our autism assessments for children and young people are carried out carefully, thoughtfully, and in line with national guidance. We follow the recommendations set out by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and use approaches that reflect current best practice.
Our focus is on understanding your child as a whole — their strengths, their needs, and how they experience the world — so that any outcomes are meaningful, supportive, and helpful for moving forward.
We’re with you every step of the way
How our Autism Diagnostic Assessments for children work
Our autism assessments for children and young people are carried out carefully, thoughtfully, and in line with national guidance. We follow the recommendations set out by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and use approaches that reflect current best practice. Our focus is on understanding your child as a whole — their strengths, their needs, and how they experience the world — so that any outcomes are meaningful, supportive, and helpful for moving forward.
1
Information-gathering
Prior to the assessment, we will provide a set of pre-assessment questionnaires for completion. These may be completed by a parent or carer, or, if preferred, by a teacher or educational professional who has a strong understanding of your child’s development and day-to-day functioning.
Once the questionnaires have been reviewed, we will discuss the findings with you and recommend the most appropriate next steps.
Step
2
Assessment
During the initial session, the parent or carer will take part in a structured developmental interview using the ADI-R (Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised). Online or in person.
Following this, the young person will complete the ADOS-2 (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule – Second Edition), a face-to-face standardized assessment conducted by a trained clinician- this session will also be observed by a second clinician as per gold standard framework.
Every effort is made to reduce anxiety and to ensure the child or teen feels comfortable, relaxed and regulated.
Step
3
Diagnostic report
We will provide you with a written report within 4 weeks of your second assessment session with us. If possible, we will share our diagnostic outcome verbally with you before this point. In addition to emailing the report to you, we will invite you to come in and see us for a 30 minute feedback, so that we can discuss the findings together.
Step
4
Tailored support
At Glowing Psychology, our aim is not only to help you understand your child’s or young person’s needs, but also to support you in knowing what to do next.
We take time to talk through the outcomes of any assessment, answer your questions, and help you feel clear and confident about the next steps in supporting your child. Where helpful, we can guide you towards relevant services and resources and offer ongoing support as your child’s needs develop.
Our focus is on working alongside you, so you never feel alone in navigating the journey ahead.
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Common Signs of Autism
Your child may be experiencing…
You may have noticed some differences in how your child communicates, interacts, or experiences the world.
Because every child is different in their own way, not all autistic children show the same signs. Autism can look different from one child to another.
However, some common features are linked to the core traits of autism.
Differences with social communication
Friendship difficulties, reciprocity and difficulties understanding and expressing emotions.
Repetitive behaviours
Intense interest in topics, need for routine.
Sensory differences
Sensory sensitivity and/or sensory seeking behaviours.
Losing a skill
They used to have, e.g. loss of speech that had previously developed.
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We're here to answer your questions
All the services we provide are charged for.
We operate as a not-for-profit independent organisation. This means you can always be assured that our fees are the lowest we can reach while maintaining the highest quality of assessment and support.
Please get in touch with the admin team for any specific queries about pricing.
No. Our clinicians can only provide a diagnosis if they believe you meet the diagnostic criteria. It would not be possible or ethical to guarantee a diagnosis. Complex histories or external factors may impact outcomes. We cannot refund fees based on diagnosis absence, as our service provides a rigorous UK best practice model assessment, not a specific diagnosis.
Yes. Our Adult Autism Assessment includes the Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders (DISCO), conducted by an experienced psychologist or psychotherapist which is an inclusive Autism assessment tool particularly useful for assessing Autism in women and non-binary people. This is followed by an assessment by a neurodevelopmental specialist psychiatrist to ensure a comprehensive evaluation.
Yes, our clinicians are experienced in understanding masking complexities. Share information about how your child masks and their coping strategies during the assessment. Encourage your child to share how they feel with the clinicians. It is important that the clinicians have enough evidence to support a diagnosis, think about different settings that your child’s symptoms present in and share information with them.
The clinician’s must be able to evidence that the symptoms are present in a setting outside of home such as school, or an extra curricular activity. A professional in one of these settings will need to fill out pre-assessment questionnaires about your child’s symptoms and traits.
No, we don’t prescribe medication for ADHD.
