Diagnostic assessment – what to expect
There is currently a waiting list for diagnostic assessments but the resources and support provided through the profiling tool will support your child / young person families whilst they are waiting.
Before the assessment appointment we will send forms to parents or guardians, and the child's school. These forms are a vital part of the child's assessment, as the most useful assessment information can come from the people who know the child or young person best, in their everyday environments and activities.
The forms will ask questions about the parents or guardians' own life and experiences, and their family history. It is important that we have this information before the appointment as we cannot complete our assessment without it. If the child is home-schooled, please talk to us about this and we will try and gather further information from another person who knows them instead.
Once we have received your forms, we will send an appointment letter. During the appointment, you and your child will meet with different professionals. One will spend some time with the parent or guardian to gather any further history information about concerns, the child's development, and their current presentation. Another will spend time with the child finding out all about them and carrying out assessments which are talking or play-based depending on their age.
Following your appointment, we will let you know if we need to do any additional assessments, such as observing your child in school.
We will then discuss our assessments in our multi-disciplinary team meeting. We will contact you to inform you of the outcome.
Even if a child does not receive a diagnosis, we will always try to provide you with advice and support or strategies to help you and your child based on what we have learned through the assessment. We may signpost you to other services who may be able to offer the help that you need where relevant.