Child Autism Assessment

Clinician and child reviewing assessment notes together at desk

Our Child Autism Assessment Service is led by a Consultant Psychiatrist and delivered by a highly experienced multidisciplinary team specialising in autism, other neurodevelopmental conditions, emotional wellbeing, attachment, trauma, and behaviour.

We understand that considering an autism assessment for your child can feel like a big and sometimes emotional step. Many families come to us feeling unsure, worried, or overwhelmed. Our aim is to support you and your child with care, openness, and respect throughout the entire process.

Our assessment pathway is evidence-based, holistic, and aligned with guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). It is designed to help you understand your child’s individual strengths and needs, provide clear and thoughtful clinical opinion, and offer practical next steps to support your child at home, in school, and beyond.

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Autism Symptoms in Children

Autism can affect how a child communicates, plays, learns, and experiences the world around them. These differences can look very different from one child to another and may change over time or vary depending on the environment.

Finding social interaction or play with other children confusing or tiring
Preferring to play alone or alongside others rather than cooperatively
Struggling with changes in routine, transitions, or unexpected events
Becoming distressed by sensory experiences such as noise, crowds, clothing textures, or bright lights
Having strong interests or focusing deeply on particular topics or activities

Finding it hard to express emotions or needs, or having big emotional reactions
Experiencing meltdowns or shutdowns when overwhelmed
Appearing to cope well at school but becoming exhausted, distressed, or dysregulated at home
Taking language very literally, struggling with jokes, sarcasm, or unspoken social rules
Becoming upset if games don’t follow expected rules or if others change the plan

Some children may show these differences from an early age, while others may cope well initially and struggle more as social and emotional demands increase. For some children, particularly those who mask or who do not fit common stereotypes, these experiences can be subtle and easily missed.

While autism is often discussed in terms of challenges, autistic children also have many strengths. These may include creativity, curiosity, honesty, strong memory, attention to detail, and deep focus on interests they enjoy. Recognising and supporting your child’s strengths alongside their needs is central to helping them build confidence and feel understood.

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Conditions That Commonly Occur Alongside Autism in Children

Autism often co-occurs with other neurodevelopmental, emotional, or behavioural differences. These do not mean that something is “wrong” with your child, but they can affect how your child copes and what support may be helpful.

Understanding how these experiences sit alongside autism can help ensure your child receives the right support, both emotionally and educationally, and can prevent difficulties being misunderstood or managed in isolation.

Anxiety

particularly around change, uncertainty, or social situations

Attention and concentration difficulties

including ADHD

Emotional regulation difficulties

, such as intense emotions or difficulty calming after distress

Sensory processing differences

affecting tolerance to noise, textures, movement, or light

Sleep difficulties

including problems settling or staying asleep

Learning differences

such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, or dyscalculia

What Does a Child Autism Assessment Involve?

A child autism assessment helps build a detailed understanding of how your child communicates, interacts, and experiences the world around them. Our clinicians take time to explore your child’s strengths alongside any areas that may feel more challenging, such as coping with change, managing sensory sensitivities, navigating friendships, regulating emotions, or dealing with uncertainty.

Information is gathered through a combination of conversations, observations, and questionnaires, always keeping your child and family at the centre of the process. The aim is to help you understand what may be driving your child’s experiences and what support could make day-to-day life easier, whether or not the outcome includes a formal diagnosis.

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Clinician taking notes whilst speaking with young person during autism assessment

Clinician observing child during autism assessment conversation

Why Might Families Seek an Autism Assessment?

Families come to us for many different reasons. You may be considering an assessment if your child is finding friendships difficult, becoming overwhelmed in busy environments, struggling with transitions, or coping well at school but feeling exhausted, distressed, or dysregulated at home.

Some children experience big emotions, meltdowns, or shutdowns that feel hard to manage, while others may appear quiet or withdrawn and struggle to express how they are feeling. For many families, an assessment offers clarity, helps reduce uncertainty, and supports access to the right understanding and adjustments both at home and in education.

Our Child Autism Assessment Pathway

Our pathway includes several carefully planned stages to ensure your child receives a thorough, compassionate, and clinically robust assessment.

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Step 1: Initial Screening Appointment

Your child’s journey begins with a 60-minute appointment led by our Consultant Psychiatrist. This family-friendly session gives you space to talk about your child’s current difficulties, what helps them, your family circumstances, and what you are hoping to understand. The purpose of this appointment is to consider whether a full autism assessment or another type of neurodevelopmental or mental health assessment would be most helpful at this stage.

Step 2: Comprehensive Developmental Consultation

If further assessment is recommended, you will meet with an experienced member of our multidisciplinary team for a detailed developmental discussion. This explores your child’s development from early childhood through to the present day and can take place either online or in person, depending on what works best for your family.

Step 3: Autism-Specific Observation Session

Your child will attend a face-to-face, play-based observation session with our clinicians. Using specialist activities and materials, we gently explore communication, interaction, and behaviour in a relaxed and supportive environment that helps your child feel as comfortable as possible.

Step 4: Multidisciplinary Review and Feedback

Once all appointments and information have been gathered, the multidisciplinary team meets to carefully review everything together. You will then receive a detailed written report, followed by a feedback appointment where we explain the findings, answer your questions, and discuss practical recommendations and next steps.

Child Autism Assessment

Autism Symptoms in Children

Conditions That Commonly Occur Alongside Autism in Children

Anxiety

Attention and concentration difficulties

Emotional regulation difficulties

Sensory processing differences

Sleep difficulties

Learning differences

What Does a Child Autism Assessment Involve?

Why Might Families Seek an Autism Assessment?

Our Child Autism Assessment Pathway

Main Information

Our Expertise

Our Centre Address

Marylebone

Belgravia

Manchester Clinic

Postal Address

Child Autism Assessment

Autism Symptoms in Children

Conditions That Commonly Occur Alongside Autism in Children

Anxiety

Attention and concentration difficulties

Emotional regulation difficulties

Sensory processing differences

Sleep difficulties

Learning differences

What Does a Child Autism Assessment Involve?

Why Might Families Seek an Autism Assessment?

Our Child Autism Assessment Pathway

Main Information

Our Expertise

Our Centre Address

Marylebone

Belgravia

Manchester Clinic

Postal Address

Choose Your ADHD Assessment

Choose Your ADHD Assessment