A Stitch in Time: the Benefits of an Early Autism Diagnosis
Read the story of a thriving young autistic person and how early diagnosis and support has helped him achieve his goals. Learn More
Free Psycho-Education Sessions For Parents/Carers with Autistic children and young people
We’re developing free-of-charge parent/carer sessions for families with autistic children and young people. Join the conversation and share your insights to help us make them as valuable as possible. Learn More
Is your child about to move to secondary school?
As the end of primary school nears, the move to secondary school can be daunting for any child, but especially for autistic children and their parents. Learn More
Why are waiting lists for Autism assessments so long?
There is increasing evidence that waiting times for Autism assessments in the UK are growing. Some areas have simply had to close their waiting lists because they have no realistic way of meeting the current need. So, what is driving this rise in referrals? I have spent some time looking at the current evidence, and will attempt to summarise why this seems to be happening. Learn More
The impact of COVID 19 lockdowns on children
The impact of COVID 19 lockdowns on children’s development and the early identification of possible Autism. As a company, we have not historically tended to assess children under the age of four for possible Autism. The reason for this was because, in the past, very small children with developmental or speech delay tended to be identified at their regular Health Visitor checks and would...Learn More
Back to school for children with PDA … five years on
Article Updated – September 2022 Since this article was first written in 2017 we have published two journal articles related to PDA. The first is titled “Modification of the Coventry Grid Interview (Flackhill et al, 2017) to include the Pathological Demand Avoidant profile” The second is titled “An exploration of the Pathological (or Extreme) Demand Avoidant profile in...Learn More
Autism, anxiety and the impact upon parents … four years on
This article is an update of our original article written in 2017 – long before we, and our children, were faced with the prospect of COVID 19 and the associated disruptions to school and everyday life. I am talking about about Autism and anxiety, an issue which has taken on a new meaning in the last eighteen months. Previous research suggested that up to 85% of autistic individuals will...Learn More
Online assessments – 17 months on
In March 2020, when the first lockdown to try and manage the spread of the COVID-19 virus began, many Autism assessment teams across the country were already experiencing a high number of referrals for assessment, and consequently families were experiencing long and stressful delays in getting a diagnosis and the support that they had hoped for. Even before COVID, waiting lists had been...Learn More
The Challenge of Complex (and Perplexing) Presentations in Autism.
This is the title of a new book I will be writing, along with colleagues, and which will include real life stories from individuals (and their families) who have been affected by either not having their Autism recognised or being misdiagnosed. It has been commissioned by Jessica Kingsley Publishers and will hopefully be complete by June 2022. young people arrive in inpatient services without...Learn More