Frequently Asked Questions

1. 1. A developmental history is carried out online, using Google Meet, with parents (for child assessments) or the adult being assessed, by a clinical psychologist. Following this, we can then carry out the ADOS and cognitive assessment (an optional extra for adult assessments, but included in our standard child assessment) face-to-face in either our Norwich or Henley-in-Arden clinic. (This, of course, is subject to any changes in local or national restrictions announced by the government.) The team responsible for managing the clinical diary will advise on availability once a request for an assessment is received.
2. The entire process is online via Google Meet. An article about the benefits of online ASD assessments can be found here.

There are different pricing packages for different kinds of assessment. If you are seeking the price of a Child’s Autism Assessment, details of all our pricing packages can be found here.

Please click here for information on our Adult Autism and ADHD assessments.

Your child needs to attend the assessment with at least one parent, who will need to stay on the premises throughout the assessment.

We understand that sometimes it’s necessary to bring siblings along. While we encourage focusing on the assessment, your other children are welcome to wait comfortably with you in our waiting area if needed.

When assessing your child, we will usually try to involve both parents. You can be involved in the assessment process if you have parental responsibility. We need to ask lots of questions about your child’s early development and how they are now, so usually, we will arrange the appointment with the person who spends/has spent the most time with the child.

We are very aware that separation/divorce can sometimes be difficult and lead to bad feelings and differences of opinion on both sides. For this reason, where possible, we ask that both parents attend any appointments together. Should this be impossible, we can (at an additional cost) add in a further appointment where the other parent can give their views, or alternatively, ask for a detailed questionnaire to be completed. However, we must point out that it can prove extremely difficult, and even impossible, for the clinical team to reach a decision about a diagnosis if two parents disagree significantly.

In addition, we also need to be clear that we, as a team, do not become involved with cases that may go to the Family Courts. Ultimately, we are focused on the needs of the child being assessed and will make judgements based upon evidence from parents, school, and our own impression of the child’s challenges when they come to our clinic.

As stated on the NHS website, “By law, healthcare professionals only need 1 person with parental responsibility to give consent for them to provide treatment.” It isn’t therefore necessary for both parents to attend.

Additionally, as stated on the following NHS website – “Children under the age of 16 can consent to their own treatment if they’re believed to have enough intelligence, competence and understanding to fully appreciate what’s involved in their treatment. This is known as being Gillick competent.”

Our clinical team are exceptionally good and very experienced at ‘seeing behind the mask’.

We have an article in our blog that discusses ‘masking’ here.

I want to register my interest in receiving therapy for myself or my child. How do I start this process? 

Please email your enquiry to [email protected]

We require a minimum of 2 working days notice of any changes to be agreed. Less than 2 working days notice will mean a cancellation charge of 50% of your booking fee paid.

Cancellation on the day of your booking would incur a 100% cancellation charge.

Should Help for Psychology need to cancel your appointment due to unforeseen reasons, then you will receive a 100% refund on the appointment we can’t provide, unless a suitable alternative booking date is supplied and agreed for your sessions.

Simply use our online booking form here if you have already agreed your dates and options with our Therapy team in advance.

If you have not done so, then please contact them here to begin your Therapy journey.

Yes, we can offer an assessment for children and young people (between 6 to 18 years of age), for Autism, ADHD, and Autism and ADHD combined. Currently, we are unable to offer this service for Adults. For further details of the assessments we can offer under Right to Choose, please see our Right to Choose information page.

Because PDA isn’t currently in the diagnostic manuals (such as DSM V), which many clinicians cite, then acceptance across the entire UK is currently a grey area.

However, our position is quite clear, and we advise the following:

If an assessment has been carried out utilising NICE Guidelines, by a multi-disciplinary team of health professionals, who are registered (such as with the HCPC), and with the appropriate experience and skills, (which is our approach), then local authorities would need to give a valid reason for dismissing a diagnosis following such an assessment. Also, it is important to establish upon whose say so that private diagnoses are not accepted. Many clinicians make this statement without foundation, and for a variety of reasons. If a clinician is claiming the local authority don’t accept the outcome of an assessment carried out in the manner described above, then they should be asked to provide written evidence. This should be in the form of a formal written ‘position statement’ from the local authority and/or NHS Trust, stating that they won’t accept a private diagnosis, and providing the rationale behind such a decision. We are happy to contact, and challenge, any local authority when we are provided with such written evidence of their refusal to accept a private diagnosis.

Furthermore, we have heard from many frustrated parents that some clinicians are claiming ‘PDA does not exist’. The question the clinicians who make this claim perhaps need to be asked is ‘Do you actually mean PDA doesn’t exist, or do you mean it isn’t recognised in DSM V?’ It is worth noting that in the original DSM only 106 disorders were mentioned. In the latest version, DSM V, around 370 disorders are listed, so clearly newly recognised disorders are being added over time. (Autism didn’t feature as a distinct diagnostic category until DSM version 3, but it certainly ‘existed’ in the lifetime of the original DSM and DSM II.)

We get commissioned to carry out a lot of assessments for local authorities and NHS Trusts.

Our position is quite clear:

If an assessment has been carried out utilising NICE Guidelines, by a multi-disciplinary team of health professionals, who are registered (such as with the HCPC), and with the appropriate experience and skills, (which is our approach), then local authorities would need to give a valid reason for dismissing a diagnosis following such an assessment.

Also, it is important to establish upon whose say so that private diagnoses are not accepted. Many clinicians make this statement without foundation, and for a variety of reasons. If a clinician is claiming the local authority don’t accept the outcome of an assessment carried out in the manner described above, then they should be asked to provide written evidence. This should be in the form of a formal written ‘position statement’ from the local authority and/or NHS Trust, stating that they won’t accept a private diagnosis, and providing the rationale behind such a decision. We are happy to contact, and challenge, any local authority when we are provided with such written evidence of their refusal to accept a private diagnosis

We collect only sufficient personal data to carry out the service we are providing. None of the data we collect is shared with any third party, nor do we use it in the future to bombard you with marketing emails, etc.

We let you take the lead with how far you want to take your enquiry. For example, if we offer you an assessment date and you don’t want to book an assessment, then we totally respect your decision.