Ok, so at some point in every parent Autism Assessment journey, you have probably considered getting a private Autism Assessment at least a dozen times. There is a lot of misconception around private Autism Assessments (that we clarified in our previous article) but one thing that we at CareGen always recommend is to carefully consider what company you go with. In this article, we’re going to discuss 3 quality assurance checks you need to make before going down the private Autism Assessment route.

Considering getting a private Autism Assessment with CareGen? Then why not book into our FREE Clinical Appointments here.

Check Registrations

You’d be surprised how many private companies and individuals offer parents Autism assessments when they know they don’t have the qualifications to give a formal diagnosis. There is a reason why most clinicians who diagnose Autism are required by law to hold some form of professional registration. This shows that the individual has the necessary qualifications to practice safely and has the authority to give a formal diagnosis. Without this, there is potential that your child Autism Assessment could be called into question and in some cases not accepted by services.

So what should parents look for? Firstly, ask the clinician what professional body they belong to. The main 2 professional bodies that you’ll find within most Autism services (both private and NHS) are HCPC and GMC. HCPC is the Health Care Professions Council and has very high standards for any healthcare professional offering their services to the public. Thankfully they have a register where you can check if the clinician that assessed or diagnosed your child has registration (click here to see). The GMC is the General Medical Council which is mainly for medical doctors, however this holds the same weight as the HCPC. Regardless, we always advise any parent that is considering going private to check the qualifications of the assessing clinician, to ensure they are getting the highest quality service.

Assessment Process

The second check is to look at what the assessment process entails. What tools are the clinicians using to assess your child? In a standard Autism Assessment, you should expect to have a detailed developmental history taken along with a clinical observation of your child (whether this be online or in person). The clinician should also have some information from a second environment (which is usually school) and should have given you forms for them to fill in.

If your assessment does not reflect a similar process to what is outlined above then that should raise some alarm bells. Any qualified Autism clinician knows that the above steps should give the necessary information to make a clinical decision (whether that is a diagnosis or not). Without a variation of these steps, it could bring your assessment/diagnosis into question by mainstream services such as school and other healthcare services.

 Quality Report

This is something that I have seen a lot of in my time of assessing individuals for Autism. I have read some shocking reports in the past where the clinician clearly has not understood the child or doesn’t have a good understanding of Autism. An Autism report should outline in detail how an individual meets the criteria for a diagnosis of Autism. There are 2 main bodies that most services use to make a diagnosis. These are the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) and the ICD-11 (International Classification of Disease). This is where most clinicians go to diagnose anything, and they both have strict criteria’s that must be met to get a diagnosis of Autism.

If you have a report that mentions that your child has received a diagnosis, check in relation to which diagnostic manual. Without specification, this could hinder the quality of your assessment and call into question the validity of the outcome. If this is unclear then you can always go back to the service that carried out the assessment and ask them what manual they use and if they can amend the report to reflect this.

Considering getting a private Autism Assessment with CareGen? Then why not book into our FREE Clinical Appointments here.

Have you ever had it where you’re implementing lots of Autism friendly strategies, however your child still becomes distressed by things that seem to be out of your control? This is a conundrum that most parents go through and can often cause a lot of distress to not only your child, but to yourself as well. Couple that with the lack of post diagnosis support for people with Autism in the UK and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Well, in this article, we are going to go through the top HIDDEN triggers that could be causing your child distress, along with strategies on how to support them.

Are you struggling with getting post-diagnosis support for your loved one? Why not book into a free Clinical Appointment at CareGen here.

Too Noisy!

Now, this may sound obvious but it’s something that a lot of parents slip up on a regular basis. Many people with Autism have sensitivities to noise, however it’s very difficult for a Neurotypical person to truly understand how this feel. As parents, you may try to reduce the noise levels in your home however there may be sounds that you are not aware of that could be causing them discomfort.

I’ll give you an example, a few years ago I was completing an Autism assessment on a child and visited their school to do some extra observations. I noticed that the child would sit on his chair with his hands over his ears for the entire lesson. Nobody knew why and his teacher assumed that he just didn’t want to do the work. After a while, I noticed that he was staring at a light near the wall, so I walked over to check it out. To my surprise, the light was making a faint humming noise so I asked the teacher if could switch this off, to which she agreed. After a short while, the child removed his hands and appeared to engage in the work in front of him.

So what can you do? In my experience of working with people with Autism, the best strategy that I have found is to use whatever communication strategy they use and ask them if different noises bother them. This could be done through conversations (if this is something they feel comfortable with) or through Social Stories (Click here for examples). Additionally, have faith in your parental intuition. You know your child the best so if you notice a change in their behaviour, keep a mental note and confirm your intuition with them to be able to develop strategies to help.

It Smells in Here!

Ok, so we’ve all been in a situation where we are trying to do something but there is a weird smell around that you just can’t seem to move away from. Now imagine if you couldn’t communicate this to other people. I’m willing to bet that this would cause you some distress right? This is exactly what happens to some of our young people with Autism. There might be a slight change in the brand of fabric softener that you use that has now changed the smell which you can barely notice. However, for your child, this is equivalent to using sour milk as deodorant, yet you wonder why they don’t want to put on their school uniform anymore and now refuse to go to school.

Someone with little experience of working with people with Autism may go straight for anxiety management strategies or in some cases go straight for medication. However, anyone that is specialised in working with people with Autism would know to first look at the environment before going down any other avenues. This is something that parents can do also, as like I’ve mentioned before, you are an expert in your child.

So what can you do to support your child? The next time you notice that your child is distressed, think about the environment they are currently in. Does your child tend to become more distressed in one room/setting more than others? What is it about that room? Is it a room that usually has food prepped in? all these questions will help in gathering a picture of your child’s sensory environment which could give you a clue as to some factors that contribute to their distress.  

Struggling to identify your child’s TRIGGERS? Then why not book into a FREE Clinical Appointment with CareGen here.

In my nearly 10 years of assessing, diagnosing, and supporting people with Autism, there have been 3 key strategies that almost always work, when it comes to parents making their child’s life easier. In this article, we’ll break down these tried and tested strategies in the hopes that they will help you and your loved ones have a better quality of life.

Want to speak to an Autism Specialist? Book your FREE Clinical Appointment here.

Back Words with Visuals

I know all too well how frustrating it can be when your child is just not listening to you. When you feel as though you’ve told them to do something for the millionth time and they still aren’t listening. However, this could be due to several reasons, one being that your child may struggle with processing auditory information. This is where backing up what you’ve said, with some form of visual aid, comes in handy. This is due to this being a different type of information which reinforces what you’re saying to get the desired outcome. For example, if you’ve asked your child to grab their socks, you could back this up with a picture of their sock to support them in processing what you’ve asked them to do.

This seems to be the one strategy that most families find helps the most and reduces the amount of times you are asking your child to do something. There are also many resources that you can buy online such as visual cards for everyday things, so that you’re not scrambling to find a picture of different items.

Routine Routine Routine!

This is going to sound strange but if you’ve said that you are going to do something at a specific time, then make sure that it happens. Often, as parents, we say things like “we’ll go in 5 minutes” and then end up leaving 30 minutes later. To your child, 5 minutes means 5 MINUTES! At 6 minutes you may get a few comments like “you said 5 minutes” or in some cases, a full meltdown. For your Autistic child, the world is already a confusing place but by sticking to a routine, you’re introducing stability and predictability to your child’s life.

Couple this strategy with using visual aids to show your child what is going to happen on that day. I know so many families that use visual timetables in their homes and it has completely changed their lives. I remember supporting one family and after a few weeks, they thought their child wasn’t even looking at the timetable, so they took it down. About an hour later, they found their child actively searching for something, he found the timetable and put it back on the fridge.

Time to Process

This is probably one of the most difficult strategies to implement but will most likely have the best returns. Have you ever had it where you’ve asked your child a question and they haven’t responded or look like they are thinking? The natural response in this situation is to rephrase the question, however this is probably the worst things to do. Imagine you’re on an assembly line and you’re trying to figure out how to put something together. Now imagine that as you’re trying to figure it out, someone gives you more items to figure out and keeps adding to your workload. Eventually, you would either become distressed or completely shut down. This is exactly what happens when you overload your child with different information without giving time to fully process.

Try this, the next time you ask your child something, sit back and wait. See how long it takes for your child to respond to you. You’d be surprised as to how many parents find that their child just needed a few extra seconds, and they were able to respond appropriately. Once you have done this a few times, keep a mental note of how long it takes for your child to process information in different environments. Reason for this is that your child could process information much quicker in a relaxed environment, however might take a little longer in a more stressful environment.

Want to speak with an Autism Specialist? Book your FREE Clinical Appointment here.

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