Autism Assessment Process

What happens during an assessment

The assessment process is usually made up of a few appointments and can take several months to complete.

In your first appointment you will meet with a clinician who will gather information from you about your child’s development as well as their current strengths and difficulties.

They will also observe your child’s communication, social interaction and play/interests.

It can be helpful to bring your child’s red book along to this appointment.

Following this appointment your child will often be invited to attend further assessment. This may include:

• a face-to-face meeting with the clinician (if your initial appointment was via Attend Anywhere)
• a specialist speech and language assessment
• an ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) – see below for more information
• a cognitive assessment
• a meeting with another member of the team e.g. Paediatrician/Clinical Psychologist/Educational Psychologist
• a school observation.

We will also review the information provided from the questionnaires completed before the assessment and from other professionals (health visitor/teacher) who know your child.

Once we have gathered and considered all the information we will invite you to a feedback appointment.

Information about the ADOS-2 (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2)

Your child may be invited for an assessment of their social communication skills as part of the Core Diagnostic Process.

The assessment they will complete is called the ADOS-2 (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2) and it is an opportunity for us to observe your child/young person’s communication and social interaction skills whilst at play, in conversation, or when making imaginative use of materials. We will also be looking out for any restricted and repetitive behaviours.

As this assessment is used across the age-range, it does contain activities suitable for younger children as well as questions for older children. We try to explain this to our older teenagers to help them feel at ease.

For pre-school and non-verbal children, the assessment is designed to include a parent or carer and we ask that you bring a choice of two snacks on the day as well as a drink.

For school-age children and young adults the assessment is designed to take place without a parent present and no snack is required.

Some of our young people may worry about being seen on their own. We are happy to talk this through with them and if they are unable to manage it, we will of course support your child’s decision to have you present. However, we do ask that you do not contribute or comment during the assessment, as we are specifically trying to observe the child’s responses.

The appointment can often be quite tiring for your young person. For this reason we do not offer additional time to discuss other issues or concerns with yourselves. In addition, the clinicians administering the ADOS need to score it immediately following the appointment.

Should there be anything you need to discuss, a separate telephone consultation can be arranged.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or require further information.

What happens after the assessment

Once an assessment is complete, parents and carers are given information about support available at home and at school.

A number of children who come in for an autism assessment will not receive a diagnosis of autism. If this is the case we will discuss your child’s strengths and difficulties and make recommendations about further sources of support your child should receive.

Many of the children we see have other difficulties in addition to or instead of autism that may need further assessment. If this is the case we will refer your child onto the relevant services.

If your child is given a diagnosis of autism

You will be told during your feedback appointment if your child meets the criteria for a diagnosis of autism. The team will explain more about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and how it might affect your child.

You will also be given information about support you and your child can get in the local area. For example, you may be given contact details for support groups that can give you the opportunity to meet other families with experience of ASD, and advice about other services that are available.

The team will share information from the assessment with your child’s GP, and if you agree, with your child’s school or other professionals if appropriate, to help them offer you the support you need.

Following your feedback appointment you will receive a letter confirming the diagnosis and the next steps. This letter can be used as evidence of a confirmed diagnosis.

You will be given information about the Autism online workshop.

You will be sent a link to the autism advice resource pack. This will include information about autism and what support services are available in the local area and nationally.

You may be offered ongoing follow-up by doctors if there are ongoing medical concerns such as extremely restricted eating, significant sleep difficulties, emotional or mental health difficulties or other developmental conditions such as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), developmental impairment or motor coordination difficulties that need further assessment or monitoring.

If there are no ongoing medical concerns your child will be discharged, but we will always accept a referral back if anything changes for your child in the future.

About this leaflet

Author: Paediatric Core Diagnostic team
Written: July 2025
Approved: July 2025
Review date: July 2028
Edition: v1

If you have feedback regarding the accuracy of the information contained in this leaflet, or if you would like a list of references used to develop this leaflet, please email patientinformation.leaflets@dchft.nhs.uk