Autism Assessment Service (Telford)

Clinical Psychologist

Since I completed my Clinical Psychology Doctorate in 2009 I have worked across different settings including secure hospitals, prisons, intensive support teams and the community learning disability team. I have worked with autistic people throughout my career and have been qualified to assess and diagnose Autism Spectrum Disorders since 2011.

Clinical Psychologist

I am an HCP registered clinical psychologist with 35 years experience working with people with neurodevelopmental conditions and/or intellectual disabilities [learning disabilities]. I have expertise in the assessment and diagnosis of autism and in the identification of other genetic and neurological conditions.

Occupational Therapist​​​​​​ 

I work in the Telford ASD service completing autism assessments.  I also add my expertise and carry out other assessments for people on the autism pathway.
I have always worked in the NHS, initially in mental health, then in the CLDT Shropshire team.

Team Secretary

I help with general enquiries from patients and other services. I am also heavily involved in the day to day tasks such as, booking appointments, updating clinical systems and sending out reports and letter’s. I joined the team in 2022 and enjoy being part of a very caring and professional service.

Speech and Language Therapist

I am a Speech and Language Therapist. I have worked in the NHS for 9 years. When I am not at work, I am usually out running, playing music or hopefully winning at scrabble!

When we receive your referral for an autism assessment we will meet as a team to read through the information you have shared and review your health records.

If you have had an Autism Assessment before we will not be able to offer a reassessment.

Screening Appointment

Following the team review we will arrange to meet with you to help us understand why you would like an autism assessment and discuss any questionswe may have.

If you are working with the Mental Health Team we will try to offer a joint appointment with them, so we can discuss the impact of possible autism on your care and treatment.

You can have someone with you during this appointment.

At this appointment we will be reviewing if there is enough information to suggest further assessment for Autism is required or if there could be other things that should be considered.

Preassessment Support

Unfortunately there is significant waiting time for an autism assessment. We are working hard to try to reduce this.

During the screening appointment we will also discuss the support you could access without a formal diagnosis.

While you are on the waiting list for an autism assessment you can access the preassessment support from the Telford Autism Hub

Autism Assessment

When we are able to offer you an appointment for your autism assessment we will be in contact with you, using your preferred method of contact (as recorded on your referral form). If we are not able to contact you using this we will write to you asking you to contact us.

We try to work around your existing commitments when making your appointment (such as other hospital appointment or holidays) within reason but we only work 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

Unfortunately we are not able to offer home visits.

Your assessment will include a minimum of two face to face appointments. These will be with different members of the clinical team. This is so you have the benefit of two experienced clinicians.

One of these appointments we ask for you to come into the clinical room alone so we can carry out an assessment of your social communication and social interaction (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule ADOS 2).

The other appointment you can bring someone with you, if you would like to.

During the assessment we will ask if we can talk with a parent. This is so we can ask questions about your early development. We use another standardised tool (Autism Diagnostic Interview Revised: ADI-R). This includes lots of questions focusing on your development as a young child (specifically 0-5 years old). We know this can be difficult for some adults coming for assessment as they may not want to include a parent or they may not have their parent in their lives anymore.

If you are not able to include a parent in your assessment this will not prevent us from doing an autism assessment with you. Instead we will be asking you to provide as much information as you can about your experiences as a young child. Some people have red books or school reports etc... which can be helpful too.

If you are not able to share information about your early childhood and this can not be provided by anyone else then it is unlikely that we will be able to say you meet the criteria for a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism Spectrum Disorder is a developmental condition so we need to establish that these differences were present since early childhood. There are lots of other explanations which could lead to difficulties with Social Communication / Social interaction as well as Restrictive / Repetitive Behaviours.

We offer appointments over the telephone, via video consultation and in person. We would not be able to complete an Autism Assessment solely on the telephone.

After the assessment

When your assessment is complete we will send you a report outlining the information we have gathered, the outcome of your assessment and some recommendations.

If you would like to read through this and come back to us with any questions or comments we can offer you a draft report in the first instance.

If you have a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder then we pass your information back to the Telford Autism Hub who will contact you to offer an appointment to discuss Post Diagnostic Support.

We work in partnership with the Telford Adult Autism hub which is managed through the Community Voluntary Service: a partnership organisation who advise, connect and inspire people and organisations in Telford to improve lives and communities.

The Autism Hub's main aim is to enable individuals to better understand their autistic identity.

This can be an individual seeking an assessment or general support. It can also be other agencies and businesses wanting to be better placed to meet the needs of Telfords neurodiverse community.

Telford Adult's Autism Hub provides:

• A first point of contact for an adult autism assessments (18+)
• Social opportunities for people identifying as autistic 
• Information and training
• one-to-one advice and guidance
• Autism champion training
• Friday peer support drop in 

​We can help you:

• Find out if you are autistic
• Understand more about Autism 
• Meet and socialise with other people
• Become more confident and independent 
• Find other teams and organisations who might also be able to help and support you

The steps below describe the expected route of your referral and what you can expect

1 Referral

We accept self referrals as well as referrals from professionals supporting individuals

2 MDT review

The Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) will determine whether an individual needs a diagnostic assessment and therefore whether they should progress through the process, and if a diagnosis is not needed, determining which pathway would be more appropriate. This is a clinically-led process which helps personalise the assessment for each person with autism.

3 The Assessment

The assessment brings in skills from a range of professionals, diagnostic tools, and observations to determine if someone is autistic or may need to be assessed for something else.

Where it is possible we aim to involve a family member, partner, carer, or use documentary evidence (such as school reports) of current and past behaviour and early development in the assessment.

We also use direct observation of core autism signs and symptoms, including formal assessment tools where appropriate.

We aim to provide an assessment which is tailored to the individual. The number of appointments may vary according to each assessment.

4 Report and Outcome

At this stage, a report is written explaining the outcome, making recommendations where appropriate.

A draft report is shared with the individual in the first instance, and they are then able to meet with the professionals again when they have read the report to discuss further.

A summary of this assessment is shared with your GP.

5 Post-diagnostic support

If the outcome of the assessment is a formal diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, post-diagnostic support is tailored according to individual need and may, in part, be delivered through collaborations with other teams or organisations.

Onward referrals for support (including for people without autism) also happen here.

If you are considering making a self-referral, you might wish to try this short online self-screening tool.

If you wish to make a self-referral please download and complete the following form: ASD Assessment Referral Form (DOCX).

If you'd like to get involved, or if you have experience of using our services, or care for someone who does, you can become involved in the Trust's work, have your voice heard and take part in joint working on a wide range of projects and activities.  

Visit our Service User Involvement page.

• Diagnostic assessment - a guide for adults who think they might be autistic (The National Autistic Society website)
• What is Autism (Autistica website)
• 1800 Seconds on Autism (BBC Sounds website)
• Ambitious about Autism website
• Autism spectrum disorder in adults: diagnosis and management (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence website)