Pre & Post diagnosis

As a parent, it is perfectly normal to have occasional worries about your child and their development.  Sometimes these concerns persist, however, and then it is important to seek professional help to discuss your child’s development.

If you are worried about your child’s ability to communicate with other people and their social interaction skills, it may be appropriate to ask for your child to be assessed to see if they meet the criteria for autism.  Where possible, it is advisable to discuss your concerns with any professionals working with your child (particularly your child’s speech and language therapist), before making a referral for further assessment.

The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) has some helpful checklists, which summarise Signs and Symptoms of Possible Autism.  They can be found online, and may be helpful when you are considering making a referral: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg128

In Enfield, there are two possible routes to receiving an assessment for your child.  If your child is under six years old, they will be seen by the Social Communication Clinic (SCC).  If they are over six years old, they will be seen by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).

For children under 6 years old - Pre-diagnosis Support 

Making a referral to the Social Communication Clinic (SCC)

Anyone can make a referral to SCC, via the General Development Service (GDS).  The most common referrers are:

• Your child’s GP
• Your child’s Health Visitor
• Your child’s Speech and Language Therapist
• The Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) at your child’s school or nursery

You can also refer your child directly to GDS, although it is always helpful to have information from the professionals involved with your child as well.  When making a referral, please give as much information about your concerns as possible.  You might like to think about things that your child can and cannot do.  Send a letter to:

General Development Service, Cedar House, St Michael’s Site, Gater Drive, Enfield, EN2 0JB

Post-diagnosis Support 

Has your child just received an autism diagnosis?

Support sessions for parents of newly diagnosed autistic children and young people are available.

• If your child is under 6 years old and was diagnosed through the Child Development Team, you can attend: 

ATLAS sessions (in partnership with NHS)

ATLAS is a series of information sessions for parents/carers of children who have recently been diagnosed with autism. The sessions are • Session 1: Understanding Autism • Session 2: Communication • Session 3: Sensory Processing • Session 4: Information Processing • Session 5: Community Resources.

If you would like to know more about ATLAS, please contact the ATLAS Administrator on 203 282 5611 or email beh-tr.atlas@nhs.ne

For children over 6 years old - Pre Diagnosis Support

Making a referral to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)

The best way to make a referral if your child is over 6, is to talk to the SENCo at your child’s school.  Your SENCo can refer directly to CAMHS.  Although you can request a referral via your GP, the GP may not have sufficient information regarding how your child functions across settings.  We would therefore recommend that you talk to your SENCo in the first instance.

Post-diagnosis Support  

• If your child is 6 years old or above and was assessed by the Generic & Neurodevelopmental team (NDS) in CAMHS you can attend:

Post-diagnostic Psychoeducation for Parent and Carers of Children 6yrs+

These sessions are designed to help parents and carers understand the autism diagnosis and what their autistic child may experience, to help support needs and adapt the environment effectively.

While parents and carers are experts on their own children, a diagnosis of autism can often feel like a learning curve in the family, with everyone responding in different ways and having different levels of awareness. A whole range of emotions are to be expected initially, from relief to worry amongst a few, with no particular pattern to be expected.

Educational Psychologists within the EASA team are offering a series of 3 Psychoeducation sessions for parents/carers of children aged 6 and above, to provide a starting point to developing greater awareness about the autism diagnosis.  In these sessions we will be exploring children’s strengths, unpicking where families are in their journey of understanding autism, exploring what autism means from an Autism Education Trust perspective and reflecting on ways forward in supporting the child, family and school on their journey ahead.

These sessions are termly. The first two sessions will run online, with a follow up option for either online or in person at Russet House School. 

If you are think you are eligible for this course and have not heard anything from CAMHS please contact them directly.