Autism Assessment Service

Cura Psychology opens new Autism Assessment Service

On 14 March 2024

Cura Psychology is delighted to announce that due to demand we are now opening an Autism assessment service with private assessments available for both children and adults at our clinic in Lichfield.

Waiting lists remain long in the NHS despite initiatives to combat this. It remains the case that children and adults are waiting for longer than they can afford.  Although based in Lichfield, we do offer appointments to those in neighbouring counties including Birmingham and Coventry and Warwickshire. Parts of the assessment process can be conducted online making our clinic a convenient option for people in and around the Midlands.

Cura Psychology is well placed to offer this service as we are lucky enough to have Dr Jessica Moreland, who also works within an NHS autism assessment service in the NHS and our new team member Katie Poyser, speech and language therapist, on board. In addition, as we are not simply a diagnostic centre, we also have a breadth of expertise to help with follow-up support if that is required; with experts in behavioural support and play therapy. Our new service complements our ADHD assessment service, also based in Lichfield.

Autism is a complex and diverse condition, and this means that assessments need to take account of a wide range of information, including social, educational and family factors. It can also overlap with other conditions like ADHD as well. For this reason, a high level of  expertise is needed in interpreting the findings from the assessment tools we use. These include the ADOS-2 and clinical interviews such as the ADI-R. All of our clinicians are HCPC registered or with a similar professional body, so you know that our clinicians are healthcare professionals with the necessary specialist training.

Many individuals’ autism condition has been missed by services. An adult might have struggled in school but autism may not have been considered. It is now recognised that girls may not seem to meet the traditional autism criteria as they can be adapted at masking. That is, they learn through observation the behaviours required of them, however this can result in high levels of stress and dysregulated behaviour. This can have longer term impacts upon wellbeing.

Our assessments follow recommended guidance from NICE which means we gather information from different sources e.g. school and home and also use professionals from different backgrounds to analyse the information. Everything is explained to you in a report and at our feedback meeting. We emphasise recommendations and a plan rather than providing lengthy unnecessary detail as this is something families want.

If you would like to know more about our assessments for adults or children, then feel free to get in touch as we would love to hear from you.

Cura Psychology

Suite I to K
Energy House
35 Lombard St
Lichfield WS136DP

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Phone

07903 335476

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