Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how people perceive the world and interact with others. In particular, understanding and relating to other people, and taking part in the everyday family, school, work and social life, can be quite hard. Autism is much more common than most people think. People from all cultural, religious and social backgrounds are affected.
It is a “spectrum” condition which means that it varies in severity from “low functioning” to “high functioning” autism (previously known as Asperger’s syndrome).
Features include
- Social Communication – difficulties with understanding facial expressions, tone of voice, jokes, and sarcasm.
- Social Interaction – can have difficulties with making and maintaining friends, can appear to be insensitive, lacking empathy, can appear to behave socially inappropriately.
- Restricted and Repetitive Patterns of Behaviour or Interests – having a circumscribed and highly focused interest, inflexible adherence to set routine, difficulties with managing change and unpredictable situations, stereotyped and repetitive motor movements
- Other problems as sensory processing (hyper or hypo-reactivity) and motor difficulties are also quite common.
In addition to these features, people with autism frequently experience a range of cognitive, learning, language, medical, emotional and behavioural problems. About 10% of people with autism may also have special skills and abilities. Making the correct diagnosis requires a detailed discussion about your child’s early development, medical and psychological assessment and a comprehensive assessment of your child’s social and communication skills & intellectual abilities.
ASD Diagnostic Assessment
We offer a multi-disciplinary Autism assessment using structured diagnostic tools including the ADi-R (Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised) and ADOS-2 (Autism Diagnosis Observation Schedule-2) which are considered “gold standard” assessment measures in the evaluation of Autism Spectrum Disorders.
For details about what’s involved in the Autism Assessment – please follow this link https://www.cmhclinic.co.uk/assessment/
If you suspect your child may be displaying signs of Autism, follow this link to make an enquiry CMHC Enquiry_Form
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Our specialist team of child psychiatrists and psychologists can offer comprehensive assessments and provide clear recommendations to help support you and your child.