ND assessment and diagnosis

Where to start?

If you’re worried about your child’s development and/or learning, it is best to seek advice and support from your child’s education setting, e.g. nursery, school or college. Ask to speak to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENDCo) about your concerns.

Even if your child’s differences and challenges are not obvious in their nursery/school/college, this is still the best place to seek early support. Every educational setting has a legal responsibility to support all children/young people with their learning requirements. You can learn more about getting support from your child’s school in the education section.

Needs-led approach to ND

Putting appropriate support in place for each individual’s daily challenges and needs can be enough to help them thrive, without a formal diagnosis. This is called a needs-led approach.

A needs-led approach is taken in Leeds; every child and young person can get the educational support they need whether they have a formal diagnosis or not.

The Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) Graduated Approach supports a need-led approach across schools in Leeds. More information about the Graduated Approach and support in schools can be found on our Education and neurodiversity – MindMate, including information about Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) which are also available to help support you/your child with or without a formal diagnosis.

Formal diagnostic assessment

If a setting has taken every possible action to identify and meet your/your child’s needs, but you/they are still really struggling, an assessment for autism and/or ADHD might be helpful at this point. This can provide a formal diagnosis to better understand your/your child’s strengths, challenges and best ways to support them/yourself.
Neurodevelopmental assessment pathways for children and young people in Leeds are split into 2 age groups, preschool and school-aged.

Right to choose/ NHS choices

Under national legislation, you have the right to choose a different provider for your child/young person’s assessment. NHS Choices is a legal framework outlining your right to choose where you receive NHS treatments and assessments. This includes private providers that already provide services to the NHS. Choosing your provider can be discussed as part of your child’s initial neurodevelopmental assessment. The capacity in these alternative providers varies and is also limited.

Please note that if you receive a diagnosis from another provider, they may signpost you back into the Leeds NHS system, for example, for an initial medication consultation where waiting times are also significant.

When an ADHD diagnosis has been given by a different service, our team need to review that the assessment meets locally agreed quality standards before we can accept referrals for ADHD medication. The Leeds NHS autism/ADHD assessment standards can be seen here. Families may wish to review this guidance before choosing their assessment provider.

More information is provided in the resources below.

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