Autism and neurodevelopmental clinics in England

What is a private autism assessment?

An autism assessment, sometimes called an autism spectrum condition (ASC) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessment, is a specialist evaluation to find out whether someone is autistic. It looks at how a person communicates, interacts with others, and experiences the world, including patterns of behaviour, interests and sensory differences, and how these have shown up since early childhood.

In England, NICE has published separate guidance for recognising and diagnosing autism in children and young people (CG128) and in adults (CG142). Asking whether a clinic follows this guidance is a good way to judge how thorough its assessment will be.

What happens during an autism assessment?

• Information gathering: questionnaires, a detailed developmental history (often with a parent or someone who knew you as a child), and school or other reports.
• Observation and structured assessment: clinicians often use recognised tools such as the ADOS-2 (an observation-based assessment) and the ADI-R (an interview with a parent or carer).
• A multidisciplinary view: for children, NICE recommends that assessments involve a team, such as a paediatrician or psychiatrist, a speech and language therapist and a clinical or educational psychologist.
• Checks for co-occurring conditions, such as ADHD, anxiety, learning disability or sensory processing differences.
• Feedback and a written report, with recommendations for support.

Assessments can take place over one or several appointments, in person, online or a mix of both.

Costs and what's included

We don't publish prices, as they vary and we can't verify them. Ask each clinic for a written quote that says which professionals are involved, how many appointments are included, whether the report and feedback session cost extra, and whether any follow-up support is included.

Will others accept a private diagnosis?

A diagnosis made by appropriately qualified professionals is valid wherever it's made. However, some local authorities, schools, universities or NHS services may want to know how the assessment was carried out before relying on it, for example for an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment. Ask the clinic whether its assessment follows NICE guidance and which professionals will sign the report.

Children and adults

Many clinics specialise in either children or adults. Each clinic page shows the patient groups it's registered with CQC to see. For children, check the team includes professionals experienced in child development. For adults, ask about experience of assessing adults, including women and people who may have learned to mask autistic traits.

FAQs

Is there medication for autism?

No. Autism isn't an illness to be treated. Support focuses on understanding, adjustments and help with any co-occurring conditions, such as anxiety or ADHD, which may be treated in the usual way.

Do all autism assessment services have to register with CQC?

Not always. Whether a service must register depends on what it does and who provides it. Some assessment services led by psychologists or therapists aren't required to register, so a service's absence from this list isn't a warning sign on its own. Check the professional registration of the people assessing you, for example with the HCPC or GMC.

Why is this list short?

We only include a clinic here when its name or website address shows it offers autism or neurodevelopmental assessment. Many services trade under general names, so also look in mental health, ADHD and children's health clinics.

How clinics are included

Every clinic on CQC Clinics is an active location on the Care Quality Commission's register of independent healthcare services, as published by CQC. The CQC register doesn't record specialties such as "ADHD" or "dermatology", so we place clinics in categories using their names, website addresses and the activities and service types they are registered for. We would rather leave a clinic out of a category than guess, so some clinics that offer this care won't appear in this list. You can still find every clinic through search or by region. More about how categories work.

What CQC registration means

Registration means CQC has agreed that the provider can carry out specific regulated activities at this location. It is a legal requirement for these services in England, not a recommendation. A CQC rating, where one has been published, is CQC's judgement from its last assessment. Check the clinician's own professional registration, and the clinic's latest information on cqc.org.uk, before you book. What CQC ratings mean.