Frequently asked questions

Appointments with me will be neuroaffirmative. They will be non-judgemental and value your sensory and communication preferences. You are welcome to use fidgets or other comforts during the appointment. The report I write will use person first language (i.e. ‘autistic’, rather than ‘person with autism’) and discuss differences in a non-disordered way.

You do not have to specifically prepare anything for your appointment. However, you might find it helpful to write down beforehand, anything that you would like to discuss with me to help you to remember. Thinking about your childhood and teenage years prior to the appointment can also be useful, and you may wish to read old school reports or look at old photos to help you to remember. However, if you are worried this might bring up difficult emotions for you, you can wait until the appointment so you can have support to do this. Some people find it useful to bring someone they find supportive and knows them well to the appointment too.

A diagnostic assessment follows a more structured format because a standardised diagnostic interview will be used. Despite following this format, it should still just feel like a conversation. There are no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers, but the conversation will discover in more detail the parts of your life which could be affected by neurodivergence.

I offer a thorough assessment using the most up to date diagnostic criteria, the current NICE guidelines and use my extensive clinical experience and training in neurodevelopment to make a clinical decision about a diagnosis. I would not make a diagnosis without the relevant and specific evidence and sometimes an assessment will not result in a diagnosis or be inconclusive. Therefore, diagnostic decisions can sometimes differ from your expectations.

All reports, regardless of the diagnostic outcome will detail someone’s strengths, challenges, social communication and neurodevelopmental profile. The report will provide a psychological formulation to understand the reported difficulties that are present in the context of your previous experiences, what might be currently triggering those difficulties, what might be keeping those difficulties going in the here and now and what is going well. Each report regardless of diagnostic outcome will offer tailored and relevant suggestions based on the information gathered from the assessment.

I offer online appointments to people around the UK and abroad. I have been working online completing assessments and psychological therapy for over four years. I am not currently offering face to face appointments.

Yes, both the autism and ADHD assessments follow NICE guidelines for the assessment of adults.

For autism this means having the training and experience in the assessment of autism, accessing supervision to assist with a team-based decision if this is required, where possible involving a family member or other informant, or documentary evidence of current and past behaviour (e.g. school reports) and early development.

For ADHD this means being an appropriately trained mental health professional with expertise in ADHD, conducting a full clinical and psychosocial assessment, including the assessment of behaviour and symptoms in different domains and settings and taking a developmental and psychiatric history and involving a family member or other informant.

A link to the NICE guidelines for more information can be found here:

Overview | Autism spectrum disorder in adults: diagnosis and management | Guidance | NICE

Overview | Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management | Guidance | NICE

I accept self-funding clients only. If you would like to fund the appointment using your insurance company, then I would recommend you contact your provider to see if they are able to cover the cost. If they are, you would pay me directly and claim your payment back from the insurance company.

Your assessment and report follow the recommendations determined by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE). As a result, it meets the high standard usually required by NHS services. However, it is not guaranteed that your local NHS service will accept the diagnosis and report, depending on their policy. I would recommend that if you would like to use the report and diagnosis to access NHS services in the future (e.g. medication for ADHD), that you enquire with your local NHS provider to determine whether they are able to accept the assessment, before scheduling your appointment.

Being neuroaffirmative means being an ally to the neurodivergent community. I value feedback from the neurodivergent community to make sure that I am working neuroaffirmatively. Please get in touch if you would like to share your ideas about how I can improve.