Children’s Autism Assessment Service

On this page

I am looking for an autism assessment
Making a referral
Consent
I am on the waiting list
Links to local services
Feedback
Preparing for assessment and information about our service
Key Staff
Harrogate
Hambleton & Richmondshire
I have already had an assessment
Do you want to be involved?
Explaining Autism to Children
Frequently Asked Questions

I am looking for an autism assessment

The Autism Assessment Service is based in Harrogate and Hambleton and Richmondshire, and provides an autism assessment pathway for children and young people aged 0-19.

The autism assessment is designed to capture a full developmental profile, including identifying strengths and challenges. We aim to gather information from a range of sources – the young person, their parent(s)/ carer(s), school or other setting and any other professionals involved.

Making a referral

In submitting a referral form, you are agreeing that the child/young person being referred has a GP within the Harrogate or Hambleton & Richmondshire area. The information you provide on these forms will be shared with the Early Help Team. If we think it is appropriate, we may also take the referral to the Multi-Agency Team Meeting to consider whether onward referrals to other services may also be helpful. This will involve sharing the referral information with Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), Social Care, Compass Phoenix and other providers of care. For further information about information sharing, please refer to the privacy notice on our website: www.hdft.nhs.uk/privacy-notices

Please be aware that if you are on a waiting list for an autism assessment with another provider, or if you have already had an autism assessment with another provider, it is your responsibility to tell us. Children are not able to be on two waiting lists for the same assessment. If your child is on the waiting list with another provider and you would prefer to be seen by our service, please contact us. If it is brought to our attention that your child is on the waiting list for an autism assessment with another provider, they will be discharged.

Children/ Young people referred in June can expect to wait approximately 40 months. This is an estimate and will vary depending on the complexity of assessments, frequency of missed appointments and number of assessments commissioned in future.

Month of referral	Approximate waiting time in months
June 2025	40

The HDFT Patient Experience Team support with compliments, concerns and complaints about the services provided by HDFT, including the autism assessment service. If you need to speak to somebody in the Patient Experience Team, please contact telephone number 01423 555499 or email [email protected]. You can also complete a questionnaire about your experience while on the waiting list here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/AutismServices-WaitingList

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust Autism Assessment Team is funded by the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (HNYICB). Their Experience Team can support and assist you in relation to health services they commission (including HDFT autism assessment service). The Experience Team can be contacted as follows: Email: [email protected] Telephone: 01482 957750.

Download this form if you’re a parent or carer who wants to refer their child/young person for an autism assessment

Download this form if you’re a young person (16-17 years old) who wants to refer yourself for an autism assessment

Download this form if you’re a professional who wants to refer a child/young person for autism assessment

We will communicate with you via secure email. When we first send you an email, we will ask you to setup a secure email account. If you would prefer to setup an account now, download the leaflet below that has instruction on how to do this.

Download the Accessing Encrypted Email Guide

If you are also considering an ADHD assessment, you can find the referral form in our Resources section of our website under ‘Other Neurodivergence’. The NeuroPack form can be filled out and sent to CAMHS as this is a separate service.

You can download our Pre-Assessment Leaflet to prepare for your assessment and the Information about your appointment to see what your appointment will involve.

Pros and Cons of Assessment

I am on the waiting list

Support Call Clinic – whilst you are on the waiting list, we run a support call clinic, where we can listen to your concerns and direct you to resources and services that might be able to help you. Please email [email protected] with your child’s name and DOB and a brief summary of what your concerns are so we can prepare for the call. We will then contact you with our availability.

Courses to support parenting children and young people with additional needs:

Unlocking Autism – Training & Events | NYES Info and search for ‘unlocking autism’

Togetherness courses – LEARN – Togetherness

Links to local services

Early Help – Early Help supports families to identify their own support networks of family and friends who can assist in promoting positive outcomes that are sustainable.

Parents can refer to Early Help through their child’s school by completing the referral form together.

Parents can self-refer by using the online referral form NYSCP or calling NYC 0300 131 2 131. If your query is not urgent, please use the email address [email protected] to liaise with the Customer Service Centre, and you will receive a response within 24 hours. If you believe the situation is urgent, but does not require the police, please call 0300 131 2 131 to make a telephone contact. When prompted, say “Children’s Social Care”. One of the advisors will be happy to support you.

SENDIASS North Yorkshire

https://sendiassnorthyorkshire.co.uk/

SENDIASS is a service for parents and carers of young people aged 0-25 with special educational needs and/or disabilities as well as young people themselves. It is impartial and gives confidential information, advice and support that is arms length to the Local Authority.

Further Resources and Support Networks

Feedback

We welcome feedback and the anonymised results are shared regularly with the commissioners of our service. We also use the findings to improve our practice.

Autism Team Feedback – Awaiting an Assessment

Survey Link (for Patients): https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/AutismServices-WaitingList

Preparing for assessment and information about our service

We invite you to share new information with us as your child nears the top of our waiting list. Here are a range of questionnaires that you, your child and others who know them well can complete and return in advance of the assessment.

Professional’s Questionnaire: Please ask someone from Nursery/School/College who knows the child/young person best to fill out this form.

Supplementary Information Form: If you have any extra information that you would like us to know while you are on our waiting list, or if you feel anything has changed, please full out this form.

All-About-Me-Questionnaire-v2: This form can be filled out by any child or young person and this helps us learn more about them before the assessment.

Adaptive Morphing Questionnaire: This questionnaire can be filled out by the young person to help us figure out how they feel in different social situations.

Camouflaging Questionnaire: This questionnaire can be filled out by older teens to give us more information on what strategies they use to fit in, act more like a non-autistic person, compensate in social situations and more.

Young Person additional information to share: This detailed form allows young people tell us about how they prefer to communicate and how we can tailor an assessment to their needs, as well as help us learn more about them before the assessment.

You can download our Pre-Assessment Leaflet and the Parent Interview – What to expect to prepare for your assessment and the Information about your appointment to see what your appointment will involve.

You can let us know your/your child’s preferences during the assessment:

Assessment Preferences Questionnaire

Key Staff

Dr Beth Billington:

Team Lead and Clinical Psychologist

Helen Cairns:

Speech and Language Therapist

Laura Edwards:

Speech and Language Therapist

Sophie Finch:

Speech and Language Therapist

Dr Ewan McNeill:

Clinical Psychologist

Heather Kenny:

Assistant Practitioner

Rachel Molyneux:

Case Coordinator

Dr Siobhan Dunleavy:

Clinical Psychologist

Sarah Barrett:

Admin Co-ordinator

Susan Saunders:

Occupational Therapist

Sharon White:

Speech and Language Therapist

Rachel Geary:

Speech and Language Therapist

Autism Assessment appointments in Harrogate are usually at the Child Development Centre.

This is the address:

Child Development Centre
Wing F, 207
Harrogate District Hospital
Lancaster Park Road
Harrogate
HG2 7SX

Harrogate District Hospital waiting room — Waiting room

plain room with chair and tables — Clinic Room

Autism Assessment appointments in Hambleton & Richmondshire are usually at the Friarage Hospital Children’s Outpatients Department

The Friarage
Northallerton
North Yorkshire
DL6 1JG

The Friarage switchboard: 01609 779911

Clinic room (where we do our activities)

Children’s Autism Assessments Service Pathway

This powerpoint presentation explains recent service changes. You can listen to audio narration by watching the slide show, and the script is in the notes section.

I have already had an assessment

Follow-up packs:

Download this Follow-Up Pack with resources and information if you received a diagnosis.

Download this Non diagnosis Follow-Up Pack with resources and information if you did not receive a diagnosis.

Courses to develop understanding of autism and child development.

Togetherness courses – LEARN – Togetherness

Unlocking Autism – Training & Events | NYES Info and search for ‘unlocking autism’

For more resources on a range of topics related to autism and neurodiversity please see our Autism Resources Page.

Feedback

We welcome feedback and the anonymised results are shared regularly with the commissioners of our service. We also use the findings to improve our practice.

Autism Team Feedback – Assessment Started/Completed

Survey Link (for Patients): https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/2PRSR28

Do you want to be involved?

As a service we are always striving to be as up to date and relevant as possible and you could help us achieve this. We are constantly evolving through updating our information and revising the assessment process and your feedback as a service user would be invaluable. If this is something you would be interested in doing please complete this form and email it back to [email protected]