CAMHS Neurodiversity

The CAMHS Neurodiversity team offers assessment and intervention to children and young people aged from 5 to 18 years who are suspected to be Neurodiverse. Neurodiversity defines the diversity and variation of cognitive functioning in all people. Everyone has a unique brain and therefore different skills, abilities and needs (DSM, 5 March 2022), such as autism, ADHD or learning disability to name a few. These assessments may take place in clinic, at school, and at home.

The Neuroversity team sit within the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). They promote the mental health and psychological wellbeing of children and young people that have a neurodiversity as a comorbidity to mental health and/or behaviour that challenges, for children and young people aged 5 – 18 across Plymouth. It provides high quality, multi-disciplinary mental health services to ensure effective assessment, treatment and therapeutic support for the young person and their families. 

We also have an Intensive Support and Intervention team who provide support for young people and families who are within the neurodiverse pathway within CAMHS. 

We provide the young person, their families and the network around them the tools to reduce restrictive practice and maximise their potential. We can provide communication strategies and offer support and advice with therapeutic activities within the young person’s environment, and we work alongside a range of other professionals to ensure that families receive the best advice on how to support the young person when they present with distressed behaviours.