Neurodevelopmental Assessment
We consider diagnosis for Neurodevelopmental conditions, in young people who are experiencing mental health difficulties. Conditions we consider include:
- Autistic Spectrum Condition
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Attention Deficit Disorder
- Tic disorder / Tourette’s
A referral to our service can be made by GP’s, health and education professionals and by parents and carers. To do this a request for involvement can be made to our Early Help Pathway (see below). This is a single point of access for all referrals into CAMHS from professionals and parents, who offer consultation, assessment, targeted low-level intervention for up to 8 sessions (group, 1-1 or access for on-line intervention for anxiety & low mood) and deliver training.
The Early Help Pathway provide an advice and support line, Monday-Friday 9-4pm, for anyone registered with a Plymouth GP and you don’t need to be open to CAMHS to call the advice line. They offer advice, support, signposting, resources and can support a parent completing a self-referral.
Contact
CAMHS Early Help Pathway
Tel: 01752 435125
Email: [email protected]
CAMHS Early Help Advice & Support Line
Tel: 01752 431613
Operates Monday – Friday, 9am – 4pm
Before the Neurodevelopmental team accept a referral, screening questionnaires are issued to be completed. Our team will consider and discuss the referral to see if we have the information we need and if it is appropriate. If it is felt the referral is not appropriate for our team, you will be informed by the referrer and signposted to the Services that it is felt best meet the young person’s needs.
Neurodevelopmental Assessment Pathway
If the referral is accepted, we will inform you, and the young person will be placed on our waiting list. When they come to the top of the waiting list, they are then allocated a case co-ordinator who be your main point of contact during the assessment process. CAMHS will look to support mental health concerns whilst the young person remains on the neurodevelopmental assessment waiting list.
We will complete a detailed developmental history that will consider you’re the young person’s development from birth. As part of the assessment we explore:
- general development
- social interaction and communication skills
- speech and language development
- cognition and learning
- mental health
- family relations and trauma
We would also gather relevant information from medical records, educational and social care services and may discuss information with other professionals who have worked with the young person and their family.
In accordance with NICE guidelines1 further assessments by the multi-agency service could take place, if we feel they are necessary, for example,
- Standardised diagnostic assessments
- Speech and Language assessment
- School observation
- Sensory assessment
- Cognitive assessment
We aim to be flexible, and assessments can take place in clinic, at home or in educational settings, whichever is felt to be most appropriate and comfortable for the young person.
On completion of the assessments the young person is discussed by a Multi-disciplinary Team to decide whether they meet the criteria for an appropriate Neurodevelopmental diagnosis or whether their difficulties can be determined by an alternative explanation
On completion of the MDT discussion you be contacted to discuss the outcome and next steps regarding support for your child /young person. This can take the form of a combination of appropriate intervention strategies which may include a range of therapeutical, educational, psychoeducational approaches. Interventions may be targeted at the young person and parents / carers and completed by other CAMHS teams. In some cases, we may also consider medical approaches. Interventions may be carried out by CAMHS or by other services.
The Neurodevelopmental Team looks to work with education providers to advise and make recommendations around appropriate adjustments and adaptations being made to support the young person.
1 National Institute Clinical Excellence CG128: ‘Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: recognition, referral and diagnosis’
1 National Institute Clinical Excellence CG87, ‘Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management’
note We do not diagnose Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) as this is not recognised under current accepted diagnostic guidelines (DSM-V* or ICD-11**). The characteristics of PDA are considered part of an Autistic Spectrum Disorder The National Institute Clinical Evidence (NICE) reviewed PDA in 2020*** and concluded that there was no new evidence identified around PDA and rejected its status as a distinct developmental condition.
*Diagnostic and statistical manual of Mental Disorders (2022)
** International Classification of Diseases 11th Edition (2019)
*** 2020 surveillance of autism (NICE guidelines CG128, CG142 and CG170)