Neurodiversity Pathway for Autism
(Formally known as CAMHS- Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service)
From 6 January 2025, the Neurodiversity Service under Berkshire Healthcare have made some changes to the referral process for Children and Young People's Autism and ADHD services. The changes reinforce the need to look at whether an Autism referral and subsequent assessment/diagnosis is needed in order for the child to gain access to further support and services. A referral/ diagnosis is not a specification for a child to access either a mainstream or specialist education provision or EHCP assessment and we should consider what a referral will mean in terms of supporting the child.
Please read this information if you are wondering if a child may benefit from an assessment for Autism.
In Berkshire, we are fortunate that in many or most cases a child can get exactly the same support without an assessment (or referral) as they would get after a diagnosis. This means the child can receive support as early as possible based on their needs, without needing to rely on or wait for an assessment to happen first.
A child’s needs will be the same on the day after the assessment as they were the day before the assessment. It is very likely that the child will still require support whether or not they receive a formal diagnosis. So having the right support in place as early as possible is more important and more meaningful than being added to a long waiting list for an assessment/diagnosis.
The most important thing is to put support in place straight away – this can happen without diagnosis, assessment or referral.
Your child’s Nursery School will follow a process for identifying individual children’s needs and putting in place support to help them. If the child needs support above what is ordinarily available, they will have been given an Individual Support Plan (ISP) and you will know about this through a meeting with the SEND team. Your child will also be on the school’s SEND register and closely monitored. As part of this, it is important to think about the child’s needs at home as well as at Nursery and remember that the child may present very differently: for some children their distress may only really be apparent at home and require some changes to be made in Nursery to help make life much less stressful for the child and family.
Families should be made aware of the support available to them, without the need for a diagnosis:
Visit Autism Berkshire if you live in or have a GP in Reading, Wokingham or West Berkshire for information on what support is available to you.
https://www.autismberkshire.org.uk/berkshire-west-autism-adhd-support-service/
More information on Autism can be found on the Berkshire healthcare children and young people and family’s website:
https://cypf.berkshirehealthcare.nhs.uk/adhd-and-autism-neurodiversity/autism/
Nursery will refer to the below checklist when considering an Autism Assessment referral (aged 2 years 6 months to – 4 years 11 months.)
Having considered and implemented the relevant criteria above, if you still feel an assessment would help, the Nursery can support you to complete the appropriate additional information document together, and submit it with the online referral form from the Berkshire healthcare website. Below is an example of the additional information that would need to be completed along with the online referral form.
Need more information?
Please see the hyperlink below for Frequently Asked Questions and more guidance
https://cypf.berkshirehealthcare.nhs.uk/adhd-and-autism-neurodiversity/request-for-help-guidance/