At Spectrum Sisters we are very thorough, so our assessment process is very time consuming and in-depth. The time we will need with you in total will be 1.5-3 hours (developmental interview) and 1.5-3 hours (informant interview - ADI-R) and 1 hour (ADOS-2), plus a follow-up appointment to discuss outcomes (1 hour). If it is a combined assessment it will be longer. Under NICE guidelines, different practitioners from different fields will undertake each part of the assessment. We totally understand how stressful that can be for someone who is neurodiverse, and know that many clients cannot sit for long periods of time, or may have trouble with eye contact etc. In the initial stages, we will ask about your preferred way of taking the assessment and we will offer breaks or other adjustments that may help you where we can. Please note we cannot do this in the ADOS-2 though as that is time-bound and structured (1 hour). There are many options and we want to make sure the assessment process goes as smoothly and as comfortably as possible for you.

That depends. We will do the initial interview where we will gather all relevant information and take a full history from you. We will gather information from other relevant sources (with your permission) such as family members, social workers, teachers, GPs, counsellors. We then will conduct the interviews, and the assessment (ADOS-2 for Autism, DIVA-5 for ADHD). We then have a Multi-Agency Review meeting which will include those from the field of psychiatry, social work, mental health nursing, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, psychology, depending on each case and what is most relevant. All that information is then compiled together and a detailed report with recommendations that you can use to access support will be sent to you.

We also provide a follow-up session free of charge once you have received the report and have digested it to go through it with you and answer any queries and concerns. Once we start work on your case, it takes several weeks and many team hours to complete. Once you have your first appointment date we aim to turn each report around in 4 weeks.

Yes you can. Our reports are designed to provide not only a diagnosis but focus on functional impacts in wording that is needed to access funding and services. We offer reports that are not jargon-based, but in real language that both the client and services can readily understand and use to access the relevant supports. They can also be used to access funding from DWP, and reasonable adjustments in workplace, and education.

Yes. Our assessments meet NICE guidelines for assessment, and we are regulated by our professional bodies.

All our assessors in our multi-disciplinary team are qualified and registered practitioners, with specialist knowledge in Autism and ADHD in females, alongside lived experience. Our team includes psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, developmental paediatricians, social workers, mental health nurses, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, and nurse prescribers.

To make assessments more affordable, we offer a payment plan of 3 instalments. The first when you book your assessment, the second before the first interview, and the third when your report is ready.

We always offer a follow-up appointment after you have received your report and have had time to digest it. This is where we will go through the report with you and discuss any concerns or queries you may have.

Please email us and we can connect you to the Spectrum Sisters community.

Please don't worry. We hear this all the time. Unlike other providers, where you have your slot of several hours we understand that can just be too much for some neurodiverse people. In the initial interview we will discuss all of that with you, to ensure that the assessment process itself is as comfortable for you as possible. We can be flexible with the developmental interview and the ADI-R (informant interview) which can take 3 hours, and we can take breaks, turn the camera off when eye contact becomes too much, have a support person nearby. Whatever you need to be comfortable in the interview. We cannot be flexible in the ADOS-2 however, (one hour) where we will need you to undertake structured activities over an hour. But we will discuss that with you in depth in the initial interview to see how we can best accommodate you.

We completely understand that, and a diagnosis isn't a requirement for everyone. Its a personal choice. Some women, especially in later life, feel maybe it just isn't worth it. However, we have all found that a diagnosis has helped us or our loved ones to understand themselves better, and to get others to understand us better. And to get the appropriate supports in place in order to thrive if necessary.

Our current waitlist is 4 weeks for initial appointment, and we aim to turnaround the report within 4 weeks after that.

A multi-disciplinary team in autism assessment involves clinicians from different disciplines providing input into the overall assessment process and diagnostic outcome. NICE guidelines advise 2 professionals are involved, but we tend to use 4-6 to make our assessments more robust.

We are a team of Clinical Psychologists, Developmental Paediatricians, Psychiatrists, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Social Workers, Mental Health Nurses, Nurse Prescribers and Specialist Teachers.

Although you may not always meet every type of professional in our team, you will always have the same Lead Clinician, and we hold a panel review to agree outcomes regarding diagnostic assessment, which will always include a Multi-disciplinary team. This ensures a robust process which is in line with NICE Guidelines.

We may also liaise with other professionals outside of our clinic, with your consent, should we feel that this would be helpful.

NICE stands for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. NICE publishes national evidence-based guidelines to ensure that people receive safe, effective, and high-quality care within the NHS and wider healthcare settings.

For autism assessments, NICE guidelines outline how professionals should identify, assess, and support autistic people. They provide a clear framework for clinical best practice, helping ensure that assessments are consistent, fair, and informed by the latest research.

At Spectrum Sisters, our assessments follow the NICE Clinical Guidelines for Autism (CG142), which apply to both children and adults. This means our process is aligned with national standards — but we go further by incorporating a specialist understanding of how autism presents in women and girls, including masking, social camouflaging, and the impact of late diagnosis.

Our team combines NICE-compliant clinical tools with a holistic, neurodiversity-affirming approach, ensuring that each assessment recognises the individual behind the criteria — not just the checklist.

The ADOS-2 (Autism Diagnostic Schedule Second Edition) is a standardised tool used for assessing autism. It is a semi-structured and activity-based assessment of communication, social interaction and play and restricted and repetitive behaviours.

The person being assessed will meet with the Lead Assessor remotely for the ADOS-2 assessment. This will be the same team member to the one who you met during your initial appointment. The ADOS-2 takes an hour. The ADOS-2 is then scored and written up to form part of the overall assessment and report. The panel will review the ADOS-2 outcome alongside other information gathered during the assessment process and this information is used together to help reach a decision on the diagnostic outcome.

Just like all other parts of the assessment process, we do not use the ADOS-2 outcome in isolation to diagnose autism, as this just provides a ‘snapshot’ in time. Sometimes people can score above the ‘threshold’ for autism on the ADOS but not be given a diagnosis and sometimes an individual can score below the ‘threshold’ for autism on the ADOS but given a diagnosis of autism. It is also a useful tool but it does have its failings and can be quite male-centric, so at Spectrum Sisters Ltd we understand that, and how different the female presentation can be so we supplement it with interviews, and other tools (ADI-R, RAADS-R, EQ, FQ, SQ, AQ, Cat-Q, and the Alexithymia Questionnaire).

No, we accept referrals directly from families/individuals, but also from professional referrers.

All families/invididuals can request a post-diagnostic remote appointment to talk through the report for up to one hour. This needs to be requested within 4 weeks of the report being sent. This is included in the assessment package.

Should you wish to access further post-diagnostic support we can signpost you to other services.

We are partners with a therapeutic service that are specialists in providing support to women and girls post-diagnosis.

Understandably, families and individuals often ask us whether a private diagnosis will be accepted by services. There is no reason for a private diagnosis not to be accepted, as long as the assessment has been undertaken by trained and experienced professionals, in line with the NICE guidelines. We would therefore expect our reports and any diagnoses to be accepted by local services.

Every service is different so you may wish to contact your local services and check that they will accept a private diagnosis which adheres to the guidelines in the first instance.

Yes - in abundance, and currently we are the only provider who only assesses women and girls, and only employs female practitioners with high levels of expertise and lived experience on the female presentation. Many providers and professionals and assessment tools are not good at picking up the autism presentation in this group. Girls often mask traits and some settings such as school often do not fully understand this and miss it. We are proud that our team are highly skilled at assessing autism and ADHD in women and girls in our team.

We offer assessments from school age to very late diagnosis. We understand how common it is for women to be late-diagnosed and the impact menopause can have on symptoms. We also see the same in puberty.

We also recognise how beneficial - but confronting - a diagnosis can be, and are here to support you through that.

Absolutely. We have had an increasing number of enquiries from families who report concerns that their child is presenting with ADHD traits, but the school do not report the same concerns. Whilst it is true that for a diagnosis of ADHD to be made there must be evidence in line with this across settings, this does not necessarily need to include school if there is a high level of masking. We can discuss this further with you during the screening possible.

Our clinic specialises in the assessment of ADHD in girls aged 6 or above.

The Qb Check is a computer based test that measures the core symptoms of ADHD: attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Your child’s scores will be compared with other children’s scores of the same age and gender to see whether they struggle in these areas more than others. This is also used the adult ADHD assessment. You can find out more about this at www.qbcheck.com.

We hear this a lot. Middle-aged women who want answers about themselves and are wondering how we will assess when their parents are dead, estranged, or just in denial/not willing to comply with the process. It is actually surprisingly common. For an adult assessment, we do not need to talk to others but if we can talk to friends, spouse, siblings, parents, that helps us get a bigger picture of course, but it isn't a requirement for a diagnosis.

Trauma, attachment disorders, hormonal changes (puberty and menopause) can all greatly increase the symptoms of ADHD/Autism, but also can be mistaken as such. It can be quite hard to separate them, but we are highly trained across various fields such as social work and psychiatry, so using specialist tools and techniques we are able to rule out other reasons for the behaviours a client is displaying as part of our process.

This is very very common in women with neurodiversity. You may have been masking heavily in earlier years, and you may be struggling now after burning out after all the years of masking. Menopause also doesn't help. We now know the huge damage masking can do to women and girls on the spectrum. The impact on mental health is huge.

Good assessors - with experience of the female presentation - will totally understand this. Those with ADHD and ASD are often walking contradictions so its pretty common.

For ADHD, we follow the Australian Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline for ADHD (2022, endorsed by NHMRC). This ensures our assessments are thorough, use validated tools such as DIVA-5 and QBTest, and focus on how ADHD affects day-to-day functioning.

• Comprehensive clinical interview including developmental and medical history.

• Use of validated diagnostic tools (e.g. DIVA-5, Conners scales, QBTest).

• Consideration of co-occurring conditions (very common with ADHD).

• Gathering information from multiple sources (family, school, medical records).

• Functional assessment — impact on work, study, relationships, daily life.

Yes — all of our assessments are delivered remotely, so we can support clients anywhere, including rural and regional areas.

Because females are consistently overlooked in autism and ADHD assessment. Our service is designed to address this gap with a female-only team.

The Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised (ADI-R) is a detailed, conversation-based assessment that explores your developmental history, communication style, social relationships, and patterns of behaviour across your life. It’s usually completed through an in-depth interview with you (and sometimes a parent, partner, or relative who knows you well).

The ADI-R isn’t rushed — it’s designed to give you space to reflect and share your story. It typically takes between 1.5 and 3 hours, depending on your history and how much you’d like to discuss.

At Spectrum Sisters, we take a flexible approach with the ADI-R so that we can gather as much meaningful information as possible, at a pace that feels comfortable for you.

The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule – Second Edition (ADOS-2) is a structured, standardised assessment used alongside the ADI-R to help diagnose autism. While the ADI-R is a flexible conversation, the ADOS-2 involves a series of set activities, tasks, and questions designed to observe social communication, imagination, and interaction in real time.

Because it’s a standardised tool, the ADOS-2 must be completed in one session (around one hour) and delivered exactly as designed. This consistency ensures that everyone is assessed under the same conditions, allowing for reliable, evidence-based results.

In summary:

• ADI-R: Flexible, in-depth interview exploring your life story

• ADOS-2: Structured, standardised observation completed in one hour

Both tools work together to give a comprehensive, accurate understanding of your autistic profile.

A Functional Assessment is a detailed exploration of how autism (or ADHD) affects your everyday life, routines, relationships, and wellbeing. Rather than focusing only on diagnosis, it looks at the practical side of things — how you function day to day, what’s working well, and where you might need extra support or reasonable adjustments.

During a Functional Assessment, we might explore areas such as:

• Daily living and independence

• Routines and executive functioning

• Work, education, and social life

• Emotional regulation and sensory needs

• Strengths, interests, and support networks

The purpose is to build a holistic picture of your life — identifying both your strengths and the challenges you face, so that support can be personalised and meaningful.

Functional Assessments are especially valuable for women and girls, as they help uncover the real-life impact of masking, burnout, and social pressures that may have gone unnoticed for years.

At Spectrum Sisters, our aim is to make this process empowering and practical — helping you understand yourself better and guiding you towards the right adjustments, services, or next steps for your wellbeing.

A Diagnostic Assessment focuses on identifying whether you meet the criteria for autism and/or ADHD. It uses structured tools such as the ADOS-2 and ADI-R, along with clinical interviews and background information, to reach a formal diagnostic conclusion in line with NICE guidelines.

A Functional Assessment, on the other hand, is not about diagnosis — it’s about understanding how your neurodivergence affects your daily life. It explores areas such as:

• Independence and routines

• Work, education, and relationships

• Sensory experiences and emotional regulation

• Strengths, wellbeing, and quality of life

Where the Diagnostic Assessment answers “Do I meet the criteria for autism or ADHD?”, the Functional Assessment answers “How does this affect me day to day, and what support do I need to thrive?”

Both are equally important. Together, they create a complete picture of who you are — not just from a diagnostic perspective, but in terms of your strengths, needs, and lived experience.

At Spectrum Sisters, we believe this holistic approach is essential for women and girls, who are often misunderstood or overlooked by traditional assessment models.