Our use of cookies 
Outcomes delivered within 6 – 8 weeks
Recognised by the NHS and local authorities
Thorough report and feedback session
Bespoke complex needs assessments
What to expect
Complete the referral form and questionnaires for yourself or the person you are referring.
Our clinicians will review your referral form, and if appropriate, you will be invited to a Clinical Screening appointment. This is an online appointment to discuss your current and historic concerns and ensure that a full assessment is right for you.
A Lead Assessor and team of clinicians will be allocated. Assessments will take place with the person referred and the adults supporting them, if needed. This may include parents, caregivers, school or home staff.
The assessment package will vary depending on age and needs, but may include questionnaires, a thorough developmental history and an in person or online structured assessment.
Your Lead Assessor will bring together all the elements of your referral, screening, assessment and observations and discuss the findings with a panel of clinicians from a range of different backgrounds to come to a conclusion about an appropriate diagnosis.
Your Lead Assessor will meet with you to give feedback on the outcome of your assessment, including any diagnoses given and personalised recommendations for support and next steps. You will also receive a detailed report.
We also offer advice, skills and therapy for individuals and families.
Why choose MCTS
Outcomes delivered within 6- 8 weeks
Our team of experts will support you through a timely and comprehensive autism and ADHD assessment. We aim to deliver our outcome within 6- 8 weeks and not exceed 13 weeks from the point of referral.
Recognised by the NHS and local authorities
We adhere to DSM-V diagnostic criteria and follow NICE guidelines for autism assessment and diagnosis. Our private autism and ADHD assessments are recognised by the NHS and Local Authorities, which is crucial to accessing any support you are entitled to.
Comprehensive, evidence-based assessments for people across the South of England
Our autism and ADHD Assessment Service operates across the South of England. Our assessments are comprehensive and evidence-based, ensuring the highest safe and effective care standards.
A clinically driven service
We are a clinically driven service with an extended background in trauma-informed practice and individualised and person-centred care. We value the service users’ involvement and active participation in their assessment.
Individualised care
Our team of experts will conduct assessments in a sensitive and therapeutic way, ensuring that you feel comfortable and supported throughout the process. Our service primarily provides online assessments; however, we can offer face-to-face assessments if clinically required.
Neuro-affirming practice
We consider physical, sensory, communication and behaviour unique features and do our best to reflect those in a strengths-based assessment and care plan that is not driven by an impairment-led approach, but is underpinned by a neuro-affirming approach. We aim to inspire the same way of thinking in all environments of our service users.
Comprehensive reports delivered with care and support
Our thorough assessments look at how the symptoms of autism and/or ADHD impact all areas of your life. Once the assessment is complete, we will review all the findings with you and provide tailored recommendations and strategies, regardless of the diagnostic outcome.
Safe, quality-assured service with a commitment to care and person-centred practice
We ensure the highest safe and effective care standards according to national guidelines of best practice and the legal frameworks we adhere to. We are also a non-profit organisation and reinvest at least 51% of our profits into providing better care for the people we work with.
Bespoke complex needs assessments
As experts in complexity, we also offer a bespoke assessment package in cases where it may be unclear what is causing the difficulties. This might be because the child or adult has co-occurring complex mental health difficulties, a high number of adverse childhood experiences, and/or safeguarding and child protection concerns.
If you are interested in our Complex Assessment Package, please contact expert.referrals@mcts.org.uk for a free initial consultation to discuss.
Pricing
Autism Assessment: £2,160
ADHD Assessment: £1,195
Combined Autism and ADHD Assessment: £2,850
Complex Needs Autism and/or ADHD Assessment: bespoke pricing
Waiting lists for autism and ADHD assessments are increasing nationwide
Autism and ADHD diagnosis is crucial for accessing the right help and support. Without it, many people face challenges at school, work, or home, which can lead to mental health issues such as anxiety or depression—and, in some cases, result in crisis or hospitalisation.
Waiting lists for Autism and ADHD assessments are increasing nationwide. The latest statistics from the National Autistic Society show that 86% of people waited longer than the recommended 13 weeks for autism assessment, with some waiting many years. By working with a private autism and ADHD assessment service, you will have access to a timely evaluation that could be life-changing for you or your child.
Autism and ADHD Assessment FAQs
Yes, it is possible to get an assessment for autism and ADHD together. We recognise the significant overlap between autism and ADHD, and our combined assessments bring together experts in both areas.
As well as offering combined assessments, we can also test for autism and ADHD separately.
There isn’t a single test for ADHD or autism, but both conditions are assessed using a combination of tools, observations, and evaluations. A multidisciplinary team carries out our assessments. Having experts in different fields helps us tell the difference between autism, ADHD, and other co-occurring conditions (e.g., anxiety, learning disabilities, or sensory processing issues).
Our assessments look for signs and behaviours linked to both ADHD and autism. We follow national guidelines (called NICE guidelines) and only use methods backed by research.
There are four stages in our assessment process:
-
1. Referral
First, we’ll ask you to fill out some forms and questionnaires. These help us understand why you think you (or the person you are referring) might have ADHD or autism.2. Screening
Once we get your forms, our Clinical Leads will review them.- If there’s enough evidence that ADHD or autism could be present, we’ll move to a full assessment.
- If we don’t have enough information, but we think there could be signs, we may invite you to an online screening appointment to decide if a full assessment is needed.
- Whether we decide to move forward or not, we’ll let you know by letter or whichever way you prefer (phone, email, etc.).
If a full assessment isn’t needed, we may suggest other support or services that could help.
3. Full Assessment
If a full assessment is needed, we’ll use a mix of different tools and conversations to understand your symptoms and how they affect your daily life.We base our diagnosis on official guidelines (called the DSM-5), which is used worldwide to help diagnose ADHD and autism.
You’ll have a Case Co-ordinator to support you and guide you through the process. Most appointments are online, but we can arrange face-to-face meetings if needed.
We also offer complex needs assessments. This is a bespoke package for children or adults who experience a complex combination of symptoms, and diagnosing autism and/or ADHD requires a differentiated approach.
4. After the Assessment
Once we’ve made our decision, we’ll talk it through with you and send you a full report, including all our recommendations and next steps.
The cost of an ADHD and autism assessment in the UK can vary a lot.
For a good quality assessment, you should expect:
-
- A team of experts to carry out the assessment.
- You (or the person being assessed) and the people who support you to be fully involved.
- Personalised advice and support based on your strengths and what’s important to you.
- A clear and detailed report that is accepted by the NHS and local authorities.
Our ADHD and autism assessments cover all the above for the following fees:
Autism Assessment £2,160
ADHD Assessment £1,195
Combined Autism and ADHD Assessment £2,850
Complex Needs Autism and/or ADHD Assessment – bespoke pricing on request.
Once we finish all parts of the autism and ADHD assessment, we will talk to you about the results. If we don’t think you have autism or ADHD, we will explain why. We will also talk about other possible reasons for your difficulties and what support might help you. This could include referring you to other services or speaking with your GP. We also offer support packages at MCTS, which we will explain in case they could be helpful.
Get in touch by emailing expert.referrals@mcts.org.uk. We’ll send you some forms and questionnaires to fill out. It’s important to complete these because our clinicians will review them. If they think a full assessment might be helpful, we’ll invite you to an online Clinical Screening appointment.
At this appointment, we’ll talk about your current and past experiences to see if a full assessment is the right next step for you.
We accept referrals from individuals, parents, school professionals, health professionals, social care professionals, law professionals and more.
We aim to see you within 8 weeks of the referral.
Our autism and ADHD Assessment Service operates across the South of England and we are expanding across England with a wide range of affiliates in different locations. Our assessments are comprehensive and evidence-based, ensuring the highest safe and effective care standards.
Who are proud to be working with a wide range of clinicians who are experts in carrying out autism assessments. This includes Psychiatrists, Psychotherapists, Psychologists, Occupational Therapists, MH Nurses, Speech and Language Therapists and more.
Some children, young people or adults may have additional needs that require a different way of carrying out an autism assessment. We offer a bespoke assessment package in cases where it is unclear what is causing the difficulties. This might be because the child or adult has co-occurring complex mental health difficulties, a high number of adverse childhood experiences, and/or safeguarding and child protection concerns. Get in touch with us for an initial consultation to discuss: expert.referrals@mcts.org.uk.
Neuro-affirming practice means we understand that everyone’s brain works differently, and we see these differences as natural. With that in mind, we consider physical, sensory, communication and behaviour unique features and do our best to reflect those in a strengths-based assessment and care plan. We do not take an impairment-led approach and are not trying to ‘fix the problem’. Instead, we are underpinned by a neuro-affirming approach. We aim to inspire the same way of thinking in all environments of our service users.
It is important to note that there are lots of other terms that autistic people and their families choose to use, and this is often a very personal preference. As a service, we use the terms ‘autism’ and ‘autistic individual’. If you would like us to use a different term, please let us know, and we will use those terms when working with you.
In some parts of our service, like reports, we use terms from the DSM-5 and NICE guidelines to clearly explain the assessment results to you and any organisations you may need to share the results with (local authorities, NHS).
When ADHD and autism co-occur, it can be challenging to differentiate between the two conditions due to their overlapping symptoms. Some shared characteristics include social challenges, repetitive behaviours, sensory processing difficulties, executive dysfunction, atypical movement and differences in learning styles.
The age at which ADHD and autism can be diagnosed varies, but both conditions are often observable in early childhood. The age at which we can diagnose tends to depend on the impact of the symptoms on people’s lives.
At MCTS we know that early detection and intervention for autism can significantly improve outcomes. Therefore, we are committed to delivering timely and comprehensive assessments.
The MCTS assessment team provides private autism and ADHD assessments for adults, children, young people and families – CYPF (service users). These comprehensive assessments are:
- Person-centred
- High-quality
- Evidence-based
- Multidisciplinary
We consider coexisting conditions related to physical health, mental health, emotional well-being, cognition, and psychosocial situations in the service user’s life context.
We create an environment of trust and compassion where our service users feel comfortable sharing information about their lives and the challenges they are facing every day. We focus on the relationships we build with the people we work with. Throughout the assessment, we take every opportunity to understand what is important to our service users to tailor a care plan that reflects their strengths and needs, supports their aspirations and empowers them to reach their full potential.