Autism diagnostic service delivered on behalf of West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Autism diagnostic service delivered on behalf of West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
A single place to find your guides, useful organisations and answers to common questions – at any stage of the journey.
Getting Ready
What the assessment is, who you’ll meet, how to prepare and how to talk to your child about it.
Assessment Day
Everything you need to know for today, including where to go, what to bring and how the day will flow.
Information & Support
Understanding the outcome, talking to your child about a diagnosis and where to find support.
Living with Autism Guide
Practical advice for day-to-day life, building routines, and supporting your child at home and at school.
Understanding Your Child’s Autism Assessment Report
We have a full glossary explaining some of the terms that may appear in your child’s autism assessment report.
These organisations offer information, support, and community for families at any stage of the assessment journey.
Your child will be in experienced hands. Our assessments are carried out by clinicians who specialise in children’s neurodevelopmental assessment and are trained in the gold-standard tools used nationally – the ADOS-2 and ADI-R.
Every diagnosis is reviewed and agreed by the wider team together, never by one person alone, and signed off by a senior clinician, in line with NICE guidance. Here are some of the people who may be involved in your child’s assessment:
Dr Garrett Kennedy is a Chartered, HCPC-registered Counselling Psychologist with over 15 years' experience across the NHS, independent practice and higher education.
He specialises in autism assessment, trauma-informed care and psychological assessment, using the gold-standard ADOS-2 and ADI-R. Garrett combines clinical depth with a compassionate, person-centred approach, delivering evidence-based autism assessments in line with NICE guidance.
Sibte Zahra is an HCPC-registered Clinical Psychologist with over eight years of experience specialising in autism and neurodevelopmental assessments for children and young people. She is highly skilled in conducting comprehensive ASD assessments using ADOS-2 and ADI-R, working collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams to deliver accurate, evidence-based diagnostic reports. Sibte is committed to providing compassionate, neuro-affirmative assessments that support children, families, and referrers with clear, clinically robust recommendations and high-quality care throughout the diagnostic process.
Matty has over 18 years' experience assessing children through to adults for neurodevelopmental conditions, including Autism, ADHD and Intellectual Disability, often alongside complexities such as trauma, mental health difficulties and hearing impairment. He has worked across CAMHS, inpatient hospitals and specialist education settings. Matty holds a PGDip in Autism, an Autism-focused doctorate and a PGCert in Clinical Neuropsychology, and is trained in psychometric measures including WISC-V, WAIS-IV, NEPSY-II, ADOS-2, BOSA and ADI-R. He is HCPC-registered and a Chartered Psychologist with the BPS.
Melanie is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist who leads our multidisciplinary team (MDT) reviews, acting as the independent reviewer for children she hasn't assessed herself. Her background spans health psychology, neuropsychology and brain injury, and she has carried out ADOS-2 autism assessments and led diagnostic MDTs for services in Birmingham and Wales. She brings a careful, evidence-led approach to every decision, in line with NICE guidance.
Paul is an NMC-registered Mental Health Nurse and Neurodivergent Clinical Lead in the NHS, with an MSc in Autism and Related Conditions from Swansea University. He is trained in the ADOS-2 and ADI-R and carries out autism assessments in line with NICE guidance, with a particular interest in telling autism apart from anxiety, trauma and other overlapping presentations. Paul also chairs multidisciplinary meetings and has a long-standing commitment to advocacy for autistic people and their families.
Marks Mokwena is a Registered Mental Health Nurse with over seven years' experience across CAMHS, community psychiatry, forensic and acute inpatient settings. He has a strong background in neurodevelopmental assessment, risk management and family-focused care, contributing to diagnostic formulation, psychoeducation and care planning for young people and families. Trained in the ADOS-2 and ADI-R, he brings real strength in structured assessment, clinical observation and collaborative MDT decision-making.
Antonia Aldous is a highly experienced Speech and Language Therapist and Auditory Verbal Therapist with over 20 years of expertise supporting children with speech, language, communication, and hearing needs. She has extensive experience conducting specialist communication assessments, delivering evidence-based interventions, and working collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams to support children and their families. Antonia brings a child-centred, engaging, and practical approach to every assessment, providing clear clinical recommendations that help children achieve their full communication potential while supporting comprehensive neurodevelopmental and ASD assessment pathways.
Lynsey is an HCPC-registered Speech and Language Therapist and a member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, with nearly 20 years' experience since qualifying in 2006. She has worked with children in clinics and schools across London as a specialist therapist, clinic manager and head of a schools service, and has carried out speech and language assessments for EHCPs and tribunals. Lynsey sees children at our Ipswich site.
Linda is an NMC-registered general nurse. She carries out the short physical health checks before your child’s assessment, and will take things at your child’s pace.
Nelissa is an NMC-registered nurse with experience across a range of hospital settings. She carries out the short physical health checks before your child’s assessment, and will take things at your child’s pace.
Benton Robertson is HG Mind Works' Managing Director and Nominated Individual. He holds overall responsibility for the safe, well-led delivery of our services and for our partnership with West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, making sure the autism pathway meets NHS and CQC standards.
Stephen Goss is HG Mind Works' Registered Manager and Caldicott Guardian. He is responsible for the day-to-day running of the service, its clinical governance and safeguarding, and for protecting the confidentiality of your child's information.
Kate is HG Mind Works' Service Delivery Manager. She runs the day-to-day organisation of the West Suffolk service – clinics, appointments and how we keep in touch with families – and works closely with the Trust to keep the service running smoothly.
We know you may have a lot of questions, especially if your child has been waiting a long time to be seen. Below are the ones families ask us most often, from booking your appointments through to getting the report. If you can’t find what you need, email westsuffolk@hg-mindworks.com or call us on 020 8126 8767 (option 3), Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm. We’re happy to help.
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust has asked HG Mind Works to carry out autism assessments for some of the children on its waiting list, so they can be seen sooner. We work on behalf of the Trust’s Integrated Community Paediatric Service, and the outcome is shared with the Trust, and with your child’s GP if you’d like us to.
No. The assessment is funded by the NHS through West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.
No. We’ve been asked to assess for autism only. If you’re concerned about ADHD, please speak to your child’s GP, who can make a referral.
We don’t prescribe medication or provide sleep support. If your child needs help with sleep, including melatonin, please speak to your GP.
We’ll email you a registration form. Once we’ve checked it, we’ll phone you to book your appointments. Please check your junk folder if you can’t find our email, and answer or return our call so we can book you in.
Two. First, a 20-minute physical health check with one of our nurses. Second, the autism assessment itself, which takes about two and a half hours with two of our clinicians. Appointments are Monday to Friday, between 8am and 8pm.
We see children in Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich. When we call, we’ll ask which site suits you best, and the address will be in your confirmation email.
Once your child’s assessment is booked, we’ll email you a second form asking about your child’s development, health and day-to-day life. It takes about 25 minutes. Please complete it at least two working days before your child’s first appointment. If you’d rather go through it over the phone, call us and we’ll do it with you. We can’t go ahead with the appointments until it’s done.
We can’t easily move appointments once they’re booked, because clinics are planned weeks ahead. If you need to change one, we’ll offer the next available appointment, which may not be until 2027.
Please call us as soon as you can. We’ll offer you another appointment, but after a third missed appointment we’ll have to return your child’s referral to the Trust.
If we can’t reach you after several emails, texts and calls, we’ll return your child’s referral to the Trust.
Yes. Tell us when we call to book, and let us know about anything else that would help your child on the day, such as a quiet waiting space or extra breaks.
Your child will probably need to miss some school for the appointments. Under the Department for Education’s attendance rules, schools record time at a medical appointment as an authorised absence, so it is not treated like an unexplained day off and does not count towards attendance fines. It will still show in your child’s overall attendance figure, though, and each school applies its own attendance policy. If your child’s attendance is already being monitored, the school may want to talk it through with you.
Once you’ve booked, we’d suggest telling the school the dates straight away and forwarding your appointment confirmation email, which is usually all the evidence a school needs. If your school still has questions, ask them to get in touch with us.
With your permission, we’ll ask your child’s SENDCo for information about how your child gets on at school, and for any reports they hold. This helps the clinicians understand your child across different settings. We won’t send your child’s report to the school unless you ask us to.
Two clinicians will spend time with you and your child. One will do play-based and conversational activities with your child (the ADOS-2), and the other will talk with you about your child’s development and early years (the ADI-R). Both are recognised gold-standard tools for autism assessment.
Tell them simply where they’re going and who they’ll meet, bring snacks, a drink and anything that helps them feel settled, and plan to arrive 15 minutes early. Our “Getting ready” and “Assessment day” guides have more ideas.
That’s fine and our clinicians are used to it. They’ll go at your child’s pace, take breaks when needed, and gather what they can. Even a short time with your child tells them a lot.
Please call us on 020 8126 8767 (option 3) as soon as you can.
The clinical team meets to review everything, usually in the same week as the assessment. If the clinicians feel a speech and language assessment would help, we’ll book this with you, usually one to two weeks after the assessment.
Usually two to three weeks after the assessment. If your child also has a speech and language appointment, it may take a little longer. We’ll email you a secure link to the report, and the email explains how to open it.
Yes. We’ll email you a link to book an online video appointment with one of the clinicians who assessed your child, usually about a week after you receive the report. Please read the report beforehand and bring any questions.
The Trust, because we carry out the assessment on its behalf. We’ll send it to your child’s GP or school only if you ask us to.
Sometimes the clinicians can’t reach a firm conclusion, for example because a child is very young or other things are affecting how they present. If so, the report will explain why and set out what would help your child next.
Email westsuffolk@hg-mindworks.com or call 020 8126 8767 (option 3), Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm.
We always welcome feedback, so please tell us if something could have gone better. If you want to make a complaint, or raise a concern with the Trust’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), please email West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust at NDDdatatransfer@wsh.nhs.uk. We provide this service on the Trust’s behalf, so the Trust handles complaints about it.
Our privacy notice for the West Suffolk service explains what we collect, why, and who we share it with.