Autism assessment

An autism assessment looks closely at how your child connects, communicates and experiences the world around them. It is a careful, unhurried process: we gather information from home and school, spend time with your child directly, and bring it all together into a clear picture.

The aim is never to label, but to understand: to recognise your child’s strengths alongside the places where the everyday world feels harder to navigate, so that the right supports can be put in place.

• Social interactionHow your child relates to others, reads social cues, and builds and maintains relationships.
• CommunicationVerbal and non-verbal communication, conversation, and the use and understanding of language in context.
• Sensory experiencesSensory seeking and avoiding, and the ways sensory differences shape your child’s day.
• Patterns of behaviour & interestRoutines, repetitive behaviours, and focused or intense interests.

An autism assessment can determine whether a child meets the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder, and, just as importantly, clarifies the profile of strengths and needs that sits beneath any diagnosis.

An autism assessment at Known is never carried out in isolation. It forms part of a single, holistic assessment that Dr Murray designs around your child. If the picture suggests it, she may also explore areas such as ADHD, learning or cognitive ability within the same process, rather than sending you away to begin again.

How a Known assessment works →

Every child is different, so each assessment is shaped around them. In broad strokes: questionnaires completed by parents and teachers, a clinical interview with parents of around one to two hours, and direct assessment with your child of around two to three hours. Findings are drawn together into a written report with background, results, and practical strategies for home and school.

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