Neurodiversity

Where to start

Assessment usually begins at school rather than at the surgery. The GP is the referral route, but a school that has already tried and recorded support makes everything after it faster.

• The SENCo at your child’s school. The member of staff responsible for special educational needs. They hold the assessment routes, the in-school support, and the paperwork an EHCP needs. Ask for a meeting in writing, and ask what is already being tried under the graduated approach. This conversation usually has to happen before anything statutory can.
• Your GP. The gateway to everything the NHS offers a child: paediatric assessment, a referral to CAMHS, and support for you as the parent. Ask for a double appointment. Describe the pattern over weeks rather than the worst single day, and say plainly what you are worried about. Bring a written list; the ten minutes go quickly. www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-gp
• Your local authority. The council’s children’s services and SEND team. They hold statutory assessment, the Local Offer, and early help for families who need more than a school can give. When school-level support has been tried and is not enough, or when you want to know what your area actually provides. www.gov.uk/find-local-council

For neurodiversity

• ADHD Foundation Neurodiversity Charity. The UK’s leading neurodiversity charity, based in Liverpool. The cleanest UK source for the lifespan, strengths-based framing of neurodiversity that we want chapters in this territory to sit within. Any chapter touching on neurodiversity, ADHD, autism, or the wider neurodevelopmental cluster. Their parent-facing resources on early signs in school-age children, on sensory differences, and on talking with siblings are the strongest sub-resources to name. The largest UK provider of training to professionals; their authority in the territory is real. www.adhdfoundation.org.uk
• Contact (for families with disabled children). The UK charity for families with disabled children. The warmest UK line we know for the parent in the early days after a diagnosis. Any chapter where a parent is holding a new diagnosis, navigating benefits, or contending with the wider system around a disabled child. No diagnosis required to use the helpline, which matters for families still in the assessment process. UK-wide. Contact Helpline 0808 808 3555 · Mon-Fri 9.30am-5pm (Tue opens 10.15am) contact.org.uk/help-for-families/information-advice-services/our-helpline
• IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice). The UK’s specialist legal charity for SEND. The right line when the school has stopped engaging or the EHCP process needs legal scaffolding. Any chapter touching on SEN support, the graduated response, EHCP applications or appeals, or the SEND tribunal. The lawyers we would put in the room with a school that has stopped engaging. Free at the point of use, which matters for families who are paying for private assessment in parallel. England only. The SEND systems in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland work differently. IPSEA Advice Line and Call-in Helpline 0300 222 5899 · Triage Tue 9.30am-12.30pm; Call-in Helpline Wed 9.30am-2.30pm www.ipsea.org.uk/advice-line
• National Autistic Society. The UK’s leading autism charity. The first signpost for any family at the autism threshold. Any chapter touching on autism specifically. Their pages on what to expect from a child’s assessment, on talking with autistic children about their diagnosis, and on the home environment are the strongest sub-resources. The Parent to Parent Emotional Support Helpline, staffed by parents of autistic children, is the right line to send the parent who has started to wonder. By arrangement, requested through the website · Parent to Parent Emotional Support Helpline: confidential one-off call staffed by parents of autistic children; arranged via the website. www.autism.org.uk
• Council for Disabled Children. The umbrella body for the disabled children’s sector in the UK. The right pointer when a parent is reading more widely on the SEND landscape than a single specialist charity can cover. Chapters or tips where the parent wants to understand the wider SEND system, the local-authority routes, or the policy framework her family is navigating. Complementary to IPSEA’s legal focus; CDC holds the systemic and policy layer. councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk

If reading and writing are the difficulty

• British Dyslexia Association. The UK’s specialist dyslexia charity. The right line for parents at the early stages of suspecting their child’s literacy struggle is more than a slow start. Any chapter or tip where dyslexia or a related literacy difficulty is the live question. Their parent-facing guidance on assessment, school support, and the daily textures of dyslexia in a primary household is the clearest UK source we know. Volunteer-staffed, so messages left outside the hours are answered when they can be. Charged at your standard call rate, not free. BDA National Helpline 0333 405 4567 · Tue 10am-1pm, Wed 1pm-3pm, Thu 1pm-3pm www.bdadyslexia.org.uk

If you are considering a private assessment

• The Giaroli Centre. A private London clinic at Harley Street, founded in 2014 by Dr Giovanni Giaroli, Consultant Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychiatrist. The private centre we most often hear named by London parents who have chosen the private assessment route. Chapters or tips where the private route is being discussed. The multidisciplinary children’s pathway, conducted by psychiatrists, psychologists and paediatricians together, is the structure of assessment we would look for in any private provider. Useful as a named reference when distinguishing thorough multidisciplinary assessment from single-clinician work. A private fee-paying clinic, named in our chapters as an example of how a good multidisciplinary assessment is put together, not as the only one. www.dr-giaroli.org

If you are considering private therapy

Waiting lists are long. If you can meet the cost, a registered therapist can usually be seen in weeks rather than months. Both registers below are accredited by the Professional Standards Authority, which is the thing to check before anything else.

• BACP Therapist Directory. The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy’s public register. Search by area, by what you are bringing, and by whether the therapist works with children. www.bacp.co.uk/search/Therapists
• NCPS Therapist Directory. The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society’s register. Every therapist listed is qualified, supervised, insured, and accountable to a code of ethics. ncps.com/find-a-counsellor
• Kensington Square Therapy. Our own practice. We work with children, young people and parents, in the room at 23 Kensington Square, online, and inside schools we partner with. www.kst.ltd

What to look for in a therapist, what a first session is like, and the questions worth asking before you commit, are set out at theparentbook.com/finding-a-therapist

Everything else

The full directory, across every subject, is at theparentbook.com/services. If a number here has changed, please tell us at hello@theparentbook.com and we will correct it.