AUTISM, ADHD AND COMBINED ASSESSMENTS
Specialist neurodevelopmental assessment led by a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist
Child Psychiatry Consultancy provides specialist autism and ADHD assessments for children and adolescents across the UK. ADHD clinical assessments are personally conducted by Dr Athina Zakynthinaki, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. Autism assessments are completed through a specialist multidisciplinary pathway led by Dr Zakynthinaki.
Our assessments bring together developmental history, clinical observation, information from home and education, standardised questionnaires and careful consideration of co-occurring mental health or neurodevelopmental conditions.
Every pathway begins with an initial consultation with Dr Zakynthinaki. This allows your child’s presentation, strengths and current difficulties to be considered before deciding whether an ADHD assessment, autism assessment, combined assessment or another form of support is most appropriate. Attending this consultation does not commit you to proceeding with a full assessment.
An ADHD assessment at Child Psychiatry Consultancy is personally conducted by Dr Athina Zakynthinaki, a medically qualified Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist.
This means that your child’s developmental history, mental health, physical health, possible co-occurring conditions and suitability for treatment can be considered together—not only whether ADHD symptoms are present.
ADHD can present differently in every child. Some children are visibly hyperactive or impulsive, while others experience less obvious difficulties with attention, organisation, working memory or emotional regulation. Girls and academically able children may remain unidentified because their difficulties are quieter or masked.
What the assessment involves
Following your initial consultation, the ADHD assessment pathway includes:
A detailed clinical assessment with Dr Zakynthinaki
This explores your child’s development, current difficulties, strengths, functioning across different settings and the impact of their symptoms on everyday life.
Young DIVA diagnostic interview
A structured ADHD interview examining symptoms during childhood and in the present, with information gathered from the young person and their parent or carer as appropriate.
Conners 4 questionnaires
Rating scales completed by parents and school to provide evidence of how your child presents across home and educational settings.
SNAP-IV questionnaires
Additional parent and school information about attention, hyperactivity, impulsivity and related behaviour.
QbTest or QbCheck
A computer-based assessment providing objective information about attention, activity and impulse control. The result contributes to the wider clinical assessment but does not diagnose or exclude ADHD on its own.
Clinical observation and diagnostic assessment
Dr Zakynthinaki considers your child’s presentation during the appointment together with the developmental history, questionnaires, educational evidence and QbTest or QbCheck findings.
Assessment of co-occurring conditions
The assessment considers anxiety, depression, autism, learning difficulties, sleep problems and other conditions that may coexist with ADHD or produce similar difficulties.
Information from school
ADHD diagnostic criteria require evidence that relevant difficulties are present in more than one setting. Information from school is therefore an important part of the assessment.
Parents will be asked to provide school information and teachers will receive questionnaires before the diagnostic appointment. For children who are educated at home, we will discuss whether suitable information can be obtained from a tutor, educational setting, activity leader or another professional who knows the child well.
If adequate evidence from outside the home is unavailable, it may not be possible to reach a reliable diagnostic conclusion.
Diagnostic decision and feedback
All available evidence is considered together before a diagnostic decision is made. Verbal feedback is normally provided at the end of the diagnostic appointment where the evidence is sufficiently complete. Occasionally, further information or multidisciplinary discussion may be required before the conclusion can be confirmed.
Written report
The written report explains the evidence considered, diagnostic conclusion, clinical reasoning and practical recommendations for home and education. It is normally provided within five working days of the feedback appointment.
If ADHD is not diagnosed, the report will still explain the clinical findings and identify any appropriate recommendations or next steps.
After an ADHD diagnosis
Where medication is clinically appropriate, Child Psychiatry Consultancy can provide initiation, titration, physical-health monitoring and ongoing review within the same consultant-led service.
A private ADHD diagnosis does not guarantee that a GP will accept NHS prescribing or a shared-care arrangement. Families for whom future NHS prescribing is important should discuss this with their GP before beginning a private assessment.
ADHD Assessment
Our autism assessment is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary evaluation led by Dr Athina Zakynthinaki and conducted alongside a Speech and Language Therapist or an Occupational Therapist.
Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) presents differently in every child, and can be particularly difficult to identify in girls, in children who have learned to mask their difficulties, or in those with high academic ability. Our assessment is designed to look beyond surface behaviour to understand your child's underlying profile.
What the assessment involves
Following your initial consultation, if an autism assessment is recommended, the assessment process consists of two appointments, which can take place on the same day depending on our and your availability:
Appointment 1 — ADI-R (Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised)
A structured interview with parents or carers lasting approximately two hours. The psychiatrist will explore your child's developmental history, social communication, language development, play, and repetitive or restricted behaviours. This is conducted without your child present, allowing you to speak openly.
Appointment 2 — ADOS-2-informed remote observational assessment
A standardised observation session with your child. This is a naturalistic, semi-structured assessment designed to observe social communication and interaction in a relaxed, non-threatening way. It is presented as a series of activities and conversations. Because our service is fully remote, the observational assessment is informed by the activities and clinical principles of the ADOS-2 but is not administered or scored as a standard face-to-face ADOS-2. The findings are interpreted qualitatively alongside the developmental history, school information, questionnaires, clinical assessment and multidisciplinary discussion. No diagnostic decision is based on the observational assessment alone.
The role of school
School input is a required component of the autism assessment. Teachers provide essential information about how your child presents in a structured social environment. We will send questionnaires to your child's school before the appointment.
For home-educated children, we accept information from tutors, coaches, or other professionals who work regularly with your child.
After the assessment
Following the assessment, you will receive a full multidisciplinary diagnostic report. This includes the findings from each member of the team, a diagnostic conclusion, and detailed recommendations for support — at home, at school, and beyond. A 30-minute feedback appointment with Dr Athina Zakynthinaki is included to discuss the findings and agree next steps.
Autism Spectrum Condition Assessment
Combined Autism and ADHD Assessment
Autism and ADHD frequently co-occur, and their features can overlap. When both conditions are clinically indicated following the initial consultation, we offer a combined assessment rather than requiring families to complete two separate pathways.
The assessment brings together the full ADHD and autism assessment processes described above. The ADHD assessment is personally conducted by Dr Athina Zakynthinaki, while the autism assessment includes multidisciplinary input. Evidence from your child, parents, school and other professionals is considered together to determine whether the diagnostic criteria for autism, ADHD or both are met.
Following completion of the assessment and multidisciplinary review, you will receive detailed feedback and one integrated diagnostic report with practical recommendations for home, education and treatment. If ADHD is diagnosed and medication is clinically appropriate, ongoing treatment can be provided within our service.
If you are worried about your child right now
Our service is designed for planned assessments and is not set up to respond to urgent or emergency situations. If you are concerned that your child is at immediate risk of harm to themselves or others, please contact the emergency services (999), attend your nearest A&E department, or call the CAMHS crisis line for your area.
If you have a non-urgent concern that falls outside our service, we are happy to advise you about the most appropriate route to support — just get in touch.