Please find our Clinic and Office opening hours here
Please note: We now operate across two locations: Total Children’s Therapy Ashley Cross & Total Children’s Therapy Westbourne
Tel: 07939 410048
ID Diagnostic Service
Can an ID assessment help my child?
If your child has experienced significant developmental differences or is struggling to keep up with their peers, an Intellectual Disability assessment may help you understand their strengths, difficulties and support needs.
Our specialist Intellectual Disability assessment service brings together information from home, school and direct assessment to develop a picture of your child's cognitive and adaptive functioning.
Our service is available from 8 years old through to the academic year in which a young person turns 25.
What is Intellectual Disability?
Intellectual Disability is a lifelong diagnosis associated with significant difficulties with intellectual functioning and adaptive functioning - the everyday skills people use to manage daily life.
Some children are diagnosed with Global Developmental Delay when they are younger. If developmental differences continue as a child gets older and the gap between them and their peers remains significant, an Intellectual Disability assessment may help clarify their needs.
A diagnosis can help children and young people to be better understood by the people around them and can support appropriate adjustments and accessible information as they progress through childhood and into adulthood.
What does an ID assessment involve?
1. Understanding your child's development
We review information from you and your child's school, including their developmental history and experiences at home and in education.
2. Understanding everyday functioning
We use the Adaptive Behaviour Assessment System (ABAS-3) to explore how your child manages everyday activities and the level of support they need.
3. Cognitive assessment
Your child will complete a cognitive assessment to help us understand their thinking and reasoning abilities. Where appropriate, school-based observation and discussion with school staff may also form part of the assessment.
4. Report and feedback
We bring the information together in a report and meet with you to discuss the findings, whether an Intellectual Disability diagnosis is appropriate and what the next steps might be.
What if an Intellectual Disability diagnosis isn't appropriate?
Sometimes an assessment may show that a young person's profile is borderline or more patchy and does not meet the threshold for an Intellectual Disability diagnosis.
This does not mean that the assessment has not been helpful. Our clinic is also set up to explore specific areas of challenge in more detail, including Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) such as dyslexia, Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD/Dyspraxia) and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD).
Our priority is for the child/young person to have access to a robust assessment that provides a clear up to date profile and allows others to support their learning potential and transition more easily through school years and in adult life.
Meet Dr Kate Martin
Principal Clinical Psychologist | BSc (Hons), DClinPsy
Our specialist Intellectual Disability assessment service is led by Dr Kate Martin, Principal Clinical Psychologist. Kate is a highly experienced Clinical Psychologist who specialises in working with children and young people with neurodiversity and Intellectual Disabilities.
She has worked in both NHS and private settings and was Principal Psychologist for an NHS community mental health service for children with Intellectual Disabilities for more than a decade.
Kate is experienced in neurodevelopmental assessment and supporting young people and their families to understand their strengths, difficulties and support needs.
You can download a 'child-friendly' description of Kate below.
