Autism

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What is autism?

SLT ASC Autism, also called Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC), is a lifelong condition that affects how a person relates to other people and communicates with them. If your child is autistic they will experience the world differently. These differences can bring challenges as well as unique strengths.

Things you may notice

Your child may struggle with social communication. They may display differences in how they understand and use verbal, and non-verbal communications like eye contact, tone of voice, gestures and expression. They could have little or no speech or good speech but struggle to follow or join in a conversation.

Routine or repetitive thinking and behaviours

Your child may have a strong desire for rules, routine and for things staying the same. They might have very intense interests, a special interest which they know lots about or like to collect things. They often like structure and find change difficult and may like and organising things like their toys.

Autistic children are often over or under sensitive to senses like touch, taste, sound, temperature or pain. They may find some clothes unbearable, may only eat particular foods, find public spaces or parties too loud or overwhelming and may not tell you when they are hurt or feel unwell.

What causes autism?

We don’t know what causes autism but we do know it’s not caused by vaccines, bad parenting or infections. Autism is present from birth but is not usually diagnosed until children are older, and sometimes only when they are adults.

If your child is autistic they do not have an illness or a disease, they just have a brain that works differently from other people’s.

How can I help my child?

Autism is a spectrum, which means it is different for everyone. Your child may need little or no support, or may need extra help from a parent, teacher or carer every day.

There is no treatment or ‘cure’ for autism, but by breaking down the different things your child finds difficult you can find strategies to help them. Because there is no treatment, if your child is referred to us for assessment and they are diagnosed with autism, they will be discharged from our service.

Strategies and advice

If your child is diagnosed, understanding autism and helping to change the way we interact with someone with autism will support them to reach their potential.

The National Autistic Society has a short video about autism and lots of useful help, information and advice for parents/carers and schools.

It also has a video about autism which is aimed at children.

Referrals

If you have concerns, please see our Community Paediatrics page for information on how to refer your child.

Useful websites

The National Autistic Society

Kent Autistic Trust: For information about the diagnosis of autism and the local area. It provides support services for families that are tailored to individual needs.

Because sensory processing can be part of several different types of neurodivergent conditions, we have a separate information page which contains useful videos, tips and advice.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the wait for an initial assessment and when will my child be seen?

English is not my first language

I have been informed that questionnaires will be needed for my next appointment, when will I receive these?

The majority of our questionnaires are available to access on our website under “Questionnaire links for children open to the service”. These are available to use for both schools and parent/guardians.

If questionnaires have been requested you/your child’s school urgently; you can access these and send them back to us yourself to the following email address: kentchft.qscommpaed@nhs.net.

Once your child is coming up to being due for an appointment, questionnaires will be sent out directly from our service to yourself and school, if this has been requested by the clinician.

Please be aware that the information on many of these questionnaires can be used up to 6 to 12 months after being received. Therefore, an appointment may not be made immediately once these have been returned. Some of our questionnaires are essential for screening and an appointment is not always required upon receipt of these. This should be explained to you at your appointment about next steps.

Even though the questionnaires may not expire for some time, it is still essential that this information is received by the deadlines provided so we can offer an appointment as soon as we are able too.

If your child has changed school or you have changed email address, it is essential that you inform us as soon as possible to avoid delay when up to date questionnaires need to be requested.

Is it possible to have appointments outside of school hours such as after 4pm?

I need to cancel my appointment, how much notice do I have to give?

We kindly ask that you try to give us at least 48 working hours although this may not always be possible, this helps us to appoint another child and helps to keep our waiting lists down. Please be aware that after cancelling an appointment, there may be a significant wait for another, this is due to lack of capacity and extensive waiting lists. If two appointments are cancelled in a row this may result is a discharge from the service.

My child has just had their appointment and I wondered how long I will have to wait for the medical report?

My child has been newly diagnosed with ADHD, what happens next?

My child has been medicated, how do I get a repeat prescription?

Your medical report will be sent to your doctor (GP) who will continue to prescribe the medication under a shared care agreement. Your child will be reviewed by the community paediatrician every three / six / nine months. If there are concerns with the medication you will be asked to see a paediatrician earlier for a possible medication change, but it will be your doctor who will continue to prescribe.

How do I get to speak to a paediatrician, I am worried about my child?

If you child has not been referred to the Community Paediatric Service then you will need to speak to your doctor or preferably your child’s school to be referred.

If you are worried/concerned about a prescription, medication or your child’s medical report, please call 0300 123 4087 and come through to Medical Admin Team or email kentchft.cpmedicaladmin@nhs.net.

Please note we are not an emergency service and have a 72 hour turn around time to respond to all calls and emails. If you and your family need urgent medical attention then you should call 999 or visit A&E immediately.

My child is having violent outbursts and threatening self-harm, can I have an earlier appointment?

This is not a reason to see a paediatrician; it is a reason to go to A&E to be seen by CAMHS. If you need immediate help you can you can contact NELFT (CYPMHS Children and Young Peoples Mental Health Service) on 0300 123 4496, 24 hours per day, seven days per week. (Please note that from 6pm on weekdays and 12pm on Saturdays, all calls will be automatically diverted to the NELFT Mental Health Direct support lines which is a team of dedicated professionals waiting to take your call.)

If you are a patient or have been referred you can contact us to request an early appointment, if we have any availability we would request your reasons to expedite an appointment to be sent into us in writing which will be passed to a clinician for their instruction as to what will happen next.

If my child is not diagnosed with a specific diagnosis, what are the next steps and how do I get support?

If you child is not diagnosed with anything specific, the clinician will explore other issues to see if there is an underlying problem. You can also look at the links for challenging behaviour on our website POD page or contact Kent County Council on www.kent.gov.uk/earlyhelp for Early Help and Preventative Services. If there is no support or treatment available from our service you will be discharged.

We are predominantly a diagnostic service and therefore once you have a diagnosis you may be discharged if there is no intervention or treatment available.