Child autism, understood in full.
A meticulously detailed, child-specific assessment that captures how autism truly presents at every stage, including the subtle and masked signs so often missed, with feedback from home and school.
Autism in children is more than meets the eye.
A child who seems shy, rigid or easily overwhelmed is easy to misread. We assess the whole picture, sensory experience, social communication, routine and the body underneath, using child-specific, gold-standard tools and detailed feedback from teachers as well as parents, to recognise autism as it actually shows up in your child.
Does any of this sound like you?
Open any area to read more. The marked ones are the signs most often missed in children.
The physical health picture
Most children show up in several of these, across more than one group, and that overlap is the point. None of this is a diagnosis. It is what we explore, mind and body together.
Tailored to your child’s age.
Autism looks different at five than at fifteen. Every assessment is built around your child’s stage, with age-appropriate tools and the right people involved.
Play-informed, school-informed assessment attuned to early sensory and social differences, with feedback from teachers and parents.
Tuned to the secondary years, when social demands and self-awareness grow and masking often begins.
Built for the move toward independence and the questions young people start to ask about themselves.
Autism does not look the same in every child.
How autism presents shifts with age, gender and personality, and is often missed in those who mask well. Read the profile closest to your child.
The girl who masks and copes
Quiet and eager to please on the outside, exhausted underneath.
Read this profile →The child who finds the world loud
Sensory overwhelm and a need for sameness, mistaken for behaviour.
Read this profile →Struggling as school gets social
When friendships, change and demands become overwhelming.
Read this profile →Becoming who they are
Questions of identity, independence and the leap ahead.
Read this profile →Autism with ADHD or anxiety
The overlapping picture that a single lens so often gets wrong.
Read this profile →When demands feel impossible
A profile that needs careful, expert understanding rather than discipline.
Read this profile →Understanding the features we see most.
Long reads from our clinicians on the parts of ADHD and autism that shape daily life and most often go unassessed. New pieces are added regularly.
What makes a Sanctum assessment different.
Unmatched depth
We break all seven DSM-5 criteria into 34 components, so nothing subtle is missed.
School and home together
Gold-standard tools including the ADI-R, alongside academic feedback from your child’s school.
The whole child
Sensory experience, communication, routine and physical health, not symptoms in isolation.
Neuroaffirmative
We recognise autism as a way of being, with strengths as well as challenges.
The Sanctum Child Autism Assessment.
One comprehensive, expert-led evaluation, tuned to your child’s age and available online or in person.
What the assessment covers
An exceptionally detailed evaluation of autism as it presents in your child, with school feedback and screening for associated conditions.
- All seven DSM-5 criteria, broken into 34 components
- Gold-standard, child-specific tools, including the ADI-R
- Academic feedback from your child’s school
- Sensory, social and communication profiling
- Screening for ADHD, anxiety and co-occurring conditions
- A comprehensive report with personalised recommendations
How it works.
Choose your child’s assessment and complete a secure online purchase.
Receive all forms, plus questionnaires for you and your child’s school.
Attend the assessment, online or in clinic, with the right specialists.
Receive a detailed report, recommendations and adjustment letters for home and school.
What you get.
Every assessment is personalised to your child. As part of the process you receive:
A market-leading assessment
A precision evaluation that exceeds NICE guidance.
A comprehensive report
A detailed written report of your child’s full profile.
Online psychoeducation course
Access to our psychoeducation platform and course for families.
Recommendations and adjustments
Personalised recommendations, including school and exam adjustment letters.
Co-occurring conditions considered
Screening and onward consideration of conditions that often travel with autism.
Onward referrals
Referrals to other services and specialists if your child needs them.
The clinicians who will see you.
Real specialists, not a call centre. Your assessment is carried out by an experienced Sanctum clinician who looks at the whole picture, not a single checklist.
Enquire or book.
Send us an enquiry and our team will be in touch, or book your child’s assessment for the right age band.
Prefer to talk? Call 0161 768 7634 or email clinics@sanctumhealthcare.co.uk.
Questions parents ask.
Do you involve my child’s school?
Yes. Academic feedback from teachers is a core part of the assessment, alongside your own observations, so we see the full picture across home and school.
Which age groups do you assess?
We assess children and young people across three bands, 5–11, 12–15 and 16–18, each with age-appropriate tools.
Can the assessment be done online?
Yes. The assessment is available either online via secure video or face to face at our clinic.
What happens after the assessment?
You receive a detailed report, personalised recommendations, school and exam adjustment letters, access to our psychoeducation course, and onward referrals where needed.
Understood for who they are.
A complete, careful picture of how autism shows up for your child, and a plan home and school can act on. Start with a free screening or book an assessment.
Book your assessment
