If you have spent your life feeling profoundly different without understanding why — if social rules that everyone else seems to know intuitively have always eluded you, if sensory experiences that others barely notice feel overwhelming, or if exhaustion from the constant effort of fitting in has become your baseline — a private autism assessment may be the most important step you take towards genuine self-understanding. Our Autism Complete programme at London Trusted Therapy Harley Street provides a thorough, gold-standard assessment using the internationally recognised ADOS-2 tool, conducted by a specialist multidisciplinary team, combined with the full range of post-diagnosis therapeutic and coaching support you need to thrive authentically.
Still exploring whether autism might explain your experience? Read our guide to understanding autism — signs, masking and identity
4.86 rating based on Doctify, Google and Trustpilot reviews
Our autism assessment programme is built on clinical excellence, compassion, and genuine understanding. We utilise the ADOS-2 (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition), the internationally recognised gold standard diagnostic tool for autism assessment. The ADOS-2 provides structured, standardised assessment activities designed to elicit behaviors relevant to autism diagnosis across different ages and developmental levels. Our clinicians are specifically trained and certified in ADOS-2 administration and scoring, ensuring accurate, reliable assessment.
Beyond clinical assessment tools, what truly distinguishes our programme is our team’s lived experience with neurodivergence. Our Founder, Dr Olena Edwards-Skadowska, is neurodivergent, as are other members of our clinical team. We don’t just study neurodivergence academically – we live it. This combination of professional expertise and personal understanding creates an assessment environment that is genuinely safe, validating, and affirming. We understand the unique challenges autistic people face, the exhaustion of masking, the sensory sensitivities that can make appointments overwhelming, and the profound need for clear, direct communication without neurotypical social pleasantries that feel confusing or fake.
We really get it. We’ve experienced the confusion of social situations where unspoken rules seem obvious to everyone else, the overwhelm of sensory environments, the comfort of special interests, and the relief of finally understanding ourselves as autistic rather than somehow wrong or broken. This lived experience, combined with our clinical expertise, allows us to provide assessment and support that is truly empathetic, validating, and tailored to your unique needs.
We help you thrive authentically with a private autism assessment, therapy, and coaching, conducted both in person in Harley Street and online. Get the support you need from the expert team of clinicians.
Our private autism assessment is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary evaluation conducted at our Harley Street clinic, Pinero House, or online. The assessment is not a single appointment with a single clinician — it is a coordinated process involving multiple qualified professionals working together to build a complete and clinically rigorous picture of your presentation.
The assessment typically involves a detailed clinical interview and developmental history, ADOS-2 (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition) administration by a specialist trained assessor, and a detailed written report authored by a clinical psychologist — providing a thorough formulation of your profile, diagnostic conclusions, and personalised recommendations. This multidisciplinary model means you are not relying on one person’s assessment in isolation: you receive a clinically integrated picture supported by different professional perspectives working in concert.
The ADOS-2 is the most widely used and extensively validated tool for autism assessment in the world. It is considered the gold standard by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which recommends ADOS-2 as part of comprehensive autism assessment for both children and adults. Unlike questionnaire-based assessments alone, ADOS-2 involves direct observation of social communication and interaction through structured activities administered by a trained specialist — providing observational data that questionnaires and interviews cannot capture.
At London Trusted Therapy, ADOS-2 is administered by our specialist trained assessors including Trish Bacchus and Riffat Hussein, both of whom bring considerable clinical experience in autism assessment across the lifespan. All assessments are conducted in the context of a full multidisciplinary evaluation, with the ADOS-2 findings integrated into the clinical psychologist’s comprehensive report.
Autistic adults — particularly women — are diagnosed significantly later than autistic men and boys, often not until their thirties, forties, fifties, or beyond. Our team has particular specialist expertise in adult autism assessment, and in the assessment of women and girls whose presentations frequently differ from the predominantly male model that historically shaped diagnostic criteria and clinical awareness. We regularly assess individuals who have received multiple previous misdiagnoses — anxiety, depression, borderline personality disorder, eating disorders — before autism was properly considered.
Autism spectrum specialists, at London Trusted Therapy Harley Street, are fully accredited experts in autism diagnostic assessment, autism therapy services and neurodiversity-affirming practice. They create a sensory-friendly, accepting environment and approach autism through a strengths-based lens that honors authentic autistic identity. Here are our autism spectrum specialists — please review their profiles to find the right fit.
Individual and Couples Psychotherapist
Individual and Couples Psychotherapist
Individual and Couples Psychotherapist EMDR
Individual Family and Young People Psychotherapist
Psychiatrist Organisational Consultant Executive Coach
Individual Couples and Family Psychotherapist
Individual and Couples Psychotherapist
Individual Couples Family Psychotherapist
Autism Assessor (ADOS-2) Speech and Language Therapist
Counselling Psychologist Individual Couples and Family Psychotherapist
Clinical Psychologist Individual Couples and Family Psychotherapist
Counselling Psychologist Individual and Couples Psychotherapist EMDR
Counselling Psychologist Individual and Family Psychotherapist EMDR
We embrace neurodiversity-affirming perspective that celebrates neurological differences as natural variations of human diversity rather than disorders requiring cure.
Neurodiversity-affirming approach means honouring your autism rather than trying to eliminate it. We don’t aim to make you less autistic or more “normal.” Instead, we support you in understanding yourself, leveraging your strengths, developing skills and strategies that serve your goals, advocating for accommodations you need, and building life where you can thrive as autistic person.
Our role is supporting you in managing these challenges while affirming that challenges arise from poor environmental fit rather than something wrong with you.
Our thorough autism assessment integrates multiple evaluation methods following best practice guidelines.
exploring your early childhood development, current functioning, social and communication development, sensory experiences, interests and activities, and family history of autism or related conditions.
Because autism is present from childhood, even if not recognised, understanding your developmental trajectory is essential for accurate diagnosis.
The ADOS-2 is a semi-structured assessment using standardised activities designed to elicit behaviors relevant to autism diagnosis. The assessment includes four modules, with the appropriate module selected based on your age and language level.
They include both self-report measures and, when possible, collateral information from family members, partners, or close friends who can provide external perspective on your symptoms. We review your medical history, as various medical conditions can mimic or coexist with ADHD.
It’s a structured way of observing how you naturally communicate and interact, providing standardised comparison against established autism markers. The assessment feels relatively naturalistic rather than like formal testing, though you’re being carefully observed throughout.
Our clinicians create comfortable, low-pressure environments for ADOS-2 administration, recognising that anxiety or sensory overwhelm can affect presentation.
Even without formal ADI-R administration, we conduct thorough clinical interviews exploring the full range of autism features, developmental history, current challenges and strengths, and functional impact across life domains.
They affect planning, organisation, cognitive flexibility, working memory and task initiation.
Following comprehensive assessment, we provide a detailed diagnostic report explaining our findings; confirming or ruling out autism diagnosis and, if applicable, specifying level of support needs; describing your specific autism profile including strengths and challenges; identifying comorbid conditions; discussing functional impact across different life domains; and recommending support, accommodations, and interventions.
We carefully explain results in clear, direct language, ensuring you understand your diagnosis and what it means for you.
helps you process the psychological and emotional impact of autism diagnosis and living as autistic person in neurotypical world. Many autistic people have experienced years of feeling different, wrong, or broken before receiving diagnosis. Therapy provides space to process these experiences, develop self-compassion, work through trauma from bullying, discrimination, or forced compliance training (like ABA), address comorbid mental health conditions, and build psychological resilience.
view autism as difference rather than deficit. Traditional autism interventions often focused on making autistic people appear more "normal," suppressing natural autistic behaviors and forcing neurotypical social behavior. Neurodiversity-affirming approaches honor your autism, supporting you in being authentically yourself while developing skills and strategies that serve your goals and values rather than others' expectations.
focuses on building life skills that account for autism-related challenges. This isn't about forcing you to do things the neurotypical way - it's about finding approaches that work for your autistic brain.
doesn't aim to make you less autistic. Instead, we help you understand neurotypical social rules when you want to navigate neurotypical spaces, make informed choices about masking and when it's worth the energy cost, develop authentic communication styles honouring your natural inclinations, and find community with people who appreciate you as you are.
help you identify your sensory profile, create sensory-friendly environments, develop strategies for managing sensory overwhelm, use sensory tools and accommodations that support regulation, and advocate for sensory needs in various settings.
addresses planning and organization challenges, time management difficulties, task initiation and completion strategies, creating systems and routines that work with autistic thinking, and using accommodations and assistive technology.
empower you to understand your rights under disability law, request appropriate accommodations at work or school, communicate about your autism and needs, educate others about autism respectfully, and advocate for yourself effectively in various contexts.
Autism affects families as well as individuals — and the ripple effects of a diagnosis, whether of a child or an adult, touch every significant relationship. We offer family therapy and parent support to help families develop a genuinely affirming understanding of autism — moving away from deficit-focused frameworks towards one that recognises the autistic family member as whole, capable, and worthy of a support environment that works for them. For partners of late-diagnosed autistic adults, therapeutic support can help both parties navigate the relational recalibration that often follows diagnosis.
There are several reasons why clients consistently choose our practice for their autism assessment, and why our reviews reflect the quality of the experience as much as the clinical rigour of the process.
Ready to begin your autism assessment journey?
No GP referral needed. Appointments available within days. Harley Street clinic — and online for initial consultations.
Should you feel that your first session did not meet your expectations or that your therapist wasn’t a good fit, we will provide another session completely free of charge with a different practitioner.
We are proud to work in partnership with major UK and global insurers, as an approved mental health provider, supporting various clients in their therapy journey around the globe.
