Children and Young People's Neurodevelopmental Pathway

Warrington’s Neurodevelopmental Pathway

Warrington’s Neurodevelopmental Pathway has been put in place for children and young people with neurodevelopmental or neurodisabling difficulties, who require an assessment to gain a better understanding of their needs.

What are neurodevelopmental disorders?

Neurodevelopmental disorders affect the functioning of the brain responsible for a child’s communication, social interaction and attention skills. This might include conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

What are neurodisabling conditions?

Neurodisabling conditions affect the physical and sometimes learning abilities of a child. This might include conditions such as cerebral palsy and other medical and genetic conditions.

Who we will assess:

We assess and support children and young people with a wide range of needs such as:

  • Delays in development
  • Physical, vision and hearing impairments
  • Social interaction and communication issues (includes Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD))
  • Attention / hyperactivity difficulties (includes Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)).
  • Coordination difficulties (include developmental coordination disorder (DCD)).

We would only start an ADHD assessment for children who are 6 years old or above.

Children should live in Warrington and have a Warrington GP.

Schools should follow the child’s local authority procedures for an assessment.

How to request an assessment?

If you are a parent or carer and are concerned about your child’s development, please discuss this with your nursery or school in the first instance. For very young children please discuss with your Health Visitor. They can make a referral to the team so that your concerns can be looked at by the appropriately qualified professionals.

Please do not approach your GP as the nursery, school or health professional involved are required to make the referral; this is so that the correct processes are in place and the referral contains all the information needed. It is important that both you and your referrer complete the information requested in the referral Form.

If your child is not attending a nursery or school then you will need to talk to your child’s Health Visitor (if they are under five years) to make the request for you.

If you are educating your child at home, then you will need to make the referral as your child’s primary educator. To get help to do this please contact the SEND IAS Service on 01925 442978.

If you are a professional, we will accept referrals from:

  • Settings/schools and allied health professionals. This includes Teachers, Health Visitors, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and CAMHS.
  • The best approach for a successful referral is for professional making the referral and parents to work together to complete the form.
  • If a child or young person is not in school or nursery then a referral will be accepted from the child’s health visitor.
  • We no longer accept referrals from GP’s. If you would like to refer a child, then please liaise with the school or the relevant health professional to make the referral.

What will happen in the assessment?

An accurate assessment of a child’s needs is likely to take a number of appointments over a period of months and may include one or more of the following staff:

- Community paediatrician

- Speech and language therapist

- Audiologist

- Physiotherapist

- Occupational therapist

- Orthoptist.

Speech and language therapy assessments are vital part of the pathway, particularly if the concern relates to your child social interaction / communication and so it is important that any appointments are attended otherwise this may hold up the assessment process.

Some children with additional learning needs may have been referred by your child’s nursery or school for Educational Psychology advice. For these children, an Educational Psychologist will be part of the Multidisciplinary Team Meeting to discuss the outcome of the assessment.

After the assessment

Following the assessments you will be sent a written report about what we found from our assessments. Where indicated we will provide a plan /advice and/or a programme of activities for you to complete with your child at home. In some cases, additional advice will be given to your child’s nursery / school.

Sometimes children's difficulties do fit a particular pattern and are causing a significant difficulty and a diagnosis can be given after all the assessments have been completed.

If a diagnosis is not made following the completion of the assessment, your child will be discharged from the pathway. Your family will still be able to access help and support even without a diagnosis – this can be accessed from ADDvanced solutions and involved health professionals e.g. speech therapy, if your child continues to need this.

To get help and support

Warrington Parents and Carers Forum

http://www.warringtonparentsandcarers.org

ADDvanced Solutions

01925 320860

https://www.addvancedsolutions.co.uk/contact

SEND IAS Service

01925 442978

www.warringtonsendiass.co.uk

Contact us:

bchft.ndpwarringtonenquiries@nhs.net