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Your first appointment

At your first appointment, we will ask you some questions about your child or young person and your family. This is to get a better understanding of your child's development and the reason for your concern.

We will also ask you for some background information. This will include birth details, any health issues, your child's general development and family history.

If the child is young, the child will be able to play while we talk. If they are older, we may talk to them about what they think their difficulty is, if any.

Assessment

To assess your child’s skills, we will use one or more of many different methods. This may include for example observing your child:

  • playing with toys
  • looking at pictures, or
  • doing physical activities.

We may also talk to your child's nursery/playgroup, or school teacher, to get a clearer idea of how your child is functioning during the day.

Discussion

We will then discuss the findings with you and possibly with other professionals involved, for example preschool or school staff.  Part of this discussion will include describing what help your child needs and how this will be done.

A report will be written and, with your consent, sent to you, the person who referred your child and any other professionals involved, such as the school, health visitor or GP. The report will give our conclusions as well as advice and recommendations for supporting your child's development.