Child Autism for Hemel Hempstead and surrounding patients, conducted in person at our Bedford clinic (40 min via M1). NICE CG128-aligned, led personally by Tina Fox. £1,200, family-led in person at bedford. Typically 6–8 weeks from first call, next available soon.
Hello, I'm Tina. I'm the lead clinician at NeuroFX. At our CQC-registered clinic, we offer specialist autism and ADHD assessments for children aged six and over and adults.
So after booking an assessment with us online or in person, you'll then be invited to take part in the onboarding process, and that is for you to be able to tell your story. It will include physical and mental health history, and then after that, you'll be sent some additional screening tools, which can all be completed in digital format online. You can pause at any time, and you can do that in the comfort of your own home. This enables me to better understand your story and your individual needs before we meet.
Next is your ADHD assessment, which is either online or in the clinic, coming to talk to me face to face. The process does take about two to three hours. That'll give you a chance to hopefully feel relaxed in an environment where you can tell me about the impacts and difficulties and how these have affected you. This follows all NICE guidelines.
In some situations, I may be able to tell you the diagnosis on the same day that we meet. In other scenarios, I might have to perhaps gain some more evidence. You might need to talk to other people, employers, family, partners, school, university, for me to be able to get a really good idea of the evidence, perhaps that you can't see yourself, and might help towards that diagnosis. You'll be provided a diagnostic report, provided I have all of that evidence, within 14 days.
So wherever you are on your journey, all the information is available on our website. You could book a call to talk to our team. You can book online. You can also simply email us if you have any questions. We do have payment plans available to pay in three or four instalments. So we look forward to meeting you and working with you on your journey.
Tina Fox is Clinical Lead at NeuroFX. Every child autism assessment for Hemel Hempstead patients is led by her personally, alongside Cheyenne Contreras for ADOS-2. A short video introduction to who we are, why we do this, and what to expect.
Take a couple of minutes with it. The point of the video is to make the room feel less unfamiliar before you even book a conversation.
Autism rarely arrives alone. A few related neurodevelopmental pathways available to Hemel Hempstead patients.
Family-led NICE NG87 pathway. Young DIVA-5 plus SNAP-IV (parent and teacher), SDQ, RCADS and sleep screen. Outcome letter within 48 hours.
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Six-month family titration with weekly check-ins in month one, school SENCO loop-in at month five.
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NICE CG142-aligned ADOS-2 plus ADI-R autism assessment. In person at Bedford. Two structured sessions with MDT review and follow-up video call.
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Take the validated AQ-10 (adults) or ASSQ short (parents) self-screen in your browser. The short autism screeners NICE cites for first-pass screening. Not a diagnosis.
Take the screen
Child autism assessment uses the gold-standard ADOS-2 plus ADI-R protocol, family-led, in person at our Bedford clinic. NICE CG128-aligned for under-19s. Not available online because ADOS-2 requires direct observation.
Parent or carer referral. We discuss whether NeuroFX assessment is the right fit and what existing evidence would be useful (school, SENCO, previous reports).
Referral or phoneASSQ short (parent and teacher) plus a structured developmental history form. Allow up to 2 hours to complete carefully.
~2 hours · parent + teacherDetailed informant-led ADI-R interview with parents (child not present). Covers early development, social reciprocity, language and restricted/repetitive behaviour.
~2.5 hours · in person or videoA semi-structured ADOS-2 observation with Tina and our specialist ADOS-2 practitioner Cheyenne Contreras. Calibrated to your child's age and language level.
~1 hour · in person at BedfordInternal MDT review of all evidence. The diagnostic outcome comes to you in writing within 7 days, and if a follow-up video call would help, we arrange one to talk it through in a calmer setting than the assessment day.
Outcome within 7 daysNICE CG128-aligned written report including ADOS-2 and ADI-R findings, diagnostic formulation, recommendations, and SENCO/EHCP-ready clinical detail.
Within 14 days
Specialist Neurodevelopmental Practitioner & Independent Prescriber (NISP)
Every NeuroFX child autism assessment is conducted personally by Tina. 15 years of specialist mental health nursing experience and extensive neurodiversity specialist care, having conducted hundreds of ADHD and autism assessments. Tina is also an independent prescriber and an advanced specialist paediatric sleep practitioner. Assessments and prescribing follow NICE CG128 (autism in under-19s).
For Hemel Hempstead patients in particular, child autism is multidisciplinary by design. Tina leads your assessment and report; Cheyenne Contreras, NeuroFX's specialist ADOS-2 practitioner, co-conducts the ADOS-2 observation. After the session both clinicians attend the internal MDT case review before your follow-up video call. Meet Cheyenne on the About page →
Hemel Hempstead patients are seen in person at our Bedford clinic. This service is in-person only because it requires direct clinical observation or measurement that video cannot replicate.
Bedford Consulting Rooms on Goldington Road is a calm, residential-style space, not a hospital. Pay and display car park immediately next door (1 minute walk). Central rail station 8 minutes walk.
You are served clinically by NHS Central East ICB. A private NeuroFX assessment is typically 6 to 8 weeks (next available soon).
Hemel Hempstead families navigating an autism or ADHD assessment usually start within West Hertfordshire's NHS pathway: children are seen by Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust, whose clinics include the Marlowes Health and Wellbeing Centre in the centre of town, which also hosts community CAMHS and the autism-focused PALMS team. Pressure on that pathway is visible locally, with new specialist provision opening at Brockswood Primary in Hemel from September 2025 (up to 12 places for communication, speech, language and autism needs) and £4.242m allocated to expand three county SEND schools including Woodfield in Hemel.
As local NHS news, from 1 April 2026 the area's commissioning moved to the new NHS Central East Integrated Care Board, serving 3.5 million people across Bedfordshire, Luton, Milton Keynes, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, though where families attend appointments has not changed. A private NeuroFX assessment can sit alongside this NHS provision rather than replacing it; any move to shared-care prescribing afterwards remains at the GP's sole discretion, so it is worth speaking to the GP before booking if shared care matters to you.
Adult autism services commissioned via this ICB. Right to Choose is available to some patients in this area.
Figures reflect the trust's own published service page at time of last review. Re-check before relying on it for any decision.
Autism has no NICE-recommended pharmacological treatment, so the conversations after diagnosis are different to ADHD. Here is what to expect for Hemel Hempstead patients.
Right to Choose lets eligible patients pick any NHS-contracted provider. For autism specifically, the list of RTC providers is shorter than for ADHD, and most published waits are still measured in years.
NeuroFX is a fully private autism assessment outside the RTC framework. We can be quicker (typically 6 to 8 weeks), but you pay the fee directly.
There is no NICE-recommended pharmacological treatment for autism itself. After diagnosis we focus on:
Onward signposting: Hemel Hempstead community autism services, the National Autistic Society's local peer network, and any free workshops or peer-led groups in the area.
Workplace and study evidence: Your report is designed for DSA applications and Equality Act 2010 reasonable adjustment requests.
Co-occurring conditions: If ADHD is also suspected, we book a separate adult ADHD assessment, which can be added at the £950 top-up rate.
Read our autism pathway →
Hemel Hempstead is one of the postwar new towns, but one that came with a genuine historic settlement already attached -- a medieval town that predated the expansion by centuries and gives the place a more layered character than its new town siblings. The Watergardens in the town centre are a genuinely pleasant surprise, a modernist landscape of water channels and planting that has aged rather well. The surrounding countryside is excellent: the Chiltern Hills rise just to the south, and Ashridge Estate offers some of the best beech woodland walking in England.
Hemel Hempstead is also home to the Warner Bros. Studios at Leavesden, which brings a steady stream of visitors to what is otherwise a quietly self-contained place.
This page is for Hemel Hempstead, St Albans, Watford, Berkhamsted, Tring, Harpenden, Boxmoor, Kings Langley, Abbots Langley and surrounding villages.Schools, universities, employers and parent-carer networks in the Hemel Hempstead area all have routes you can use, some free, all helpful while you wait or after a diagnosis.
For children and young people in this area, the LEA is Hertfordshire County Council. Your child's SENCO is the right first call about how a private assessment is used in an EHCP application or annual review.
Our reports are designed to support DSA applications and Equality Act 2010 reasonable-adjustment requests at universities, colleges and employers in the area.
National organisations that are well-researched, neurodiversity-affirming, and free at the point of access. We recommend them whether you're a NeuroFX patient or not.
Specific service variants for Hemel Hempstead patients. Same clinic, same clinician, different pathway.
Anything not here? See our full FAQ page or just call us.
School support for autistic children in England: SEN Support versus an EHCP, adjustments under the Equality Act, and what to do when help is thin.
What an adult or paediatric autism assessment involves: the structure, the ADOS-2 and ADI-R, what the clinician asks about, and what happens after.
Adult ADHD assessment uses rating scales, checklists and a detailed history: what these tools do, what they cannot do, and how diagnosis really works.
Nearby towns with their own NeuroFX assessment page, same Bedford clinic, same fee, same NICE-aligned pathway.
Book direct, send a referral, or call the clinic during office hours. We come back to every referral within one working day. No pressure, no obligation.
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