Social Communication and Autism Assessment Service
The Social Communication and Autism Assessment Service (SCAAS) is hosted within Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust. SCAAS is a multi-agency team comprising of Clinical Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists, Community Paediatricians and an Occupational Therapist who work closely with Education colleagues to assess children under the age of 11 for autism. SCAAS has replaced the pre-school Social Communication (SCOM) Pathway and school aged (5-11) diagnostic pathway within Gloucestershire Hospital's Paediatric Service. Children and young people over the age of 11 will continue to be assessed by the CAMHS Neurodiversity Team.
Referrals into SCAAS, for children under 11 years old, can be made by any Health, Education or Social Care professional working with the child or young person. There is no longer a requirement for an assessment by an Educational Psychologist or Advisory Teacher prior to the referral (although this may be requested at a later date, if required). Before a referral is made for an assessment a Team Around the Child (TAC) meeting should be arranged to bring professionals together to explore the child’s needs. Support should then be put in place via the Gloucestershire Graduated Pathway (My Plan, My Plan Plus) prior to an autism assessment being undertaken. A diagnosis of autism is not required in order to access support via the Gloucestershire Graduated Pathway.
Please be aware that due to very high levels of demand, there is a long wait for an autism assessment.
For children under 11 to refer to SCAAS, a professional will need to Assessment Referral Form">complete the Referral Form and send this to SCAAS SCAASNeuroReferrals@ghc.nhs.uk with the completed the Family Information Form. SCAAS will also require the following supporting information with the referral for it to be considered:
- MyPlan/MyPlan+ or EHCP (or equivalent). All children and young people should have a plan of support in place prior to referral for an assessment
- SENCO/Teacher reports if in a setting
- Therapy reports (if involved)
- Reports from Educational Psychology/Advisory Teaching Service (if available)
Please see the joint SCAAS and CAMHS Neurodiversity Team webpage https://www.ghc.nhs.uk/our-teams-and-services/children-and-young-people/camhs/scaas/ for more information.