What do you need help with: Neurodiversity
Neurodiversity means that brains naturally have differences and that’s ok. These differences should be respected and celebrated. Just like there’s no “normal” or “right” way to be a certain gender, race, or part of a culture, there’s no one “normal” way for brains to develop. It’s about understanding and appreciating the diverse ways people’s brains work.
Please note: The Neurodiversity Pathway is currently only offering autism assessment services. ADHD assessments can be accessed via referral from a GP to Paediatrics, or through our Mood, Emotions and Relationships (MERS) pathway where there is a co-occurring mental health need. Support for tics and Tourette’s syndrome can currently be accessed through The Mental Health Support Team in Schools (MHST) or MERS teams via referral form here. Information about ADHD and tics/Tourette’s syndrome is provided on this page for those who may find it helpful to access.
Assessments and support for Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, and Dyscalculia are not provided by the Neurodiversity pathway. We recommend that families speak with their child’s school and/or GP to explore appropriate assessment and referral options.
How to make a referral yourself
To make a referral you will need to download and fill in one or more forms and answer questions about what you need help with. Your answers will give our clinical specialists the essential information they need.
It helps if you can give us as much detailed information as possible, such as:
- how long the difficulties have lasted
- how they affect day-to-day life
- other relevant experiences
You may need to share information from a doctor, nurse, other healthcare professional, or school SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator).
Sending the form back to us
We’d prefer that you email the form back to us at cfhd.devonspa@nhs.net.
When you email us, please make sure:
- the documents you send are only in Word (.doc/.docx), PDF (.pdf) or JPEG (.jpeg/.jpg) formats
- each document is attached separately and is less than 3MB in size
- you don’t attach multiple single pages
- the email is less than 10MB in total
If this is tricky for you, you can print out the form, fill it in by hand, and post it back to us at: Single point of Access, 1a Capital Court, Sowton Industrial Estate, Exeter EX2 7FW