Neurodevelopment Service
Who does the Neurodevelopment Service support?
The neurodevelopmental (ND) service provides multidisciplinary assessment, information, and advice for neurodivergent children and young people and their families in Powys. The team currently offer assessment to children and young people up to the age of 18 years old, where there are concerns regarding possible autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
As a service we work closely with our colleagues in health and education to find out about different areas of the child/young person’s life. Neurodevelopmental disorders describe differences in the way the brain and nervous system develop. This means that neurodivergent children and young people experience, think about, and interact with the world differently.
Opening hours
The ND Service core operating hours are 9:00am until 17:00pm Monday to Friday.
A referral can be made when there are concerns about a child or young person’s:
- social communication and social interaction
- repetitive behaviour/ imagination/ play
- sensory differences
and /or - attention
- activity levels
- impulsivity
These differences must be present in more than one place and there must be some evidence from early childhood. It must have a functional impact on the child or young person’s everyday life.
How to refer:
- For children attending school, the recommended route for referral is via the Pupil Inclusion Panel (PIP). The school additional learning needs co-ordinator (ALNCo) is the best person to discuss this with.
- Referrals are also made by a range of professionals including health visitors, speech and language therapists, paediatricians, CAMHS practitioners, youth intervention workers or family support workers.
- Referrals from GPs will be also considered where it is not possible for a referral to come via school or another professional who knows the child or young person better.
- Self-referrals are considered with strong supporting evidence.
A referral will be triaged by a member of the ND team who will consider all the information provided. With parent/carer consent we will look at information from other teams you are known to and pull this information together.
The referral may be accepted and placed on a waiting list for assessment. Sometimes we will request further screening tools or questionnaires to be filled out before the first appointment.
We may decline the referral if it is inappropriate or due to lack of evidence. We will send recommended actions and signposting in the case that we do not accept a referral.
Referral email: powysndreferrals@wales.nhs.uk
The ND service currently provides diagnostic assessments only.
The assessment pathway allows for children and young people to follow differing routes through the process. Some children will have joint appointments where we conclude the assessment the same day. Where this is not possible, there may be another appointment/s with different clinicians, at different times. This is dependent on several factors, for example, other service involvement prior to the assessment, complexity or if you need to meet a specific professional as part of the process, for example a paediatrician. We try to ensure that you do not have to duplicate information.
When we have concluded the assessment, we will feedback the outcome to you and also your child if appropriate. We will also offer an additional feedback session and feedback for school if you would like. You will receive a single page confirmation of diagnosis letter following your appointment and then a full report a few weeks later.
The ND service is a pan-Powys service, meaning the team covers the entire county of Powys. In our team there are nurses, speech therapists, occupational therapists, healthcare support workers and doctors. Team members work from several locations across Powys but the centralised contact details for the service are:
Neurodevelopment Service
Powys Teaching Health Board
Children’s Centre Annexe
Brecon Hospital
Cerrigochion Road
Brecon
Powys
LD3 7NS
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