This page provides information about our Adult Neurodevelopmental Services.
For children and young people in Derby and southern Derbyshire, please visit our children's neurodevelopmental pathway section.
After a number of years working in partnership with Derbyshire Community Health Services, Derbyshire Healthcare now provides most Adult Neurodevelopmental Services across Derby and Derbyshire. The care you or your loved one receives will remain the same, and you will continue to be supported by the same professionals.
Our adult neurodevelopmental services include:
- Adult autism assessment
- A range of services for people with a learning disability - see our learning disabilities section.
Please note - we do not assess for ADHD in adults, nor do we provide medication monitoring or post-diagnostic support for ADHD in adults. Please contact your GP if you are seeking an assessment for ADHD, they can refer you for an assessment via the Right to Choose scheme.
Adult Autism assessment
Autistic people experience core difficulties which are common across the spectrum. These may include issues with:
- Social interaction
- Social communication
- Social imagination
- Sensory processing
Autistic people may have difficulty planning and organising their day, getting started on a task, doing more than one task at a time, moving between tasks or knowing what to do with their time.
Autistic people may also have a strong desire to stick to familiar activities and find change or unexpected situations difficult. They may have very strong interests and know a lot about one subject.
How may a diagnosis of autism help?
Receiving a diagnosis of autism can give individuals, their friends and family a better understanding of the person’s needs and abilities. It could also provide an alternative explanation to common misdiagnoses, such as personality disorder.
A diagnosis should enable individuals to access support so that they can manage the difficulties they experience.
It can also help individuals identify their unique strengths and abilities rather than seeing their differences as difficulties alone.
Derbyshire Adult Autism Assessment Service
The Adult Autism Assessment Service team provides diagnostic assessments for adults aged 18 years and over who are suspected of having autism, do not have a learning disability and have given their consent.
The service covers the whole of Derbyshire and occasionally people outside of the county if they lived in Derbyshire at the time they were initially referred.
For more information about the service offered, please see our information leaflet.
Enquiries
If you have any questions please contact:
- Telephone: 0300 1234574
- Email: dhcft.autism@nhs.net
The Derbyshire Autism Passport has been developed by a number of local organisations, in partnership with local people, to ensure that individuals living with Autism within Derbyshire are better supported.
The passport is designed to help autistic people to communicate their needs to doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals.
We encourage all those with a confirmed diagnosis of Autism to download and print one. Please complete it as fully as possible, and keep it with you to help you explain your communication, sensory and support needs.
- Download the Derbyshire Autism Passport from the Derbyshire Autism information and advice website
- Download the guide to completing the passport, also from the Derbyshire Autism information and advice website.
