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welcome to
the autism shed

The team here at the autism shed know from lived experience that coming for diagnosis can be a confusing, disorienting and upsetting time. The process can also be uplifting, freeing and empowering. We are here with the experience, expertise and empathy to make the process as positive as possible.

The British Psychological Society Guidelines (2021) advise that assessment, formulation and diagnosis are carried out using gold standard measures by a multi-disciplinary team.

Meet the Multi-Disciplinary Team

Georgie Bainbridge

Director
Chartered Psychologist
DCPsych CPsychol BPS
HCPC Registered
Psychotherapist UKCP
Relational Doctoral Research Supervisor

Claire Madeira

Lead Paediatric Autism
Highly Specialist Speech and Language Consultant

Jim Sharman

Autism Specialist Mentor
Inclusion Consultant

Carrie Overton

Neurodiversity Coach
SEN
Education Consultant

Our Philosophy

Our aim is to educate, empower and reduce stress in context – that might be with family, school or work. It is our philosophy that this is not done by fixing or treating the autistic person but supporting the person to understand themselves as fully as possible and providing information so that the context supports everyone to function to their fullest potential.

Pragmatic, useful and here as long as you need us

As a psychotherapist who has spent over fifty thousand hours working 1:1 with autistic people I understand that neurodevelopmental disorders have a profound impact on the autistic person and their family. Autism is not something that we view here as a superpower or a problem to be treated or fixed. We view autism pragmatically. There are areas that an autistic person will have strengths and other areas of life and relationships that will be challenging. We are the first practice that incorporates education and workplace assessment into our core report, recommendations and plan.

Multi-disciplinary

Each autistic person is completely individual. It is important that there is a multi-disciplinary perspective offered throughout the assessment, reporting and support process. We collaborate and debate following our meeting in order to offer a thorough assessment and reporting process. Every person at the autism shed has worked with autism for many years and the majority of us have lived experience of autism in one way or another. We strive to know you as fully as possible and do not presume that our experience will be the same as yours.

Gold Standard Testing

Accurately diagnosing autism can be complex, which is why it is important to use tried and tested tools used by professionals who have a depth of knowledge in autism.

The Autism Diagnostic interview – Revised (ADI-R) is a systematic, organised, and structured interview used for the diagnosis of children, teenagers and adults with an autistic spectrum disorder. In assessing with ASD, ADI-R together with ADOS-2 is used as the Gold Standard.

The Autism Diagnosic Observation Schedule (ADOSII) is a semi-structured, standardised assessment of communication, social interaction and play. This tool can be used in the assessment and formulation process for toddlers to adults with varying degrees of language skill. These tools supplement the multidisciplinary evaluation approach along with evidence from family, school and work setting settings.

Autistic people should be assessed according to (DSM-V, British Psychological Society, 2021). Georgie and the team are active in research to ensure that our knowledge is at the cutting edge of autism research.

We are committed to providing a service for all. If you are not able to afford the service please do get in touch. We believe that assessment, education and support should be for all. Our teaching, supervision and writing supports knowledge sharing – please get in touch if you would like us to produce one of our bespoke training packages fro your school or organisation.