The 4 to 5 (School Aged) Multi-Disciplinary Assessment
What is it?
This is a school based assessment for a child who has been referred to the Telford or Shropshire Child Development Centre by their paediatrician, following concerns raised by parents/carers and professionals regarding their social communication and social interaction skills.
It is an assessment pathway for children who are between the age of 4-5 years, who are currently in school or will be in school at the time of their assessment.
The 4-5 school aged multidisciplinary team includes:
- The child’s Community Paediatrician
- Kirsty English (Allied Health Professional (AHP) lead / Speech & Language Therapist)
- Kerrie White and Lyndsey Peagam (Specialist Nursery Nurses)
- Professionals from the child’s setting
- Any other professionals involved in the child’s care, such as an Occupational Therapist, an Educational Psychologist, or a member of the Learning Support Advisory team.
What will happen?
We have created a video to explain what to except during your 4 - 5 assessment. Please click on this Link to access the video.
A member of the assessment team will contact parents and explain the assessment process. This key person will support the family during the assessment process.
The assessment itself will involve different professionals observing and assessing the child in school and other settings (as deemed necessary), as well as information gathering from family, school and other professionals working with the child.
During the assessment process, the following may take place:
A parental interview and/or information gathering with family members.
A school observation of the child in the classroom and playground, including a 1:1 interaction with the child and discussion with school staff.
The team will be looking at how the child:
- Uses their non-verbal communication skills when communicating and playing with others e.g., eye contact, facial expressions, and gestures.
- Has conversations with others.
- Uses and understands language.
- Initiates and responds to social interactions.
- Uses their imagination.
- It is also helpful to observe whether the child has any restrictive or repetitive behaviours, interests or language and any sensory preferences.
Information gathering regarding the child’s educational strengths and needs.
Informal and/or formal assessment of the child’s speech and language skills.
Additional assessment as deemed necessary, such as a standardised social communication and social interaction assessment with the child.
Following completion of the child’s assessment, the multidisciplinary team will hold a diagnostic outcome meeting. This outcome will be discussed with parents/carers and provided in a report with recommendations.
Support and Intervention
Based on the outcome of the child’s assessment, the family may be signposted to the following resources or referred to relevant workshops and programmes, delivered by the team of professionals at the Child Development Centre, or the Children’s Speech and Language therapy team:
Telford & Wrekin Children’s Autism Hub This service can offer support, guidance, and strategies, via videos, webinars, telephone conversations and workshops for families in Telford.
Autism West Midlands This service can offer advice, strategies, and resources for families in Shropshire.
Shropshire/Telford Early Bird Plus training programme This is a training programme aimed at supporting parents/carers and professionals to understand the child’s diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, and what strategies and support can be implemented at home and in the school setting to best support the child.
More Links and leaflets
Autism Central for Parents and Carers - Autism Central offers a wealth of resources for parents, carers and personal assistants of autistic people in England – from articles and learning materials to signposting you to services and support in your local area.
Current Waiting Time for the 4 to 5 assessment