CDC Assessment help!

[user1479211803]

Hello, I'm three weeks away from my DS 5 getting an assessment with the CDC at St Anns. I've got a few questions I was wondering if anyone could help with.

Firstly, what to expect? I can't find anything online and there's no info on the letter/questionnaire they sent us. Will it be a five hour thorough review/testing/assessment or are we going to be in and our in one hour? Will we get an indication during or after the assessment what they think? Will they be thorough in their examination or is it like visiting the GP - just a quick sort of once over which will end up frustrating me (trying to manage my expectations here!!)

Secondly, we need to apply for an in year transfer for school as my son attends a Steiner kindergarten which finishes next year. He'll be going into year two. Our local schools are very oversubscribed. Do you think I should wait for the outcome of the CDC assessment to go onto the waiting lists? Or will that outcome take a looong time to come through?

Any help GREATLY appreciated, thank you!

Depends why you have the referral. Generally they are multidisciplinary, led by the paediatric consultant but often its will have an OT, physio or SALT present too for about an hour, they may well refer on for more in depth investigations. They will be able to advise you regarding school etc. write a list of questions before you go as from experience it can be a bit overwhelming so you may forget. Good luck

Thanks for the response @candlestickcapers.

We've got the referral due to neurological processing concerns, memory issues, possible language disorder.

So depending on what they find within an hour we might be in and out within 60 minutes...? I'm assuming the process of assessment is thorough, but perhaps this is a great assumption...

Speaking entirely from personal experience, it is most likely you will see the paediatrician and even if there are others present they won't do thorough assessments there and then. My sons original speech and language assessment was split into at least three sessions for example, then they may recommend therapy, my son also had to go for several visits with OT for various assessments for motor skills and and perception .... It's not a short process in my experience. If your child has processing problems, some of it may be speech and language related but for more in depth investigation you might need an educational psychologist. This tends to come under the education/ school brief and tends to happen if your local authority agree to assess for an EHCP. Has your child's nursery suggested this? Certainly this is something to raise with the paediatrician when you see them as you will need to provide the authority with "evidence" in order for them to assess.