Inside voices: Insights on autism diagnosis

Join Fiona Young, speech Principal Educator in conversation with Claire Sommerville, Speech and language therapist within Forensic Mental Health and Learning Disabilities. Together, they delve into how the diagnostic process might work in a forensic inpatient setting. We hear how clinicians use the environment and activities available to usefully inform the process and how the diagnostic process and outcome can bring an understanding that can support both care and treatment and future planning for individuals.   

Content advisory statement. This podcast contains:

• Mental Health
• Inpatient forensic health care 

If this content may disturb you or those around you please reconsider listening or accessing the podcast transcript. 

Access a Transcript of the episode - Working in a Forensic Mental Health Inpatient Setting available on a Sway. 

Episode Resources and signposting

• Autism Spectrum Quotient-10 

• Allison, C., Auyeung, B., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2012).Toward brief "red flags" for autism screening: The short Autism Spectrum Quotient and the short Quantitative Checklist in 1,000 cases and 3,000 controls. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 51(2), 202-212. 

• DISCO (Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders) 

• Wing, L., & Gould, J. (2002).The Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders: A comprehensive assessment for autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 32(5), 249-263 

The information contained in this podcast is current at the point of publication, with no guarantee of future relevance. 

Feedback to us. Fill out our short Inside Voices: Insights on autism diagnosis feedback form to allow you to share your thoughts and suggest where we can go in the future with this podcast. Your feedback is very important to us, and we greatly appreciate your opinions and suggestions!

Guest speakers

Claire Sommerville

Claire Sommerville is an Advanced Speech and Language Therapist working within the Directorate of Forensic Mental Health and Learning Disabilities in Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Her role involves assessment and intervention for people with a range of communication, eating, drinking and swallowing needs within the in-patient service at both medium and low security. She is part of a multi-disciplinary group looking at neurodevelopmental assessment, support and service development within the Forensic Directorate and is passionate about neurodiversity, person-centred care and patient involvement.

 

Join Evie Blackadder and Nicole Elliott, speech and language therapy (SLT) students in conversation with Dr Andreas Paphiti, Clinical Psychologist with the Tayside Eating Disorders Service. Together, they delve into the complexities and considerations involved in diagnosing and supporting neurodiversity within an eating disorder population. Dr Paphiti shares his success stories and practical ideas, offering valuable insights into best practices in an eating disorder service.

Content advisory statement. This podcast contains:

• Discussion of eating disorders (Anorexia Nervosa), starvation and trauma experiences.
• It mentions social isolation, depression, neglect and abandonment 

If this content may disturb you or those around you please reconsider listening or accessing the podcast transcript.   

Access a transcript of the episode, Working in an eating disorder service available on a Sway. 

Episode Resources and signposting

• Beat Eating Disorders Charity page on Eating Disorders and Autism
• Norton, B., Sheen, J., Burns, L., Enticott, P. G., Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M., & Kirkovski, M. (2024). Overlap of eating disorders and neurodivergence: the role of inhibitory control. BMC Psychiatry 24, 454
• Duffy, F., Gillespie-Smith, K., Sharpe, H., Buchan, K., Nimbley, E., Maloney, E., Sader, M., Kettley, S., Kerr-Gaffney, J., Waiter, G., & Tchanturia, K. (2024). Eating disorder and autism collaborative project outline: Promoting eating disorder research embedded in a neurodiversity-affirming culture. BJPsych Bulletin, 1-6.
• Equip, Understanding autism and how it can affect eating disorders
• PEACE Pathway home page
• Hull, L., Mandy, W., Lai, M.-C., Baron-Cohen, S., Allison, C., Smith, P., & Petrides, K. v. (2019).  Development and Validation of the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49(3), 819–833. 
• Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition.  available at Pearson clinical.
• AQ-10 Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ).
• NAIT Early Neurodevelopmental History Questionnaire
• Embrace Autism RAADS-R 2022
• CRT Cognitive Remediation Therapy, an overview article on Science direct website
• Cognitive Remediation and Emotional Skills Training for Eating Disorders (CREST). (2019, March 1). Elysium Healthcare.
• Brighter lives beyond anorexia on MANTRA.

The information contained in this podcast is current at the point of publication, with no guarantee of future relevance.

Feedback to us. Fill out our short Inside Voices: Insights on autism diagnosis feedback form to allow you to share your thoughts and suggest where we can go in the future with this podcast. Your feedback is very important to us, and we greatly appreciate your opinions and suggestions!

Guest speakers 

Dr Andreas Paphiti 

Dr Andreas Paphiti is a Clinical Psychologist with the Tayside Eating Disorders Service which provides specialist treatment for adults with eating disorders. His role involves providing psychological assessment and therapy for those with eating disorders, as well as working with other co-existing mental health difficulties and neurodiversity. Beyond eating disorders, Dr Paphiti is interested in the intersections of psychological trauma and neurodiversity with eating disorders. He was involved in the development of the autism assessment and treatment pathway within the Tayside Eating Disorders Service, as well as the evaluation of how patients have experienced going through the pathway.

Evie Blackadder and Nicole Elliott explore autism diagnosis in inpatient mental health settings. The speech and language therapy (SLT) students are joined by Dr. Laura Sutherland, a Clinical Psychiatrist at the Young Person’s Unit in the North of Scotland. Together, they discuss how diagnosis impacts supports put in place for patients in this setting. Dr Sutherland shares her insights and expertise on how to best support neurodiverse individuals for clinicians working in these environments.

Content advisory statement. This podcast contains:

• Discussion of eating disorders and mental health and wellbeing concerns, specifically anxiety and depression. 
• It mentions physical restraint and psychotic illness  

If this content may disturb you or those around you please reconsider listening or accessing the podcast transcript. 

Access a transcript of the Working in an Mental Health Inpatient setting, available on a Sway. 

Episode Resources and signposting

• Kuriakose, S., Filton, B., Marr, M. et al. (2018). Does an Autism Spectrum Disorder Care Pathway Improve Care for Children and Adolescents with ASD in Inpatient Psychiatric Units?. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 48, 4082–4089.
• Kriegel, G., Paul, S., Leonard, K.H. et al. (2023). Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Inpatient Adolescent Psychiatric Population. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
• Jones, K., Gangadharan, S., Brigham, P., Smith, E., & Shankar, R. (2021). Current practice and adaptations being made for people with autism admitted to in-patient psychiatric services across the UK. BJPsych Open, 7(3), e102. DOI: 10.1192/ bjo.2021.58
• The DISCO - National Autistic Society
• Navigating the Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised (ADI-R) - Cortica
• ADOS overview, training and resource
• Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.
• PEACE Pathway
• SWAN Scottish Women’s Autism Network.
• Talking Mats. (2013). Talking Mats | Improving communication, improving lives.
• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2024). Find guidance
• Nation Autistic Society
• Scottish Autism

The information contained in this podcast is current at the point of publication, with no guarantee of future relevance.

Feedback to us. Fill out our short Inside Voices: Insights on autism diagnosis feedback form to allow you to share your thoughts and suggest where we can go in the future with this podcast. Your feedback is very important to us, and we greatly appreciate your opinions and suggestions!

Guest speakers 

Dr Laura Sutherland

Dr Laura Sutherland is a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist who works in the North of Scotland Young People’s Unit in Dundee. She advocates for the recognition of young people’s neurodivergent needs as part of their inpatient care as the proportion of young people admitted who are neurodivergent is high.

She has an interest in teaching and training of medical students and resident doctors. She works as a senior lecturer for the University of Dundee medical school and as Training Programme Director for core psychiatry training in the East of Scotland. Dr Sutherland is undertaking research into neurodiversity in medical students as part of a Masters in Medical Education.

Our introduction episode features the role of the autism diagnostic process and the importance of neurodiversity-centred practices in clinical care. Your hosts are Nicole Elliott and Evie Blackadder, Speech and Language therapy (SLT) students who are in conversation with Fiona Young, SLT and Educator. Fiona shares her expertise and offers insights for clinicians on how to support neurodivergent clients effectively. 

Content advisory statement. This podcast contains:

• Discussion of adverse childhood experiences and mental health and wellbeing concerns 
• It mentions childhood maltreatment, anxiety and depression along with eating disorders  

If this content may disturb you or those around you please reconsider listening or accessing the podcast transcript. 

Access a transcript of the Inside Voices: Insights into Autism Diagnosis podcast, available on a Sway. 

Episode Resources and signposting

• Gaddy, C., & Crow, H. (2023). A primer on neurodiversity-affirming speech and language services for autistic individuals. SIG 1 Language Learning and Education, 8(6).    
• ‘Identity-Affirming Approaches for Autistic Clients: Therapists Best Practice’ - Vauna Beauvais   
• Pritchard-Rowe, E., & Gibson, J. (2024). Professionals’ perspectives on neurodiversity-affirmative autism diagnostic assessment. Neurodiversity, 2.   
• Embracing Neurodiversity: My Journey from Diagnosis to Psychiatry Trainee blog resource

The information contained in this podcast is current at the point of publication, with no guarantee of future relevance. 

Feedback to us. Fill out our short Inside Voices: Insights on autism diagnosis feedback form to allow you to share your thoughts and suggest where we can go in the future with this podcast. Your feedback is very important to us, and we greatly appreciate your opinions and suggestions!

Guest speakers 

Fiona Young splits her working week between NHS  Tayside and NHS Education for Scotland.  Fiona is an Advanced Practitioner Speech and Language Therapist in Tayside Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services which involves working across various pathways in the service often supporting the assessment and understanding of neurodevelopmental profiles in children and young people.  Fiona is a Principal Educator in the NMAHP Mental Health and Wellbeing team at NES working with a range of partners to design and deliver education for the workforce around Neurodivergence.