07956809454
KENT AUTISM ASSESSMENTS LTD
Providing assessments and diagnosis of Autism in children and young people in Kent
MEET THE TEAM
We are a group of professionals working together to help support children and families.
Our people are at the core of what makes the Kent Autism Assessment such a unique and fulfilling place to work. We’re proud of the diversity of our staff, with each member contributing their unique skills to the projects we’re working on. Find out more about our team members below.
DR. JOSHUA NICE
Clinical Psychologist
Josh has always had a passion for helping to support children, young people and their families with neurodevelopmental and mental health problems. He enjoys working with an enormous diversity of children and young people with a range of presenting problems.
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The most important principle in Josh's work is being sensitive and compassionate to children and their families needs.
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Josh is trained in both the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule -2nd edition (ADOS-2) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) which are considered the ‘gold standard’ in Autism Spectrum Assessment. He is also trained in carrying out ADHD and Cognitive assessments. He is involved in autism research at the University of Kent.
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Josh trained as a Clinical Psychologist between 2010-2013 at The University of Surrey. Subsequently he has worked in a range of NHS services including 6 1/2 years in Child Health completing hundreds of autism assessments, CAMHS working with children and families with mental health problems and the Emotional Well-being team working with children and families in school based services.
TARA MCDERMOTT
Speech and Language Therapist
Tara qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in 2013 from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Since then, Tara enjoyed a rich career in the NHS, abroad and in HSCNI supporting children, young people and professionals in understanding and developing speech, language and communication skills. Tara is passionate about supporting neuro-diverse children, young people and adults and completed ADOS, Earlybird, Cygnet and Gestalt Language training. She regularly delivers training to adults, parents and families with an Autism diagnosis. Tara is a member of the HCPC, RCSLT and ASLTIP. She is a fully licensed SLT.
ROSEMARY POWELL
Specialist Clinical Nurse
Rosemary trained as a Mental Health Nurse between 2000 – 2003 at Canterbury Christchurch University in Kent. Since this time, she has worked within the NHS gaining a wealth of skills and experience from a variety of settings including Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS), Adult Mental Health, Early Intervention in Psychosis and Mother and Infant Mental Health Services. Her work has involved assessment and therapeutic work for conditions including Anxiety, Autism, ADHD, Depression, Behaviours that challenge and Psychosis. Rosemary has worked individually with children, young people and adults and has also worked systemically with families and has also provided mental health consultation, advise and training to other agencies such as Social Care, GP’s, Police and Education.
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Rosemary currently works with the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Service (NHS) and is part of a multidisciplinary team, working alongside Clinical Psychologists, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists and Speech and Language Therapists, completing “Gold Standard” Autism Assessments. Rosemary is trained in both the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule -2nd edition (ADOS-2) and the 3Di (Parent Interview) and has completed many of these assessments since 2018.
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Rosemary is passionate about providing children, young people and their families high quality care, that is sensitive, compassionate and neuro affirmative. She has completed The National Autism Trainer Programme (NATP) with the Anna Freud Centre, London which is co-designed and facilitated with Autistic people, promoting experience sensitive, trauma informed approach.
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Rosemary is a Registered Nurse in Mental Health with registration from the Nursing and Midwifery Council since 2003. ​
DR NICKY WOOD
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Nicky is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist working in child health services in the NHS, and also in private practice. She has worked in Kent for 18 years; before that she was employed in several different clinical and research roles in London including at the Evelina Children’s Hospital. Nicky completed her undergraduate degree in psychology and philosophy in 1991 and went on to postgraduate study at both University College London and the University of Leicester.
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Nicky has worked with neurodiverse children and young people since qualifying as a clinical psychologist in the 1990s. She is very experienced in autism diagnosis across the age range and fully trained to use diagnostic tools such as ADOS-2 and ADI-R. She has postgraduate specialist training in neuropsychology, as well as a range of psychological therapies.
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Nicky supervises and manages others as part of her NHS role, and has regular training and supervision to maintain the quality of her work. She holds an honorary lectureship at the University of Kent and regularly teaches and trains students, as well as psychological and other practitioners. Nicky has HCPC registration.
Nicky can offer autism, ADHD and intellectual disability assessments to children and young people. She is mindful that the process of assessment can be stressful and challenging for families, and tries to make the process as relaxed and comfortable as possible, whilst maintaining high standards of professionalism. She aims to work in partnership with families and to be as clear as possible about the process of assessment, and how together we reach conclusions about diagnosis. She always aims to answer the questions that are important to individual families, and to provide information and advice to enable children and young people to reach their full potential.
CAROLINE BABER
Highly Specialised Speech and Language Therapist
Caroline qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in 1992 from Manchester Metropolitan University and returned home to Kent to begin her career. She has worked with children with speech, language and communication needs for over 30 years in East Kent. Working within mainstream and specialist provisions, she soon developed a passion for identifying and supporting autistic children across all abilities and across all age ranges.
Caroline has extensive experience of working within Community Child Health and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services as part of their Neurodevelopmental Teams, working across the age range from pre-schoolers into adulthood. She is trained and highly experienced in the gold standard autism diagnostic tools such as ADOS-2 and 3Di and offers training and supervision to others working in the field, as well as attending supervision to maintain her own clinical practice.
Her goal when exploring possible autism, is to understand areas of interest, skill and personal aspiration, as well as identifying any barriers that may be impacting on everyday life. Her focus is to see things from the child or young person’s point of view and considers it a privilege to be allowed insight into the thinking preferences of each and every person she has the honour of meeting.
Caroline works part time for the NHS and also works as an Independent Practitioner. She is a licensed member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy and is registered with the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC).
DR. CHRIS MARSHALL
Senior Clinical Psychologist
Chris currently works in the NHS in a community Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in West London. His work involves assessment and treatment of a wide range of psychological difficulties that can affect children between the ages of 5 and 18 and their families. These include the different types of anxiety, depression, self-harm and issues relating to problems with emotional regulation.
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Chris received training in both the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule - 2nd edition (ADOS-II) and the 3Di (Parent Assessment) several years ago. He uses these gold standard assessments of autism in his practice.
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Chris has recently started work as a Principal Clinical Psychologist in West London. Before this he worked as a Principal Clinical Psychologist in Richmond CAMHS and the neurodevelopmental (ASD & ADHD) service in South West London. He also has several years’ experience supporting Looked after Children, their foster carers and the network of services supporting them.
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​For the past 18 months (2022-2023), Chris worked as Course Director for an MSc in Clinical Associate Psychology at Royal Holloway University London. This role involved teaching Psychology graduates about a range of mental health presentations in children and young people and their treatment. A significant part of teaching involved familiarising students with ASD and ADHD
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Joshua and Chris both trained on the Clinical Psychology Doctorate at The University of Surrey between 2010 and 2013. Before training as a Clinical Psychologist, Chris worked for eight years as a youth worker in a Pupil Referral Unit (school for children permanently excluded from main stream education) and local CAMHS service. While he worked as a youth worker, he completed a Masters course in Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Reading.
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DR. CHRIS CLARKE
Educational Psychologist
Chris graduated with a doctoral in Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychology from the Institute of Education, University College London in 2012. After completing his doctorate, Chris worked at Kent County Council as an Educational Psychologist. In this role, Chris was part of the crisis co-ordinators group managing resources for schools who experienced a critical incident. This role also required support the Local Inclusion Forum Teams, completing the psychological advice for Education, Health and Care needs assessments, and working with schools and other professionals to support young people in schools.
Chris left Kent County Council in 2018 and started working for a large multi-academy trust covering the south and east of Kent. In this role, Chris is responsible for designing and delivering a mental health strategy for all young people, as well as working with the SENCOs to ensure children’s needs are identified and being supported through targeted strategies and interventions. Chris is seconded one day a week to the Institute of Education, University College London where he teaches lectures on research methods, statistics, and supervises doctoral research projects. He has published in a range of academic journals. Chris is a values-led psychologist, working with schools to teach children inclusively and with compassion and to support their developing social, academic and overall well-being.
JODIE HERBERT
Speech and Language Therapist
Jodie qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in 2019 from City University, London. Jodie works part-time for the NHS and has considerable experience working with pre-school children and families, supporting them through the Autism diagnosis pathway. Jodie has also worked within Specialist Resource Provisions, supporting young people to develop their speech, language and communication skills in both Primary and Secondary settings. Jodie's current job role within the NHS involves working as part of a multidisciplinary team alongside Developmental Paediatricians, and is trained to deliver the Autism Diagnosis Observation Scedule-2nd Edition (ADOS-2).
Jodie is passionate about empowering neuro-diverse children and their families to be able to expand their knowledge and skills and be able to communicate in both a meaningful and enjoyable way using a range of therapeutic techniques.