Our national clinic is one of the only services in the UK that is able to confidently diagnose Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Currently we are the only specialist adult assessment clinic in the UK.

We specialise in assessing children and adults with suspected FASD and making recommendations to support their care management to prevent them from developing secondary conditions such as mental illness, disrupted school experiences, social exclusion, and drug and alcohol problems. We will provide a comprehensive multidisciplinary report and management plan on each case we see. This is compliant with the last three quality standards as described by NICE.

The service is led by Professor Raja Mukherjee, a consultant psychiatrist and internationally acclaimed expert in FASD

We have seen over 250 complex cases of FASD and so have the experience and knowledge to recognise the subtle deficits seen with this condition. This allows us to make the diagnosis of FASD With or Without Sentinel Facial Features, and if this is not possible, we will advise what the appropriate diagnostic formulation should be.

We diagnose FASD by using a multidisciplinary assessment to identify, understand and evaluate factors such as neglect, prematurity, genetic disorders, pregnancy related issues and the use of drugs during pregnancy. Our assessments provide indicators of verbal function, confabulation (disturbance of memory) and medium-term memory which may not be established in other testing.

We are experienced at recognising, diagnosing, and understanding the causes of other complex neurodevelopmental and genetic conditions including Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Intellectual Disability, Language Disorder and Fragile X syndrome.

ASD and ADHD occur frequently in those exposed to prenatal alcohol and therefore these form a core part of our assessment. No single approach is used; we evaluate observational and historical information as well as screening tests.

We have published research in these areas, particularly on the relationship between FASD and autism.