Job Description

The Autism Diagnostic Youth Service for Suffolk (ADYSS) has a vacancy for a band 4, full-time Assistant Psychologist.



ADYSS is the NHS autism assessment service for 11- to 17-year-olds who are registered with a GP in Suffolk. The service is hosted by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) within the Specialist Services directorate. ADYSS is a part of the developing neurodevelopmental disorder pathway together with the U18 Children's ADHD Service.



In ADYSS we have a multi-disciplinary team of psychologists, psychiatrist, occupational therapist and speech and language therapists. We offer a needs-led assessment model in which we work with other services to identify and understand a young person's special educational needs (SEN). This informs the recommendations that we make and our understanding of the young people that we see for assessments.



The role includes working alongside other members of the team in reviewing information and meeting with young people and their parents/carers in a variety of clinical appointments.



Assistant psychologists in the team work up to performing many aspects of their role independently, with their work discussed in a weekly clinical supervision session with a qualified psychologist in the team. There is also a weekly multi-disciplinary meeting where we discuss more complex assessments and lots of opportunities for informal discussion.



Assistant psychologists can develop their skills and experience in administering psychometric assessments such as the WISC-5 and ABAS.



Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.



Why work for us? We have challenges as a Trust, but we have ambitious aspirations, are pushing ahead with exciting transformation work and we need dedicated individuals to support us on our journey. We have strong, established professional networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.



Why Norfolk and Suffolk? The people here are warm and welcoming, you'll never be far from the beautiful coastline or Broads National Park. We're an hour and a half away from London and have an international airport in Norwich too. Our villages, towns and cities are packed full of history, independent cafes, shops and theatres. We have excellent shopping, eating out, top ranking schooling and affordable house prices too.



ADYSS has a main office in Stowmarket and work is split between there and clinical rooms in Ipswich. Members of the team are expected to travel to trust sites across Suffolk.



The role will require you to develop your skills in summarising clinical information, developing an evidence-based formulation, in making sense of a range of complex clinical data, in multi-disciplinary working, in speaking to young people and their parents/carers about autism and other conditions and difficulties.



The role will require you to develop your knowledge of typical childhood development, the functioning of families, mental health in children in young people and neurodevelopmental difficulties and conditions in children and young people.



The role involves assisting the team in its work through processes such as monitoring and evaluating data relating to the work, in making recommendations and referrals to other services, and safeguarding referrals when needed.



We are looking for an organised candidate with good communication skills. Experience in working with people with neurodevelopmental difficulties is desirable.