Jessica is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist and accredited Clinical Supervisor with wide experience of working with young people and families and a particular interest in the assessment and diagnosis of Autism and ADHD. She embarked on work in mental health and Autism soon after qualifying and along with pre-qualifying placements, has worked in the area of neurodevelopmental assessment for over 10 years gaining experience in wide-ranging sectors. She has a particular interest in how neurodivergence presents in girls and women and is committed to developing an approach to neurodevelopmental diagnostic assessment that is neuro-affirmative and that promotes a positive neurodivergent identity.
In 2018 Jessica co-founded the Solihull Autism Assessment Service with fellow Clinical Psychologist, Dr Zoe McGovern, with the aim of offering independent neurodevelopmental assessments for children and adults across the West Midlands. This service has grown and developed over the last few years and now has a well-established multi-disciplinary team in place completing large numbers of assessments both locally and now nationally. In 2023 SAAS were approached by The Antser Group with a proposal to roll out the SAAS clinical model under the Autism & ADHD Assessment Hub, with Jessica and Zoe now leading on and directing the clinical operations of this new national service.
List of qualifications/training
Qualifications
- Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Birmingham
- Masters in Clinical Psychology Research from the University of Birmingham
- Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Warwick
Training
- Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2)
- Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI-R)
- Autism Clinical Interview for Adults (ACIA)
- ADHD Child Evaluation (ACE and ACE+ for adults)
If you could pick one fictional character from a book, movie, or TV show to work with, who would it be and why?
So many great influential icons over time appear to have been neurodivergent in a time before this was acknowledged and it would be a great pleasure to assess some of these and gain further insight into the way their minds worked. Einstein, Isaac Newton, Leonardo da Vinci and Hans Christian Andersen being four of these.
If you could give one piece of advice, what would it be?
Don’t assume you can’t do something; it’s simply a matter of equipping yourself with what you need to achieve it!a