Children do finish, and we make a party of it
Families often arrive assuming a developmental difficulty means a lifetime of appointments. It is the question behind most first phone calls, even when nobody asks it out loud: does this ever end? For many children it does, and when it does we mark it.
What being discharged means
The aim is for a child to need us less, not more.
A child is discharged when their profile has changed, the strategies are working at home and at school, and the family no longer needs a clinician beside them. The plan has done its job. The child goes on with ordinary life — school, friends, a family who know what helps.
It does not mean a child has stopped being autistic, or epileptic, or dyslexic. It means that what they needed from us, they have had. Those are different things, and we would rather be clear about which one we mean.
It is also not a door closing. Some families finish and come back for a review when school changes or something new appears, and that is a normal part of it rather than a failure.
A Happy Discharge
When a child finishes at one of our centres, the team throws them a party. A flower-petal welcome at the door. A cake. Dancing, usually. A poster the staff make themselves, which reads: you are brave, strong and so special.
It is not for the website. It is because a family who has spent months working at something deserves to be told, in a room full of people, that it worked — and because the children who come after them should see that finishing is a thing that happens here.
One family, in their own words
A girl came to our Raebareli centre having difficulty with speech and understanding. Her parents had tried other treatment before finding us, and it had not brought the change they hoped for. She was assessed, given a plan built around her own profile rather than a standard package, and her family did the work at home between visits.
Her father, at her discharge, said the change in her communication and understanding had been substantial — and that the part people underestimate is the parents' own role, which his family had committed to and would keep going with at home.
We have not put a number on his daughter's progress here. He gave one, as a father describing his own child, and it is his to give rather than ours to publish as a result.
What we are not claiming
Not every child reaches discharge, and we will not pretend otherwise. Some children need support for years. Some need a different service than ours, and we will say so rather than keep them. Some conditions are lifelong, and the work is about a good life with them rather than without them.
We are also not going to tell you what proportion of our children finish. We have only recently started recording the reason behind every discharge in a way that can be counted honestly, and until those numbers mean something, quoting one would be worth less than saying nothing. When they do, they will appear here.
Talk to us about your child
An assessment starts with a conversation. Tell us what you have noticed and we will explain what would help.
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This page explains how we work and is general information for parents. It is not a diagnosis, and it is not a substitute for advice about your own child. For guidance specific to your child, book an assessment. In an emergency, contact your local emergency services.