Dr Gloria Dura-Vila MD, MRCPsych, MSc, PhD
Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Autism and PDA Specialist
“We won our appeal to the LA and the assessment report from Dr Dura-Vila was referenced throughout the appeal and made a huge difference to the outcome.”
“I would just like to thank you so much for the assessment. You have changed my life completely.”
Human Brains Are Diverse and Equally Valuable
“I refer to the day you assessed my daughter as the most important day in her life. Since then remarkable progress has been made with her.”
Private personalised Autism (ASD), Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) and ADHD assessments
and consultations for all ages: early years, children, adolescents and adults.
*Private Autism (ASD) assessments for early years *Private Autism assessments for children
*Private Autism assessments for adolescents *Private Autism assessments for adults
*Private PDA assessments for children *Private PDA assessments for adolescents *Private PDA assessments for adults
Highly specialised consultations and assessments for Autism (ASD), including complex and atypical presentations such as Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), as well as ADHD, for all ages, carried out face-to-face with the option of being done remotely via Zoom also available.
Dr Dura-Vila personally conducts all the assessments with the child/young person/adult. She also gives the outcome of the assessment personally, answers any questions and writes all the recommendations and strategies in the report.
The personal touch is essential to her work.
Autism Spectrum Disorder and PDA
A renowned expert on all aspects of Autism whose expertise is in great demand both nationally and internationally, Dr Gloria Dura-Vila is also a prolific and established author in the field of Autism and PDA (with seven published books as well as many chapters and papers). She is an Autism Specialist who is passionate about providing personalised assessments for all ages. Her specialism lies with autistic children, young people and adults who present with particularly complex needs relating to co-occurring mental or physical health conditions, additional learning needs, and/or requiring significant levels of support or adaptation in daily life, such as Pathological Demand Avoidance, Gender Dysphoria, Selective Mutism and Eating Disorders amongst others.
Dr Dura-Vila is extremely committed to improving the standards of care and outcomes for autistic people, advancing research, providing training to professionals, and raising awareness. Besides her many clinical and academic commitments, a lot of her time is devoted to unpaid work with charities, national organisations and professional bodies.
Dr Dura-Vila will provide a very comprehensive and extensive multidisciplinary report co-signed by a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist from her team detailing the assessment findings. As she herself always says, ‘this is a report that will be with you for the rest of your life’; she takes great pains to make the report the best it can be, including extensive personalised recommendations, strategies and resources (educational, clinical, etc) for supporting with difficulties and fostering skills now and in the future. Her reports are very sought after as they are incredibly useful to guide the care, adaptations and interventions needed.
Vision
Dr Dura-Vila is a very passionate and deeply committed senior Consultant and Adolescent Psychiatrist who strives to do her very best for her patients and their families. She has been serving in the NHS for over 20 years. She is also a best-selling author in the field of Autism; her books are valued all over the world and her ‘My Autism Book: a Child’s Guide to their Autistic Spectrum Diagnosis’ has even been translated into Indonesian.
Dr Dura-Vila is a Senior NHS Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and the Medical Lead for the ASD pathway in Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. She specialises in complex and atypical presentations in ASD. In her private practice she has a national and international clientele offering the option of online consultations and, when appropriate, virtual assessments. She is often asked privately to conduct assessments by Local Authorities or the Courts. She is a highly-regarded professional, nationally and internationally in the field of Autism.
Dr Dura-Vila’s new clinic in West London is completely different from a conventional clinical space; it is very neurodiverse-friendly, relaxed and welcoming and is surrounded by beautiful nature as well as providing easy parking and excellent public transport links. She has taken care of every detail when decorating the clinic, from the soft sofas, to calming wall colours and art, from the vast collection of toys to suit almost all tastes, to the kitchen with snacks and drinks, and choosing a location to make your experience a very positive one for everyone, the person under assessment as well as those accompanying them. As the clinic is very close to nature, Dr Dura-Vila has assessed children and young people who were not able to be assessed indoors, outdoors, walking amongst trees and even feeding ducks on the pond.
Here you have Dr Dura-Vila reading her ‘Panda on PDA’ book as part of the Neuro Pride Festival 2023.
RECENT ACTIVITIES
These photos are from Dr Dura-Vila’s most recent Book Launch party which was a joyful celebration of neurodiversity attended by many children and their families.
Dr Dura-Vila with the book’s illustrator Rebecca Tatternoth