Appointment Preparation Organiser

Anything written by someone else — school reports, nursery notes, letters — plus your own dated record and a written list of what you want from the appointment. The written list matters most: appointments are short and it is very easy to leave having described everything except the reason you came.

It depends on the appointment and the child, and the service will usually say. Where they are present, agreeing beforehand what will and will not be said in front of them prevents the most common upset — a child hearing themselves described entirely in terms of problems.

Ask for the reason to be recorded in the notes, and ask what would need to change for a referral to be made. Both are reasonable requests, both are usually met, and a specific written answer is far more useful later than a general impression that nothing happened.