About Umbrella

Directors of Umbrella Assessment & Therapy

Our Story

Frances and Katy started out working together in a national autism assessment team. They really enjoyed bringing their different professional skills and expertise together to support people through the autism assessment process in a meaningful and comprehensive way.

Frances and Katy soon realised that they loved each other’s approach, and admired each other’s commitment to working-hard and “going the extra mile” for individuals and families. They decided to set up their own friendly and accessible autism and ADHD assessment service “Umbrella Assessment & Therapy”. They hold the same values of being friendly, committed and flexible and have been excited to lay these as a foundation for their work with Umbrella.

Katy and Frances both live in Sheffield, and in their spare time they enjoy running and walking in the peak district (sometimes with an umbrella in hand!). Ginny the dog (see to the left) sometimes comes along too.

About Us

Dr Katy Atkinson-Jones

Director

Senior Clinical Psychologist

Qualifications:

First Class Honours in BSc Psychology. University of Cardiff.
Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. University of Oxford.

Key Experience:

I have worked as a psychologist in several specialist centres and services for autism, including Nottingham University Autism Research Team, Oxford Health Neurodevelopmental Service, and The Ryegate Children’s Centre.
I have worked in the community and hospital settings, including at Great Ormond Street, Oxford Children’s Hospital and Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
I have completed autism specific training (e.g. ADOS-2) and have learnt directly from people with autism and their families (e.g. through research and gathering feedback).

I have always been passionate about working with children and families, and since becoming a mother I understand more than ever the impact of receiving meaningful support at a helpful time. It is important to me that each person and family I work with finish our work together feeling listened to, valued and understood. For over a decade, I have worked with autistic children and adults to help bring meaningful change to their lives. Through my roles in different autism teams, I have developed specialist knowledge in learning disabilities, attachment, female autistic presentations and mental health and autism. I combine my specialist training and knowledge with my person-centred approach to understand each individual’s unique presentation and differences.

Frances Roberts

Director

Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Qualifications:

BA(hons) in English and Philosophy. University of Leeds.
MMedsci Clinical Communication Sciences. University of Sheffield

Key Experience:

I have worked as a speech and language therapist in a range of settings including the criminal justice system, specialist education provisions, mental health services, child development clinics and early years settings.
Since qualifying the majority of my work has focused around autism diagnosis for both children and adults.
I have completed autism specific training (e.g. ADOS-2) and am currently commissioned to deliver the national autism trainer programme to NHS staff across the country.

I have had the privilege of assessing over a thousand different autistic people, each of whom have been completely unique from one another. It gives me great pleasure to help people of all ages and their caregivers explore the strengths and challenges which come from having a brain which thinks in a different way to the majority. I have always loved working with children and young people. After completing an English degree I realised studying a masters in speech and language therapy was a way I could combine two of my passions. One of my first jobs out of university was working in a school for autistic pupils, and I loved spending time building relationships with the students. Every day I learned something new, from how to form a meaningful connection with a young person in distress, to a random fact about a subject I knew nothing about! For the last six years of my career I have worked in both adult and children’s diagnostic services. I feel passionate about offering assessments which considers the child from a curious, holistic perspective, exploring the joys which come with being neurodivergent as well as the challenges. Setting up Umbrella has allowed me to offer the thorough, person-centred approach which I believe every child deserves to help them understand themselves better. Through my assessments at Umbrella, I aim to help you and your child explore how their brain might work differently. I can provide suggestions of strategies, support and resources which are tailored to your child as an individual, enabling their support network to understand them better, and your child to thrive and be comfortable in who they are.

Our Associates

Dr Vicki Wingrove

Associate

Principal Clinical Psychologist

Qualifications:

BSc Psychology (Sheffield Hallam university)
MA Disability Studies (Sheffield University)
Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Teesside University
Post graduate certificate in Play therapy

Key experience

I have worked in neurodevelopmental assessment services for nearly twenty years and have worked in settings covering child development, disability and CAMHS
I am trained in a number of assessment tools (ADI-R, ADOS, QBtest, Midgas) and I am passionate about continued professional development.
I have special interests in different profiles in Autism and ADHD (such as gender differences and PDA) and I am passionate about reducing health inequalities in the access to mental health services for neurodivergent young people.
I work from a neuroaffirming stance, with a focus on identifying strengths and needs and providing holistic recommendation

Laura Wardle

Associate

Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Qualifications:

BSc Psychology- University of Leeds
MMedSci Clinical Communication Studies (Speech and Language Therapy) - University Of Sheffield

Key Experience

I have worked as a Speech and Language Therapist in several school settings and college setting, as well as working the NHS completing Autism Assessments for the past two years.
I have previously worked for the National Autistic Society and within a CAMHS setting.
I have completed ADOS-2 training, training in Selective Mutism, Demand Avoidance, Gestalt Language Processing and have learnt directly from working with autistic young people over the last 10 years (and continue to do so!)
Over the past 10 years I have spent time both working within education settings, mental health settings and assessment settings with autistic children and young people. I am passionate about working with children and young people, learning from them and improving their access to education.

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Dr Sophie Shapter

Associate

Senior Clinical Psychologist

Qualifications:

First Class Honors in BSc Psychology, Development and Developmental Disorders - Royal Holloway, University of London
MPhil in Psychology and Education - University of Cambridge
Doctorate in Clinical Psychology - University of East Anglia

Key Experience

Throughout my career, I have worked in several education and health care settings supporting young people with neurodevelopmental differences including Autism, ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia.
I have previously worked within the Oxford Health Neurodevelopmental Service where I developed and facilitated the post diagnostic psycho-educational workshops for parents and young people to help build their understanding of Autism and ADHD.
I have always been passionate about developmental disorders and have done multiple research projects focusing on autism and speech and language difficulties throughout my academic career.
I want to continue to support children, adults and their families to understand what Autism means for them and help every individual to achieve their full potential.

Laura Allen

Associate

Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Qualifications:

BMedSci (Speech Science) - University of Sheffield

Key Experience

I am a highly specialist Speech and Language Therapist with over 11 years experience working in the NHS. I have a broad range of experience working with children at home, Nursery, mainstream schools, integrated resources and special schools.
I have significant experience working with children and young people who are Neurodiverse, as this is where my passion lies. I enjoy supporting those who are Autistic and may have co-occuring differences such as ADHD, Developmental Language Disorder, trauma and mental health. I also work with children who have complex communication needs and Neurodisabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy, epilepsy, Down syndrome and genetic, acquired or degenerative conditions.
I am trained in ADOS-2 and have worked in various autism assessment teams, including the Child Development Centre, CAMHS and Ryegate. It is important that a child/young person is supported in a holistic way, especially when considering diagnoses such as Autism. I am Neuroaffirmative and trauma informed in my practice and therefore provide a safe and welcoming environment for Neurodivergent people.

Our Mission Statement

To enable people to thrive and feel comfortable in who they are by supporting them to understand their unique experience of difference or autism.

Our Values

Compassionate

Curious

Comfortable

Comprehensive

At umbrella we like consistency and predictability. That’s why we pride ourselves on our core values of “The Four C’s”. We want families to experience our service as:

Compassionate
Comfortable
Curious
Comprehensive

Starting the autism assessment journey can be a big decision. Big decisions often bring unpredictability and anxiety. We are compassionate and will listen to any worries you have.

The assessment process should be as comfortable for you and your child as possible. We will tailor the process to your needs, and will ensure your comfort every step of the way.

At every step of your journey, we will be curious about you and your child’s experiences. Curiosity helps us learn from your child and understand what it is like to see the world through their eyes.

Our assessments are comprehensive and meaningful to the families we work with. Combining our expertise with gold-standard assessment protocols enables us to go above and beyond for each family.