Dr Iris Rathwell

Iris is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and currently works with the national and specialist service for complex autism and neuro developmental disorders, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Her expertise is in autism with special clinical and academic interests in associated conditions with it such as epilepsy, additional psychiatric and neuropsychiatric disorders and psychopharmacological treatments.

Iris has expertise in specialist assessments of complex autism particularly when this is associated with additional neuropsychiatric or other mental disorders. She has also developed expertise in pharmacological management of psychiatric disorders and/or problem behaviours when they occur in the presence of autism, ADHD or other neuro developmental disorders.

Iris has extensive experience in developing clinical services for autism and related disorders internationally. She has been an expert with Autism Speaks in setting up services in the Balkan countries. She has contributed with her expertise and local knowledge to raising public awareness of autism and to the country developing a nationwide autism strategy. She was an international expert in the validation studies of gold standard screening and diagnostic tools as well as parent training programmes in a non-English speaking country carried out by the University of Connecticut (funded by Autism Speaks).

Iris leads a team that focuses on specialist assessments and management of challenging behaviours and complex presentations of autism, ADHD, learning disability and other brain related disorders. In October 2019, she was appointed Lead Clinician for the entire National and Specialist Outpatient CAMH services in SLAM.