Gabadoo Limited
We understand that plans change, children become unwell and unexpected circumstances arise. We aim to take a fair and flexible approach to cancellations while also protecting appointment time that has been specifically reserved for a family, school or organisation.
Our therapists have limited availability, and appointments cancelled at short notice often cannot be offered to another family, school or organisation.
This policy applies to appointments and services provided by Gabadoo Limited, including clinic appointments, online consultations, assessments, school consultations, school visits, training and other booked professional services.
This includes clinic appointments, parent consultations, online appointments, intervention sessions and similar individual bookings.
Family appointments are generally paid for in advance.
Where possible, we ask for at least 24 hours' notice if an appointment needs to be cancelled or rescheduled.
Where a child or family cannot attend in person at short notice, including because of illness, we may offer the option of changing the appointment to an online session, where clinically appropriate. This may be with the child/young person, parent or caregiver depending on the purpose of the appointment.
We recognise that genuine emergencies and exceptional circumstances occur. Cancellation charges may therefore be waived or reduced at Gabadoo's discretion where appropriate.
We understand that school timetables can change unexpectedly.
For individual online school consultations:
Where possible, we will try to reschedule rather than apply a cancellation charge.
School visits, consultation days, autism class support, training days and similar services require a therapist to reserve a substantial part or all of their working day. Travel and preparation may also be involved.
We therefore ask for at least 3 working days' notice when cancelling or significantly changing these bookings.
Where possible, we may offer an alternative such as an online consultation, staff meeting, planning session or rescheduled service rather than allowing the reserved therapist time to go unused.
A €150 non-refundable deposit is required to secure an assessment appointment.
The deposit reserves the assessment time and may also contribute towards preparatory and administrative work associated with the assessment. The remaining assessment fee must be paid in accordance with the payment terms provided at booking.
If an assessment is cancelled or the family decides not to proceed, the €150 deposit is non-refundable.
Where an assessment is rescheduled with sufficient notice, Gabadoo may, at its discretion, transfer the deposit to the new appointment date.
Where an assessment is cancelled at short notice or the appointment is missed, additional cancellation charges may apply in accordance with this policy, particularly where clinical preparation, scoring, review of documentation or other professional work has already been completed.
Any additional charge will take account of the work already undertaken and/or clinical time that could not reasonably be reallocated.
Appointments generally cannot be extended beyond their scheduled finishing time where a family, school or participant arrives late.
The full appointment fee remains payable.
If a person is significantly late and there is insufficient time to provide the service safely or appropriately, the appointment may need to be treated as a missed appointment.
If Gabadoo or the allocated therapist needs to cancel an appointment, no cancellation charge will apply.
Where an appointment has already been paid for, the family, school or organisation will be offered a rescheduled appointment or a refund of the relevant appointment fee.
We will make reasonable efforts to offer an alternative appointment as soon as practicable.
Gabadoo is not responsible for consequential costs arising from a cancellation, such as substitute staff, travel arrangements or other expenses incurred by the client or organisation.
Families, schools and organisations should provide as much notice as possible by contacting Gabadoo through the contact details provided with their booking.
For unexpected or same-day cancellations, please contact us as soon as possible.
Where there are repeated late cancellations or missed appointments, Gabadoo may require payment in advance before further appointments or services are reserved.
Where repeated cancellations make it difficult to provide an effective service, we may discuss whether the current booking arrangement remains suitable.
The purpose of this policy is not to penalise families, schools or organisations for genuine difficulties. Cancellation charges recognise that therapist time has been specifically reserved and, at short notice, may not be possible to offer to somebody else.
Gabadoo will take individual circumstances into consideration and reserves reasonable discretion in applying cancellation charges where exceptional circumstances arise.
Last reviewed: October 2026