What should I look for when considering an Autism evaluation for my child?
How are Autism assessments conducted at the Autism Assessment and Treatment Center?
What if my child undergoes Autism testing and it turns out to be something else?
What age ranges do you provide evaluations for?
What should I look for when considering an Autism evaluation for my child?
Various professionals diagnose Autism Spectrum Disorders at mental health facilities. You may see a psychologist, a physician, a licensed professional counselor, a licensed clinical social worker, or an intern in any of these fields. It is important when scheduling an appointment to inquire about what type of professional your child will be meeting with and what their qualifications are for diagnosing autism spectrum disorders.
You will also want to gain information regarding how the clinician conducts the diagnostic evaluation and what measures will be used. Some clinicians will make a diagnosis after a clinical interview without using any autism diagnostic measure and some clinicians conduct more in depth autism testing.
How are Autism assessments conducted at the Autism Assessment and Treatment Center?
At the Autism Assessment and Treatment Center all diagnostic evaluations are conducted by a psychologist that is well experienced with Autism diagnostic evaluations. Prior to conducting an evaluation, telephone consultation is provided in order to ensure that your child is an appropriate candidate for autism testing based on the child’s symptoms.
Diagnostic evaluations take place over the course of three sessions, allowing us to gain a thorough understanding of your child. During the course of the autism testing, we administer the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, the Social Responsiveness Scale, the Sensory Profile, and a cognitive assessment. All of these measures are highly respected tools for evaluating for an Autism Spectrum Disorder. From this, an eight to ten page report is generated, detailing the assessment data, symptomology, diagnosis, treatment recommendations, and resources.
Within two weeks of the final testing session, a feedback session is scheduled to review the results of the testing, including the report.
What if my child undergoes Autism testing and it turns out to be something else?
The psychologist that completes these evaluations has completed many diagnostic evaluations for many types of diagnoses. If your child does not have an Autism Spectrum Disorder we will still be able to determine what the appropriate diagnosis is and provide treatment recommendations.
What age ranges do you provide evaluations for?
We provide diagnostic evaluations for individuals throughout the lifespan. We provide assessments for children, adolescents and adults.