ASD assessment

From my experiences, the psychologist will have a room set up with various toys and things. They will mainly just observe your child and interactions. They will also ask you questions. When my son was being evaluated, it was a room with about 5 to 6 different people all observing and taking notes. They each were looking out for different things such as speech, physicality, etc. It wasn't overly stressful or anything. I felt supported the entire time. They will talk to you about what they think and next steps. 😊

It’s usually made up of a few appointments. My LG is going through it now. We’ve had one appointment with speech therapist now we are waiting for paediatrician they then send all the reports and get info from school to a panel who then decide on the diagnosis. Yes you can stay through the appointments although we took my mum so that if I needed to speak to them without my LG over hearing then she could take her out

Hey Tayla, I can't say how it will go with 100% certainty since we're separated by an ocean, but I can tell you how mine went.

First round was our pediatrician just observing rj and asking us why we wanted the assessment. We then went to the asd clinic on her referral. There a psychologist observed and guide munchkins play for about an hour and a half. Third assessment round was basically a two hour conversation with another psychologist while a doctor was observing from another room.

We were present for all the assessments, but asked not to interfere with the second so the psychologist was getting a clear picture of munchkins abilities and socializing.

Henry's assessment was at an ABA.Clinic with a Psychologist. First we answered an extensive questionnaire on behavior and attribute and full pregnancy history. Then it was a 1 hour interview on the phone with both parents more questions.

Next was a 1 hour in person assessment with Henry my son, the Psychologist, 5 different toys, and me watching since Henry has separation anxiety.

Next she played with Henry with each toy he was interested in, called him name to make eye contact observations, observed him run and climb all over the room, he needed sensory input, she kept asking questions he didn't reply and trying to see if he would join or minick her on play. She used an international standardized test or questionnaire. Then in 2 days sent us the offcial 20 page or so report with the diagnosis.

Best of luck I think it's all up to the provider. I wanted a different provider but they asked for $2,500 out of pocket and would give an education recommendation where my insurance covered the clinic

Best of luck no worries you got this just do your research and take your time. After the eval we were told we needed aba 40 hours a week, speech and ot in clinic without any access to my son or video just logs that didn't work for our family

We tried in house ABA at 26 hours a week and 1 hour of OT, 1 hour of Speech and developmental preschool 8 hours a week and that didn't work for our family either the schedule was all over the place.

The NIH in US recommends 3p to 40 hours of ABA for young children cause their brains develop 80% by age 4. But my son was screaming, crying, and falling asleep during therapy and it cost us $3,000 for the first month.

We ended up canceling ABA, Speech and OT it was too much for Henry. He is doing good in 12 hours a week of developmental preschool and get speech he might qualify for OT soon

Best of luck hang in there. If I had to do it again I would request a regular schedule like preschool with a routine in therapy and gradually move up the hours as Henry could withstand maybe 2 hours at a time at 3 years old.

Don't forget the shock with family members once you get the diagnosis have them watch an autism documentary, Autism the Music Project part 1 and 2 on HBO

Hang in there 🙏 let us know how your eval goes I'm curious

We’re going through it all now we recently went to see the paediatric and she tried to fob us off because my son is only 2.5 but we 100% know he’s autistic. Our health visitor agrees and speech and language agree. So his dad had it out with the paediatric saying it’s a disgrace that children have to wait so long for a diagnosis. We’re just waiting on her decision now after she speaks to the relevant people who have already assessed my son

It took the development pediatrician about 5 minutes of being in the room with my son to diagnose him at 18 months. Parents are allowed in the room. The doctor mainly ask questions to the parents and observe how the child plays and reacts to instructions.

The good things is once you have that diagnosis it opens so many doors for your child to get help and resources. Like an IEP my son receives speech therapy, occupational therapy, and even has his own aid right at school. He shows improvement every day and loves attending school!