Autism Assessment

At Headstart, our main area of expertise lies in autism-spectrum-disorder treatment and diagnosis. A diagnostic assessment involves a comprehensive investigation of all aspects of behaviour, development and history to determine whether an individual meets the criteria for a diagnosis or if there are any other alternative explanations for the presenting behaviours. Our clinicians can assess children or adults.

A diagnostic assessment is performed by a psychologist and/or speech pathologist. We may offer a team assessment which involves a speech pathologist and a psychologist, or a single assessment with a psychologist. A team assessment is required for eligibility to register with Autism SA, SA's largest governing body for autism spectrum disorder. Furthermore, one of the specifiers of autism spectrum disorder is whether there is a cognitive or language impairment. By having both a speech pathologist and a psychologist present at the assessment, we can assess for either one of these conditions. However, this will depend on whether the referral suggests there may be difficulties in one of those two areas. All our diagnosticians are registered with Autism SA. and can be located on the diagnostician’s website at Autism SA. The nature of the assessment will vary depending on the referral question and the needs of the client.

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ADULT ASSESSMENT

An adult assessment involves the adult sitting in with the diagnostician/s who will conduct the assessment. In some cases for adults where a cognitive disability may be suspected, an IQ test may be conducted by the psychologist. There may also be other screening tests conducted to consider other disabilities or concerns such as depression, anxiety, and/or trauma. If you are unable to recall relevant information from childhood, you are encouraged bring a support person that can assist in providing information from your early developmental period.

 CHILD ASSESSMENT

A child assessment involves the clinician/s having an initial conversation with the child and the attending caregiver. Following that discussion, the child will typically go to another room with one of the clinicians where they will participate in further assessments. This may involve specific autism related tasks (e.g., Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule), or it may involve a cognitive assessment or a language assessment. This will depend on the referral question and the needs of the client. If the child is too young to leave the attending caregiver, the assessments will all be undertaken in the same room. Parent/s or guardian/s are expected to stay for the duration of the assessment for the clinicians to gather developmental history through an interview, questionnaires and other screening measures

Please note Headstart prides itself as a teaching organisation and as such from time to time we will have trainee assessors present. All trainees will be psychologists (either provisional or registered) or qualified speech pathologists. In the initial paperwork we send, you will be asked whether you will allow a student/trainee to sit in.

 PREPARING FOR THE ASSESSMENT

Prior to attending, please return all questionnaires. If information has been requested from the school or third party, ensure they have provided this. Please make sure you or your child are well rested and in good health. If the client is on medication, ensure the medication has been taken. Bring a snack and water to drink. The assessment will typically last for 3 hours with breaks as required.

 ON THE DAY

Everyone present will be taken into the assessment room. A parent or /guardian is expected to attend if the client is under the age of 18, and some background information will be discussed. During a child assessment, the child may go to a separate room to complete assessments.

To start the assessment, a brief discussion will occur regarding confidentiality and report access. For example, if a third party is paying, such as a school or lawyer, they will have access and the report will be sent to them.

If we feel the need for a cognitive or language assessment, this may occur at that time. These involve looking at pictures and guessing emotions, building blocks or shapes, and other verbal tasks. Some of the items are timed and the client is asked to work as quickly as they can. These tasks are delivered in a standardised way and all clients receive the instructions in exactly the same format.

Depending on what the primary referral concerns are, some additional screening measures may be delivered. These additional measures may be delivered to the child client or to the parent if there is suspicion raised by you or the child's school of other conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or social anxiety disorder. Please bring any of these concerns to the attention of the psychologist prior to the assessment so they can plan accordingly.

It is important that you are aware that we are mandatory reporters. Hence if we feel your child is unsafe, or if they report they have been subject to abuse, we are mandated to report this.

 AFTER THE ASSESSMENT

Following the assessment, the client or parent will have a brief discussion with the psychologist. If a diagnosis has been formulated, then we will discuss with whom you would like that information shared. For example in a child assessment, would you like the child to be present so we can talk through the diagnosis, or would you prefer to do this in your own time?

If a diagnosis has been given you will be provided an information pack which contains a letter saying that you or your child has received a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. In addition it will have a list of action items that you can commence while waiting for the report.

The results of the assessment are then compiled into a comprehensive report. This report includes the developmental history, background information, assessment results, diagnostic opinion and recommendations. This report can be used by yourself, and/or whomever you wish to share the report to ensure that the client is receiving tailored and specific support.

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Please note that this is a diagnostic assessment. The assessment may support a diagnosis of autism, or it may not. If the latter, then the report will explain clearly why the criteria is not met, and what an alternative explanation for the behaviour may be. In some cases, while there are some autistic behaviours, they are not sufficient for a diagnosis of autism to be given at that time. On other occasions, we will not be able to make a diagnosis one way or the other, and may require additional information from other parties.