Autism (ASD) Assessment
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a diagnosis that covers a spectrum of individuals with a wide range of skills and impairments. For this reason, this developmental disorder can look very different from child to child and be difficult to diagnose without a comprehensive assessment. The Sand Story Team offers the gold standard for ASD psychology assessments, inclusive of a comprehensive interview with parents, an observation of the child (at school, daycare, or any additional context in which the child interacts with others), and a thorough assessment procedure using standardized tools to adequately understand the child cognitively, socially and socio-emotionally.
The psychologist assessment for ASD is one part of a multi-disciplinary assessment. Parents must complete the Speech and Language assessment of their child (not offered at Sand Story at this time) as well as a report from a paediatrician before or concurrently with the psychology assessment, as these results are needed for the psychologist to complete their diagnosis. Autism assessments are offered for youth as young as 18 months to 18 years. For further information or to schedule your child’s assessment, please contact us.
Why does someone get an Autism assessment for their child?
Parents may choose to get an assessment completed for their child for a variety of reasons. Sometimes medical professionals may suggest to a parent that it might be helpful to have an assessment done on their child. Sometimes parents may want to have an assessment because they notice that their child might be missing some developmental milestones, struggling with social or communications skills, or exhibiting behavioural challenges at school or home. Getting an Autism assessment completed with your child provides you with a detailed profile of your child’s adaptive, social, behavioural and developmental functioning as well as recommendations on how to best support his/her/their learning.
General:
Some common reasons that people seek an Autism assessment are:
- Developmental concerns
- Missed developmental milestones
- Behavioural concerns
- Social Difficulties
- Speech concerns
- Adaptive functioning concerns
What is included in an Autism assessment?
- A full Autism assessment looks at:
- Developmental history
- Previous assessments
- Standardized parent/caregiver interview
- Adaptive skills
- Social skills
- Communication skills
- May include other areas of assessment based on the individual’s profile
How long does it take?
- One 2-hour online parent interview session
- One in-person 3-hour child session
- Child sessions are typically booked from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 pm and occur after the parent interview
- After testing is complete, it typically takes six to eight weeks to score, analyze the results and write up the report. When the report is ready, the parents are contacted to schedule the debriefing session.
What do I get?
- A detailed report of the child’s assessment profile.
- Complete diagnostic profile as relevant for both DSM diagnostic criteria and Ministry of Child and Family Development criteria.
- Comprehensive recommendations to support the child’s functioning.
- A debriefing session with the assessment clinician to review the results.
Insurance Coverage
In British Columbia, fees for psychological services are not covered by the government Medical Services Plan. Many employee extended health benefits plans (e.g. Pacific Blue Cross) cover a portion of psychological services. Because the amount of coverage varies widely from plan to plan, it is recommended that you check your coverage documents under “psychological services”, “paramedical” or “other medical” expenses. Psychological fees also qualify to be deducted as a medical expense on your personal income tax return.