Assessment and Diagnosis

Autism Assessment and Diagnosis

Autism Diagnosis

  • A ASD diagnosis can be difficult at times because there is no medical test to diagnose this disorder. Doctors or a psycholigts will look at the child’s developmental history along with their behavioural patterns to make a diagnosis. ASD can be detected at 18 months of age or younger.

Some concerning signs to look for are:

  • Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive; see text):
  • Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions.
  • Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging, for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures; to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication.
  • Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understand relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest in peers.

MMBS offers ASD diagnosis to families to help support and navigate information and services available for their child. For more information please contact us.

Psycho-educational assessment

A psycho-educational assessment is often initiated in response to concerns reported at school level about a student’s cognitive skills, learning, attention and/or behavior. Psycho-educational assessments evaluate thinking/reasoning skills, underlying processing skills (i.e., memory, attention, executive functioning), academic achievement (i.e., math, reading, writing), social/emotional functioning and behavior.

Psycho-educational assessments are commonly strength-based. Therefore, your child would be able to advocate for themselves in the classroom and in daily life using the psycho-educational results. Strength-based reports emphasize your child’s well-developed abilities and provide suggestions for how your child can use their strengths to support some of their lesser developed skills.

Psycho-educational assessments are done by a psychologist who typically involves an in-depth interview with the parents, teachers and the child, multiple standardized assessments, and observations of the child. Usually, assessments to identify Learning Disabilities 

Process Steps:

  1. Intake interview (onsite/phone/virtual)
  2. Clinical Interview with parents, child/adolescent or young adult and teacher when applicable
  3. Testing
  4. Questionnaire completion
  5.  Scoring and formulation
  6.  Feedback to parents and/or young person

COST: $2500-$3000 ($200 per hour)