The professionals might want to see you and your child several times. When a team of professionals is involved, it’s called a multidisciplinary assessment. review the information that was collected in the comprehensive needs assessment.Ī paediatrician, psychiatrist or psychologist might do the evaluation, or the evaluation might involve a team of professionals including an occupational therapist or a speech pathologist.assess your child’s strengths, differences from what’s typical and difficulties in areas like thinking, learning and communicating.If the results from the comprehensive needs assessment suggest your child is autistic, the National guideline recommends a diagnostic evaluation to find out whether autism is the best explanation for your child’s behaviour.Īs part of this evaluation, health and child development professionals will: They’ll physically examine your child and might do other tests like a hearing test to see whether there’s a medical cause that could explain your child’s behaviour. This part of the assessment is done by a GP, paediatrician or psychiatrist. This assessment can be done by a medical practitioner, like a GP or paediatrician, or by an allied health professional like a psychologist or an occupational therapist. It also looks at your child’s support needs, health, medical history and family history. This part of the assessment looks at your child’s strengths and abilities in areas like daily living skills, communication and thinking. The National guideline for the assessment and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders recommends that autism diagnosis should include 2 standard assessments:Ī comprehensive needs assessment has 2 parts: reviewing your child’s developmental history – that is, how your child has developed in the past.watching how your child interacts with others – that is, how your child is developing now.How autism is diagnosed in older children and teenagers It can also help your child find and make friends with people who have similar interests or think and learn in similar ways. It can also help you get services and funding to support your child’s development – for example, extra help at school.Ī diagnosis can also help your child explore, understand, and embrace their autistic identity. This can help to guide therapies and supports for your child. But it might help you and your child understand your child’s strengths and difficulties.Ī diagnosis describes your child’s strengths, abilities, difficulties and needs. The diagnosis itself won’t change your child. You might wonder whether getting and having an autism diagnosis in later childhood or adolescence will make a difference to your child. What an autism diagnosis means for older children and teenagers Autistic teenagers might also have difficulty coping with schoolwork and can have feelings of anxiety at school. Myers, Ph.D.Signs of autism in older children and teenagers can include having special interests, finding it hard to take turns in conversations, and having difficulty making and keeping friends. Van Bourgondien with Division TEACCH at the University of North Carolina suggested that the majority of children and adults with Pervasive Developmental Disorder are not likely to be affected by the changes in DSM-5.īy Alexander M. A study reported by Tamara Dawkins, Allison T. The DSM-5 criteria were established in an attempt to increase accuracy in diagnosis, combining overlapping symptoms into one category, loosening the 3-year-old age requirement such that for children with milder symptoms their symptoms would be allowed to become evident later in childhood, and the inclusion of a severity range (mild to high).Īn additional notation in the DSM-5 criteria specifies that “individuals with a well-established DSM-IV diagnosis of autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified should be given the new diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.” This may alleviate some concerns about people losing their diagnosis and services. A new, additional diagnostic category (not under ASD) was also added to the DSM-5: Social Communication Disorder.
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