Child Autism Testing Clinic
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Assessment Clinic
The ASD Assessment Clinic @ Breakthrough Psychology Practice can help provide psychometric testing, and diagnosis of children with difficulties around social interaction, communication, and play and behaviour. Upon completion of Assessment and Testing, our Director & Clinical Psychologist, Narmi and Registered Psychologist, David Groves, will provide you with a detailed written report and treatment recommendations.
How is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosed?
There is no single test used to diagnose ASD as diagnosis relies on observations and descriptions of behaviour. As such, it is important to collaborate with your Psychologist, Paediatrician, General Practitioner, other Allied Health professionals, and School Teachers. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V) is utilised to diagnose ASD. This diagnostic standard helps ensure that children are appropriately diagnosed and treated for ASD.
As symptoms of ASD may change over time and other diagnoses can account for similar symptoms, it’s important to rule out other conditions. Particularly in early years, conditions such as hearing impairments, developmental delay, language disorders, behavioural disorders, attachment disorder, and attention deficit disorders can co-occur or better explain ASD-like symptoms. At Breakthrough Psychology, we acknowledge the complexity of diagnosis and have structured our testing process so we can identify other explanations or concerns during the process.
Signs to test your child for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD):
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Your child uses repetitive hand or body movements
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Your child has obsessive attachments to a particular object or topic
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You or your child’s teacher has concerns over how your child copes in social situations, such as their limited communication or rarely engaging in play with others
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Your child has limited eye-contact
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Your child has sensory sensitivities, such as not liking certain sounds or textures
As a parent, you know your child best and have valuable information regarding your child’s behaviour and development at home. If your child’s teacher has shared any concerns with you, this is also helpful information to have.
What does the testing process look like at the ASD Assessment Clinic @ Breakthrough Psychology Practice?
Our assessment and testing process is comprehensive, individualised, and targets multiple facets of ASD to ensure we have the best understanding of your child’s symptoms, strengths, and weaknesses. To do this, we will collect information from yourself as well as your child’s teacher. We will also ask you to provide reports from your child’s school and any health professionals your child has visited. We work with the industry gold standard batteries of test and ensure that we rule out any other learning difficulties or disorders present.
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Component 1: the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), Autism Rating Scales (ASRS), and Vineland Adaptive Questionnaire are administered to parents and teacher. You will need to organise a teacher contact for us to communicate with.
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Component 2: Comprehensive Parent Interview (90-120mins)
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Component 3: Cognitive Assessment (60-90mins) - WPPSI or WISC administered, depending on your child's age
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Component 4: Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) - Assessment of Behaviour and Interactions (90-120mins). If required, a school observation (60-90mins) will also be organised.
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Component 5: Report Writing (4-5hours) and Parent feedback session (60mins) - upon completion of testing we will compile a comprehensive report and then schedule a feedback session to take you through the results and our recommendations.
Where required, your clinician may recommend adding or removing aspects of the assessment to rule out comorbidities such as ADHD or Intellectual Disability. If this is the case, your clinician will discuss this with you.
Why is the testing process so extensive?
The DSM-5 criteria for ASD are very extensive and require multiple tests to conclusively indicate an ASD diagnosis is the correct one. By addressing each of the DSM-5 criteria, our testing process ensures that you receive a comprehensive feedback report that can truly help you understand the best next steps. Additionally, although we are not an NDIS provider, we can support self-managed NDIS users by ensuring you have the best quality evidence and diagnosis.