Autism Diagnostic Evaluations
Toddlers School-Aged Adolescents Adults
Why do I need a diagnosis?
Obtaining an Autism diagnosis can offer several potential benefits. It provides individuals and their families with a clearer understanding of their unique strengths and challenges. With a diagnosis, individuals can access appropriate support services and interventions tailored to their specific needs in schools, workplace, housing, doctors’ offices, etc.
Neurodivergent-Affirming Approach to Therapy & Evaluation
There is a wave of adolescents and adults stepping into their Neurodivergent identities. The biggest categories are Autism and ADHD. Social media is allowing the Neurodivergent community to share their lived experience, and people are connecting to their truth beyond the limited picture painted in the DSM-5.
I take a strong anti-ableist lens in my work with Neurodivergent clients. There is so much pain and grief tied into the journey of coming to terms with who you are and mourning the support you never received. There is also profound validation, joy, and opportunity to connect with a community where you're understood and supported.
There is no therapeutic "cure" for Neurodivergence, and my stance is that there doesn't need to be. It's a naturally occurring facet of human experience that is at odds with the neuro-majoritive culture and its emphasis on productivity and hyper-independence. You are a precious being and deserve to live fully, make accommodations, and love yourself just as you are. Remember, nobody needs to be “fixed”.
Let’s discuss your sensory needs BEFORE we meet
My goal is to make your experience as comfortable as possible. I’m happy to make any accommodations I’m able to, so PLEASE communicate and let me know. I work for YOU!!
Child & Youth Evaluations
Evaluations are helpful when your child is experiencing significant problems at home or school, and you, your child's educational team, and/or their outside providers need more information and guidance as to how to provide optimal support. A child's struggles can occur across one or multiple areas of development, including cognitive, academic, attention, executive, social-emotional, and behavioral functioning. While evaluations are designed in part to determine whether a child meets diagnostic criteria for conditions such as Dyslexia, ADHD, and Autism Spectrum Disorder, they also provide an in-depth analysis of a child's strengths and weaknesses. Results can provide evidence to support educational support plans such as IEPs, 504 Plans, and private school accommodation plans.
A new study offers hope: It found that 37 percent of children diagnosed as toddlers no longer met criteria for autism when they reached early school age. Findings were published October 2 in JAMA Pediatrics.
What to Expect
Psychoeducational and neuropsychological evaluations are comprehensive processes, given the complexity of child and adolescent development. At Wolff Child Psychology, we know the only way to fully understand a child or teen is to gather a broad and in-depth range of information from multiple sources, including direct testing with your child or teen, as well as interviewing and collecting data from parents, teachers, and other professionals in your child's life.
When you reach out to us, here is what you can expect.
Initial call - We will schedule a complimentary phone intake with our clinical intake therapist.
Phone Intake - Our clinician will take the time to get to know your child's situation in more depth. They will offer their insights as to what could be contributing to your child's difficulties, and they will provide recommendations on the best course of action. This could include scheduling your child's evaluation and/or referring you to other providers for different types of services. If you schedule an evaluation for your child, you will know the exact dates of testing and the evaluation fee.
Child/Teen Testing - Testing and observation will depend on your chid’s specific needs (e.g., your child's age, how comprehensive the evaluation scope is, your child's expected fatigue and/or anxiety about testing). For children 10 years and older, we don’t require parents to stay onsite, but you are welcome to if you illke. If your child is under 6 years of age, please do plan to stay onsite. Your child and the clinician will work collaboratively throughout the evaluation sessions to complete a range of formal and informal tests, while building in time for adequate breaks and rapport-building.
Parent/Teacher/Professional Input - After your child's testing sessions, we give ourselves about 2-3 weeks to gather information from multiple other sources, including in-depth interviews with you, your child's teacher(s), and other professionals in your child's life (e.g., tutors, occupational and speech/language therapists, pediatricians, etc.). We also request you and your child's teacher complete a range of clinical questionnaires online.
Parent Feedback Session - Once we have collected all of our data, we will meet with you (sometimes without your child - depending on your situation) to review the results, including any diagnoses we ruled in or out, notable strengths or needs across developmental areas, and our educational and treatment recommendations.
Comprehensive Written Report - Within 2-3 weeks of the feedback session, we will create a comprehensive written report detailing all of the relevant background information, data collected during the evaluation, our diagnostic and clinical conclusions, and our educational and treatment recommendations.
Educational Advocacy - Given how critical it is for a child's educational plan to fit their needs, we can offer our active participation in a follow-up school meeting as part of the evaluation process. Meetings can range in format, including IEP/504 Plan eligibility and development, private school accommodation planning, and/or informational sessions with your child's educational team. Our goal is to support the school in understanding your child's psychoeducational needs and to contribute toward the development of an effective educational plan.
Treatment/Intervention Planning - If we recommend specific types of treatment and intervention for your child, we will provide referrals for those services (and happily connect with the new providers about your child's case). If appropriate, we may offer options for follow-up psychotherapy and coaching services at In Bloom, LLC
Looking for an Adult Autism Assessment?
Assessments can be conducted as a stand-alone service or as a part of ongoing therapy services for established clients.
Autism Assessments include three parts:
Pre-Assessment consultation to discuss reasons for evaluation, relevant medical and life history, co-occurring diagnosis screenings (as needed), and discussion of assessment tools utilized.
Assessment Appointment(s) Conducted via Clinical Interview and Observation Tools based on DSM-5 Criteria for Autism.
Clients may expected to complete several assessment measures outside of appointment times and submit results between Steps 2 and 3 as these measures are integrated in the assessment documentation.
Post-Assessment Debrief Appointment
Autism assessments are conducted over several sessions depending on your individual circumstances.
It is important to note that many standard assessment tools within the field of health have been created based on research conducted on a minimally diverse group of participants who shared a more narrow set of life circumstances and experiences than today’s reality.
My assessment process strives to blend the tools that have historically been utilized to screen for Autism with updated assessment measures and the power of clinical interviewing.
Many neurodivergent adults have lived with symptoms or challenges that stem from being neurodivergent in a neurotypical world focused on productivity and conformity rather than purpose and celebrating authenticity.
In my work, I am mindful of the ways in which Autism has been largely overlooked or misidentified due to a lack of awareness around how neurodivergence presents outside of outdated and stereotypical presentations.
