Autism Evaluations: What to Expect
You've worked hard to schedule an evaluation for your child. What happens next? Families have a lot of questions when they begin the process. I think it’s important to demystify it all. So, let’s talk about it!
Before a psychologist works with your child, they'll talk with you. They’ll spend time learning about your child, including their strengths and needs. This helps them pinpoint the purpose of the evaluation and the tests to give.
What you might talk about
Symptoms
Medical concerns or conditions
Developmental history
Progress in therapies
Family history
Your child’s strengths
How your child learns
Current living situation and support
Your psychologist will probably ask you to complete forms before the session. This usually includes consent forms and an intake form, where you’ll answer questions about your child.
This is when the psychologist gets to spend time with your child!
If your child is under 6 years-old, you’ll probably be involved in testing. You know your child best! So, it’s important the psychologist sees your child engaging with you. If your child is 6 years-old or older, the psychologist may work one-one-one with your child while you wait outside of the office.
Testing can last several hours. This depends on how old your child is and if there are multiple diagnoses being assessed. Testing is usually in-person over one session or multiple sessions. The tests given will depend on a child’s age. Your child will be given several breaks during testing.
Ways you can prepare for the appointment
Make sure your child is feeling their best and isn't sick
Make sure everyone gets a good night’s sleep
The night before, organize documents you're bringing with you
Pack the things you’re bringing the night before the appointment
Keep your normal morning routine the day of the appointment
Make sure your child eats breakfast the day of the appointment
This is when the psychologist tells you the results of the evaluation. You will learn if your child has a diagnosis and why. You’ll also learn about service recommendations. This session may happen the same day as testing or it may happen in the following few weeks.
The results discussion can be an emotional experience. I often tell parents to give themselves grace. You may not remember much of what is talked about and that’s okay! Your brain may not process information like it usually does because the results discussion can bring up a lot of emotions. If you need it, I encourage you to ask your psychologist for a second results discussion or a phone call to further process everything. It’s also helpful to come to the results discussion with a list of questions or topics you want to make sure are covered.
You’ll receive a written report. Sometimes this is given at the results discussion or it follows that meeting a week or two later. The report is your documentation of testing, diagnoses, and recommendations. It also communicates your child’s strengths and needs.
Evaluation reports can be emotionally challenging for parents to read. That’s because they talk a lot about a child’s needs. They should also talk about your child’s amazing skills! A good evaluation report paints a picture of your whole child, not just their challenges.
Parents may feel like their child’s report has a lot of professional jargon and new terms. Many psychologists write their reports in a specific way for providers (like pediatricians and therapists) rather than easily digestable for parents. There are pros and cons to this. At the end of the day, the professional jargon is necessary to demonstrate diagnostic criteria, which helps open the door for services.
Reports serve two main purposes
1- To provide good documentation of test results and symptoms that led to a diagnosis.
2- To help parents and treating providers to understand the whole child and recommendations.
