This week two patients came to me and said they wanted an assessment for autism. Actually one said autism, this was an assessment for a teenager, and another wanted an assessment for Aspeger's Disorder. Both were sent by their family physicians, which is how I usually get my referrals.
Both wanted to know what it consisted of and how much it would cost. Those are very reasonable questions, but not so easy to answer. An assessment usually is completed to answer a specific question, and most of the time a diagnosis alone isn't worth spending time or money on. So I usually ask, "What do you need this diagnosis for?"
With a child an autism diagnosis, and it doesn't matter if we are looking at "classical autism" or Asperger's Disorder, High Functioning Autism or whatever term you may be using (it is now all one diagnosis on a spectrum in the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the DSM-5) if it's to help with education you often need both an assessment for autism using the ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) and the ADI-R (Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised) to qualify for school and provincial services here in British Columbia, as well as a full psychoeducational assessment. This is necessary to help determine what interventions to use in the school to help the student learn. This is a very comprehensive procedure and can cost between $2,600 and $3,400.00
I ask about this because the school may be able to complete the psychoeducational assessment component, which significantly reduces the cost. Or, maybe a psychoeducational assessment has already been completed!
Adults, on the other hand, often come to me for an assessment and diagnosis because they want to understand themselves and be able to explain behaviours. They just want to know why they might be doing the things they are doing. In this case I'm often reluctant to conduct a time consuming and expensive assessment. An assessment should not just tell you what you have, it should tell you what to do about it! Adult assessments often are used in employment as well, to get accommodations and consideration at the work place.
A diagnosis of adult autism or Asperger's Disorder (sometimes called Asperger's Syndrome) means not just seeing if you meet a list of criteria or symptoms, it means ruling out the many other possible disorders that look very much like Asperger or High Functioning Autism. This means completing not only the usual assessment for autism/Aspergers but also personality assessments, some neuropsychological tests and often speech and language assessments, as some specific speech and language deficits can look just like autism/Asperger's.
Just like a student, who would use the assessment/test results to develop an educational plan (an IEP or Individual Education Plan is developed by the school based upon the assessment results) an adult should also expect to be able to use their test results to make a life intervention plan, use the results to come up with a plan to improve issues at work, home, in relationships or recreation.
Assessments are used to make plans and look forward, not just to diagnose. I would agree with parents who object to getting a "label" but would urge them to get a good diagnosis and use it to make a plan.
For more information about the diagnostic services I provide you can visit my web page at www.relatedminds.com. You will find information about autism services for children, adolescents and adults and assessment services. You can also call me at 778.998-7975 or email me at relatedminds@gmail.com
I provide assessment services, diagnosis of autism/Aspergers for provincial funding, parent education, behaviour management programs and individual and couple therapy for adults with high functioning autism and Asperger's Disorder.
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