Autism (ASD) Assessments

When you come to Brain Spectrum Neuropsychology wondering if autism is affecting you or your child, you are probably feeling quite anxious about it.

Your child is bright, interesting, and uniquely wonderful, but struggles with social awkwardness, sensitivities, and unusual behaviors that are difficult to understand.

It may be the case that your child has been struggling with a number of issues for quite some time. They might have been evaluated before and diagnosed with a different condition – possibly depression, anxiety, and/or OCD – but you’re concerned that there is something else going on.

Adult clients are also becoming more familiar with the symptoms of ASD and are beginning to wonder whether their lifelong struggles could be attributable to undiagnosed autism. They may be aware that they experience some of the common signs of autism, but they are not sure whether they actually have ASD.

Common Signs of ASD:

• Anxiety and/or discomfort in social/ group settings
• Making and/or maintaining friendships
• “Quirkiness”
• Flexibly adjusting to things and tolerating change
• Managing big and complex emotions
• Intense interests and hobbies
• Being a “little professor”
• Repetitive hand or body movements
• Immature or awkward habits
• Difficulty with self-care or independent skills

In addition, because neurodivergent people frequently struggle with anxiety, fears, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, and mood regulation difficulties, she assesses for commonly co-occurring disorders.

• Detailed developmental interviews
• Several scored autism-specific inventories
• Cognitive testing
• The gold-standard ADOS-2
• A variety of questionnaires completed by parents, partners, teachers and/or other professionals.

At Brain Spectrum, we believe that your family deserves the best, most accurate evaluation, and we take no short-cuts when it comes to diagnosing you or your loved one.

Although not every client receives a diagnosis at Brain Spectrum, we seek to offer clarity and answers for every client we evaluate. Our evaluations are designed to more effectively tailor treatment, as well as to provide educational planning for our younger clients.

If indicated, recommendations will also include school recommendations for special education services through an IEP, or accommodations through a 504 plan.