What Can parents expect of a diagnostic evaluation

     If ASD is suspected, a multidisciplinary evaluation should be conducted as soon as possible. During these evaluations, the child and parents may meet with a number of specialists, including a pediatric neurologist or developmental pediatrician, psychologist, speech-language pathologist, and occupational or physical therapist. Each professional will conduct part of the evaluation, and the results will be summarized in a written report containing these informations :

• Medical and developmental history

• Autism testing

• Psychological testing

• Speech-language assessment

• Occupational or physical therapy assessment

Although there is no diagnostic laboratory test for ASD, tests are often recommended for the following reasons:

• To search for a cause

• To find out if there are other medical problems that might look like autism (e.g., hearing loss)

• To detect additional medical problems that might be co-existing with ASD