Autism Assessments for Teens
Why we focus on assessments for teens
We believe that there is a special skill in conducting autism assessments for high-school students. Usually teens seeking assessments at this life stage have been undiagnosed up to now for a reason. For example, it may be because:
They didn’t have high support needs in primary school and ‘flew under the radar’.
Their pattern of strengths and challenges are less ‘typical’. This is particularly true for autistic girls - in the past autism in girls was poorly researched and poorly understood.
As the academic expectations of school and the challenges of the social environment increase in high-school, autistic kids’ difficulties become more obvious and can no longer be ignored.
Autistic burnout can strike in high school because the efforts the autistic teenager makes to mask and blend in are exhausting and take their toll.
Perhaps the young person was having other difficulties (such as trauma or anxiety or ADHD) and this overshadowed their underlying autism.
Assessing for autism in teenagers requires a nuanced approach, an ability to assess for the less obvious and well-known aspects of autism, and a recognition that the young person also has an important role in providing information and insights.
In addition we believe that young people have a right to understand their diagnosis and what it means for them, so we involve them in the feedback process after their assessment is complete.
FAQ
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We gather information in a few different ways, to make sure we have a good understanding of the teenager. These include:
An interview and testing session with the teen, using the gold standard assessment tool, the ADOS.
A detailed interview with parents
Teen and parents will be asked to complete a number of questionnaires.
We’ll review any documentation such as school reports and previous professional reports.
We may ask to get information from your school/teachers.
The specific steps taken during the assessment are flexible and depend on the complexity of your situation.
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The report will clearly state your diagnosis (as determined by the assessment) and will give details about how these conclusions were made. It will detail both your strengths and your support needs, and will give recommendations about the specific types of supports that could help you.
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The total cost of the assessment typically varies between $2800 and $3080. Please note that this approximation is the cost before any eligible rebates are applied, and the complexity of your situation will influence the overall total cost.
The assessment usually involves 5-6 hours of face-to-face assessment and feedback which costs $280 per hour. The exact number of face-to-face hours may vary depending on your needs. There is also a fixed cost for the indirect work and report writing of $1400. These two costs make up your total.
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It is true that many young people with autism also have ADHD, and both of these diagnoses are forms of neurodivergence. If, as part of the assessment we believe that your teen also may have ADHD we will advise you during the feedback session. However typically we do not provide a formal assessment and diagnosis of ADHD for young people because of the additional cost involved for parents. Rather, we believe that your teenager’s ADHD assessment is best done by a medical professional such as a paedatrician or psychiatrist as it will enable your young person to trial medication which may be an important part of their treatment.