Autism Assessments
Kids Are Kids! provides an Autism Assessment and Diagnosis service available for children 0-14 years. The assessment is divided into stages.
INITIAL SCREENING
Kids Are Kids! provides an initial screening appointment at our centre if your child has not yet seen a paediatrician. A therapist who has experience assessing neurodevelopmental conditions (psychologist or speech pathologist) will meet with you and your child for an hour.The therapist will observe your child and have discussions with you about your child’s strengths and any concerns you have about their development. You will then receive a summary of recommendations. If it is recommended to proceed with an Autism Assessment, we will explain the process to you and offer you an appointment to complete the assessment.
FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENT
Kids Are Kids! experienced therapists will look at your child’s individual’s strengths and level of functioning in different areas, and any support needs that they might have. Kids Are Kids! will gather information about your child’s medical and family history, as well as developmental and functional abilities. This information will be collected from previous reports, questionnaires, parent interview and observations of your child.
You will attend Kids Are Kids! for an appointment lasting up to three hours to meet with the psychologist and speech pathologist. Depending on the assessment needs, you may stay with your child during the testing, or move to a separate room for a more detailed interview, while your child is participating in formal testing with the other therapist.
The therapists may determine that a home or school visit is also indicated, so that your child can be observed in more natural settings, and with peers. If your child’s presentation is complex, it may be necessary to include additional language or cognitive testing to support a diagnostic decision.
DIAGNOSTIC EVALUATION
A diagnostic evaluation will take place after the assessment, to determine whether the characteristics and behaviours observed are consistent with Autism. This will include a review of collected information, parent interviews, observations, and diagnostic assessments of characteristics and behaviours. The speech pathologist and psychologist at Kids Are Kids! will work together to make a consensus diagnostic decision.
WRITTEN REPORT AND PARENT FEEDBACK
After the assessment, you will be given a written report. Your therapist will explain the content of the report to you in a feedback meeting. The report will summarise all the information that has been collected and will explain what the information means. It will also explain any decisions that have been made about a diagnosis and suggest the next steps for accessing support services.
ACCESSING SUPPORT AFTER THE ASSESSMENT
Assessment information will help guide your decision making about appropriate therapy, community support, educational support needs for your child and eligibility for funded services.
Your child may benefit from therapy to support them and address their individual needs. You may choose to receive services from Kids Are Kids! We are a not-for-profit team of Speech Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and Psychologists. We work as partners with families, to provide strengths-based and neurodiverse-affirming intervention with structured goals and an action plan. NDIS funds and Medicare rebates can be used to access this support.
COST AND REBATES
The cost of the Autism Diagnosis Assessment can be discussed with the friendly team at Kids Are Kids! There are Medicare rebates available to support diagnosis and therapy for autism spectrum disorder. In order to access Medicare rebates, a paediatrician or psychiatrist will need to refer you to Kids Are Kids! for an allied health assessment. A report will be provided and sent back to the paediatrician once assessments have been completed, to confirm the diagnosis. Financial assistance for therapeutic supports may be available through the NDIS, if your child is eligible. For further information please contact the NDIS or your early childhood partner. Our staff are happy to answer any questions and give you further information relevant to your individual circumstances.
AUTISM ASSESSMENT SCHOLARSHIPS – NOW OPEN UNTIL 19th DECEMBER 2024
Kids Are Kids! is concerned about the length of time children are waiting for Autism Diagnostic Assessments and the impact this is having on children and families.
We are thrilled to announce that we are launching a new scholarship program to provide free autism assessments to the children that are most vulnerable and most in need of a timely diagnostic assessment.
These scholarships are thanks to the wonderful generosity of a private donation and we are seeking additional funding to provide more assessments in the future.
These scholarships are open to all children. We encourage you to apply if you think a scholarship would help your child and your family.
We have included a word format which you can type into directly and a PDF if you would prefer to print and write on the form.
For typing directly online please download the, Assessment Scholarship Application Form 2024 – 2025 electronic.
To print download, Assessment Scholarship Application Form 2024 – 2025 handwritten. Please return to info@kidsarekids.org.au by Thursday 19th December.
You can also send by post or you can hand deliver to our Bateman or Armadale centre. If you are unable to complete the application yourself, you can ask someone to complete it on your behalf. Please ask your therapist if they can assist you in the process. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call our friendly staff on (08) 9313 6566.
