Sadia Atif, Clinical Psychologist and Registered Behaviour Technician, talks about possible misdiagnosis of Autism and consequences of misdiagnosis.
If you are concerned about your child showing signs of autism, the child must be taken to a doctor who is specialised in checking for autism. Concerning behaviour patterns should be noted by parents and presented to the doctor on the first meeting. Autism cannot be properly diagnosed at home or by non-specialised doctors.
Autism is diagnosed in two steps. The first is a screening test which is done to check if a formal assessment is needed. During a screening, a doctor observes the child and checks for autistic behaviour patterns. If the doctor finds a cause for further testing, a formal assessment is performed.
A team of doctors is needed to perform a formal assessment or rule out autism. This team usually consists of:
- Child Pediatrician who is specialised in development of children
- Child Neurologist who is specialised in the brain and nervous system
- Child Psychologist who is specialised in mental health
- Child Neurologist who is specialised in how the brain works
- Speech and language pathologist
- Behaviour therapist
- Any loss of speech, babbling or social skills at any age
- Does not respond to name by 12 months
There are several tests that need to be performed which include speech language tests, sensory tests, behaviour tests and motor function tests. These tests include:
- Portage
- ADOS
- Behavioral Assessment
- Informal Assessment
- Hearing Test
- CARS
- Medical Evaluation
- Nonverbal IQ
- SALT Assessment
- Functional Adaptive Behavior
- Does not babble by 12 months
- No gestures such as pointing, showing, reaching or waving by 12 months
- No expressive vocabulary by 16 months
- No meaningful two-word phrases (not including imitating or repeating) by 24 months
- Any loss of speech, babbling or social skills at any age
- Does not respond to name by 12 months
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