Please allocate an adequate amount of time for the consultation. We suggest setting aside a few hours, although the consultation may not take that long.
This visit will be conducted by a Board Certified Pediatrician and a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst).
A thorough history will be obtained at the time of the visit by a physician. History will include a review of past medical history, including the child’s birth history and behavioral, developmental, and social history. At the visit, a CARS (Childhood Autism Rating Scale) will be administered. This is an ASD-specific assessment tool.
This test is accepted by the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey to diagnose autism.
Overall, the evaluation of social skills and behavior will take place through direct observation by the evaluators, interaction with the child, and parental history. We will be assessing speech and language skills, verbal and non-verbal communication, sensory and motor issues, as well as self-help skills.
If needed to clarify the diagnosis, an ADOS-2 (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2) may be scheduled shortly after the initial evaluation. The ADOS-2 is a more complicated, time-consuming evaluation and could be done if the CARS is inconclusive. The ADOS-2 presents various structured and semistructured scenarios to help assess for autism.The cost of the ADOS-2 is not included in the fee for the initial evaluation.
Immediately following the evaluation, our MD/BCBA team will review the information from the interview and assessment scores and begin formulating a diagnosis.